BRONXVILLE – The party is over.
Officially.
After the first day of practice at Bronxville, the players put a moratorium in place that bans all discussion of last year’s NYSPHSAA Class C title until after the season.
There is more history to be made.
“I think they understand that it’s a new chapter, new year,” Broncos head coach Patsy Manganelli said Thursday, Aug. 26, during the first of two practices. These seniors have been with us for three years, so they’ve been a part of these last runs we’ve had and they understand what it takes, new leadership, new roles, but they’re ready for it.”
And they’re not afraid to admit that a repeat is the goal.
Names to know
Charlie
Atkenson, Sr., WR/DB; Theo McMurray, Sr., QB; Will Molloy, Sr., LB/RB; Anton Schmidt, Sr., OL/LB; Henry Scholes, Sr., OL/DL; William Busker, Jr., OL/DL; Graham Patterson, Sr., DB/WR; Connor Mestl, Jr., WR/DB; Cole Zarba, Jr., DB/WR; Jamie Murphy Sr., LB/WR; Liam Marcus, Sr., RB.
Schedule
Sept. 4 vs. Averill Park
Sept. 10 vs. Albertus Magnus
Sept. 19 bye
Sept. 25 at Dobbs Ferry
Oct. 3 vs. Valhalla
Oct. 10 at Tuckahoe
Oct. 17 vs. Pleasantville
Oct. 24 at Haldane
Takeaways
There are 18 seniors on the roster so the installs go quicker and the corrections don’t always require a coach.
Bronxville graduated MVP caliber players in Brian Formato and Thomas Freeman but firmly believes there’s enough marquee value here to go back-to-back. Theo McMurray is going to play a much bigger role, and he’s got experienced playmakers like Will Molloy, Charlie Atkeson, Anton Schmidt and Henry Scholes in the huddle with him so there is no anxiety.
It’s again hard to imagine more than two or three Class C teams in the state capable of matching the Broncos physically. They are still big.
Talking points
“This group of seniors has been together since fifth grade, so we’ve all been together for a long time,” Schmidt said. “We’re really close. We just have so much chemistry together. After playing seven years of tackle football, sometimes we don’t even have to communicate. We just know what the other guys are doing based off past experiences with them.”
“They live on effort, that’s our standard,” Manganelli said. “They know what it takes. Brian and Thomas and all those (graduates) are great players on to great things, but next man up, right? They set the stage for us to be ready.”
“I would say our attitude toward offense has to really change,” Molloy said. “Last year, we almost were just giving the ball to Brian, making holes for him to run through and watching him do his thing. This season, we know we have to grind more for yards. We really have to work each play and get into our passing game and we have to show we have new threats.”
Mike Dougherty covers high school football for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Bronxville is well built to defend its NYSPHSAA football championship
