Vikings Football Shapes Up For Competition

The two-hour practice ended with second-year Assistant Head Coach Joe Mascaretti telling players to run across the field as hard as they could. As obedient as a man's best friend, each player went his hardest. When everyone had run their sprints, the squad huddled up as a whole where Head Coach Joe Del Gais gave the group some words of wisdom: Watch film.

Throughout the three weeks of training camp, the Schreiber football team has put in hard work to try to rid itself of the 2-6 record the squad put up last season. Though 2009 was a learning process for players and coaches, Del Gais's goal is to "put up a fight" in every game. 

"That's our number one goal," Del Gais was clear to point out.

In 2009, Joe Del Gais took over the Schreiber football program from seasoned Head Coach Ken Case. Del Gais, a physical education teacher at Schreiber, worked under Case for five years as the defensive coordinator before making the move to lead the Vikings.

The biggest lesson he's learned?

"[Conference I] is a real tough league. We have to execute the fundamentals and if we can do that, we'll be able to compete in many games," remarked the second-year head coach.

Helping him compete and score points will be running backs Shawn McKoy, Deandre Hall, and Blaise Stoddard, who Del Gais claimed all will "take much of the workload" on the offensive. On the defense, Mascaretti highlighted defensive end Ben Marinelli as a "specialist." 

"If we're going to be successful it's going to be because all 11 guys on offense and all 11 guys on defense are playing together," Mascaretti said.

Togetherness seems to be a clear theme for the Vikings this season. Junior wide receiver Jon Weber is playing his first year on varsity and says this team is the closest-knit team he's ever been on. Del Gais sees the team as one with "good team unity." Even Tommy Maruscak, the team's new starting quarterback from Georgia, said he is being "accepted" by every player on the squad. 

Team unity will be essential for the opener against the East Meadow Jets, the fourth ranked team in Conference I. Last year, the Vikings got shut out by the Jets, 49-0, in a midseason matchup. This year, however, Schreiber will try to make sure East Meadow does not entertain themselves to a similar result.

"The first game of the year is what we're focusing on now," Mascaretti noted. "We're trying to not look too far ahead of East Meadow. It's going to be a real important game." 

Don't miss Port Patch's football preview and schedule for fall 2010.