By Dan Harrison
staff writer
—
Talent without leadership usually spells disaster for a football team.
Talent with leadership, on the other hand, can be the building blocks for greatness.
After a season in which it went 5-5 overall, the Endicott College football team heads into its season opener against Framingham State today ranked third in the Boyd Division by the New England Football Conference.
However, considering the experience and skill the Gulls are returning on both sides of the ball, fans of the Green and Blue have good reason to believe that Endicott could be in store for its best season since going 7-3 and being ranked in the top 10 in New England back in 2005.
According to head coach J.B. Wells, who enters his eighth season since founding the program in 2002, it all starts with 6-foot 4-inch, 265-pound junior defensive end Kevin Eagan. As a sophomore Eagan led the team with 74 tackles (43 solo), recorded a team-high 16.5 tackles for a loss, sacked the opposing quarterback 2.5 times and recovered three fumbles while forcing one.
"Any conversation about our team has to start with him," Wells said of Eagan. "He is just better than everyone else. He is big, but he can run as well as any other position on the field. He is what every coach wants on their team."
Eagan joins fellow junior Bill Hickey and seniors Luke Croxton, Kyle Capsalis, and Mike Dillon as co-captains of the Gulls. All five men are defensive players with all but Eagan represented in the Green and Blue defensive backfield.
Croxton was named to the NECF all-academic team last season, Dillon was a special teams madman, blocking two kicks, and is going to be a four-year starter, Capsalis tied for the team high in interceptions with two and Hickey has impressed Wells with his leadership abilities.
"They have that tenacity you want in your 'D,'" said senior split end Mike Drinkwater, a former standout at Hamilton-Wenham.
"We have guys like Kevin (Eagan), Nick Scozzaro and Mike Dillon who can get to the quarterback and create a huge blitzing presence. Going against them (our defense) in practice, it makes you that much better, and that is how you know you have a good defense."
Offensively, Endicott returns its starting quarterback Phil Konopka, and junior Mike Lane will once again be the go-to guy in the backfield for the Gulls. Konopka posted career highs in completions (130), yards (1,278), and touchdowns (14) in 2009 while Lane, who stands 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 185 pounds, bruised his way for 875 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
"When we talk about our offense, things kind of flow to Mike (Lane). He is a guy that just produces, and has produced every year for us," said Wells. "I think he is the top back in the league. He can run, block and catch out of the backfield and he plays a lot bigger than he is."
Konopka will have an abundance of targets to throw to with the likes of Taylor Allen, Ryan Carino, Neil Powers, Mike Fiamini (led the team in receiving last year) and the 6-foot 4-inch Drinkwater, whose height and athleticism make him a very dangerous threat in the red zone.
Not only does Endicott boast one of the more experienced backfield duos in the conference in Konopka and Lane but more importantly the Gulls have loads of depth on the offensive line. Wells believes he has eight solid linemen he could rotate in at various positions without any drop off. Nick Molinari will be the leader of the group as he enters his junior season having started every game since he arrived at campus as a freshman.
"It's great to talk about the other guys (in the skill positions) but everything begins and ends up front, and I feel we have eight guys who can play for us right now on the line," said Wells. "I can play any of them, in any combination."
Aside from the high level of football this year's Endicott team has another major draw for North Shore fans. As it stands now there are five players from Beverly with Peter Kallas, Nick Kozlowski and Mike Sudak at linebacker and David St. Pierre and Mark Hannable at quarterback. Sudak and St. Pierre are former Bulldogs of North Shore Tech while Kallas, Kozlowski and Hannable were all Panthers under coach Dan Bauer.
Sudak, who transferred from Salem State, and Kallas will factor in on special teams this season for the Gulls while Kozlowski, who is just a freshman, continues to impress Wells and could work his way into some playing time on defense.
"Koz (Kozlowski) is real quiet, he has probably said about five words the entire camp but he is a football player for sure," said Wells. "He is physical, aggressive, figures things out and knows how to be in the right place at the right time. He is a great fit and I think is going to be a kid to keep your eyes on."
While Hannable and St. Pierre won't see any varsity playing time this season (barring some unforeseen circumstances) Endicott has scheduled some JV games where both signal callers will be sure to get plenty of work. St. Pierre led the state in touchdown passes playing in the Commonwealth Conference while Hannable had a fine career in the Northeastern Conference with Beverly.
Wells likes what he has seen from both young men.
"They are freshmen so the lights aren't completely on, but they are turning on," said Wells. "They have great ability and they are both great kids with live arms who can run. They listen and pay attention and playing a few J.V. games should help them to develop."
As for today's road game against Framingham State, Wells believes his team should prevail if the Gulls show up ready to play on the defensive side of the ball and can stop Dave Leech and the Framingham State ground game.
Drinkwater however, believes the key to success lies in the messages his coach has been preaching all season.
"It's something coach (Wells) talked about, we need to stay on par, execute and control the things we can control," said Drinkwater. "Other than that, we have to play with our pads, not talking smack. We are going to go out and prove it on the field."
