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GIVE ME LIBERTY - Jackson Liberty Football Preview
The last two area high school football programs to debut made the state playoffs in their inaugural season. What does the 2007 campaign hold for Jackson Liberty?
Published: 08/27/2007
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Give Me Liberty
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The last two area high school football programs to debut made the state playoffs in their inaugural season. What does the 2007 campaign hold for Jackson Liberty?
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By - Scott Clayton - Senior Staff Writer
Helmets? Check. Shoulder pads? Check. Playoff tickets? We shall see.
Just a year after Barnegat entered the realm of Shore Conference football and seven years since the first season on the gridiron at Colts Neck, Jackson Liberty will begin varsity play with a home contest against Bridgeton under the lights on Sept. 7. While the Lions would love to follow their most recent predecessors into the state playoffs in their first season, for every similarity between the start-up programs there are many differences.
Head coach Tim Osborn was a veteran assistant coach
at both Brick and Toms River North before starting the Jackson Liberty
program on the junior varsity level in 2006. Joining him on the Lions'
staff is Frank Giannetti, another former coach at Toms River North, who
played on the defensive line at Penn State University and was a 10th
round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 1991.
"Barnegat is the team we're trying to measure ourselves against,"
Osborn said. "We're not going to use the fact that we're new as an
excuse."
Barnegat is a tough comparison for a new program, however, as the
Bengals had the groundwork for their program in place a full year
before the school opened its doors. Head coach Rob Davis then followed
his current senior class through freshman and sophomore football before
the Bengals got started in the Shore Conference National Division last
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Longtime Shore Conference assistant Tim Osborn gets his first crack at a head varsity coaching position at first-year Jackson Liberty.
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fall. Osborn and his staff got one year of jayvee and now it's on to varsity, and a barnstorming schedule while Liberty awaits admission into the Shore Conference before the 2008 season.
The Bengals qualified for the South Jersey Group I bracket with a 4-4 record before finishing the season at 4-6 in 2006. Colts Neck has seniors on its team when it went 7-4 and won a Central Jersey Group I game in 2000.
"I think we'll be ready for any team we play regardless of who it is," junior tailback Pat Joseph said. "We'll prepare for Bridgeton the same way we would for Toms River or Brick."
"It's pretty much just going out and getting our name out there and trying to get better for next year," said junior quarterback Chris Castronuova.
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Castronuova is new to the Liberty system after
moving into the sending district over the summer. Castronuova saw
varsity action as a wide receiver at Jackson Memorial last year and
hopes he can bring some of the Jaguars' winning ways to his new team.
"The system's very similar to what he grew up playing in the Pop
Warner program," Osborn said. "He's a good pick-up for us. He's seen
seniors in action and he has seen how leaders act and he'll be one of
the leaders for us."
"It was tough to learn that old offense and then to come here,"
Castronuova said. "All the other players had it down already, but I
picked it up pretty quick."
One of the biggest challenges for
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Junior Chris Castronuova (10) will get his shot to lead a varsity program at Jackson Liberty.
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Jackson Liberty, as it was for Barnegat last year, will be to overcome the size advantage that most senior-laden teams will have. The offensive line is expected to be manned by Brendan Kahle, Jordan DiCenzo, Matt Tracy, Jason Nowakowski and Rob Florkowski. Many of the same players will fill slots on the defensive line, with Cody Edley added to the mix. Linebackers Kahle and Chris Lowe appear to be one of the team's strengths at this point.
Tim Baker and Chris Griffen are expected to play both ways at receiver and in the defensive backfield. Joseph will also fill a spot in the secondary when he's not following fullback Tanner Ogilvie through holes in the opposing defense. Converted quarterback Shane Caricari and tight end John Sielder will also be targets in the passing game for Castronuova.
Osborn will run a multiple offense that has its roots in what Toms River North ran earlier this decade. Liberty's 4-4 defensive scheme is a hold over from Brick, where Osborn coached under Warren Wolf from 1981 to 1998. With 55 kids in the varsity and junior varisty programs at Liberty and another 39 on the freshman squad, according to Osborn, the effects of the school's opening is also being felt across town at Jackson Memorial.
"You always lose talent. Jackson, the Pop Warner's, been very successful. When a town splits you're going to lose talent," Jaguars head coach Mike Smith said. "Obviously you're going to lose numbers. We're usually around 100 and we're down to about 65. Liberty's going to come on and they're going to be a good program."
"I'd say we probably have four or five kids right now that could be starters over there," Osborn said.
There are certainly worse programs in the Shore from which to poach talent than Jackson, a perennial top 10 team in the Shore. Starting next Friday, we will see if the town can support more than one high-powered team.
Head coach
Tim Osborn, first season.
Assistant
coaches: Frank Giannetti (Def. coordinator/Off. line); Jim Rankin (Off. coordinator/Running backs); Dan Barker (Linebackers); Jim Sharples (Linebackers); T.J. Collins (Secondary); Warren Towns (Receivers); Keith Smicklo (Quarterbacks); Jason Lynch (Off. line); Sean Monahan, Anthony Myers, Brad Osborn (Frosh); Nicolle Figaro (Athletic Trainer).
 X-FACTOR: Everything is an X-factor for a start-up program, but the Lions' schedule is truly unique, with road trips from Wildwood to Long Island Lutheran and no home games between opening night and October 26.
 IMPACT NEWCOMER: Since they are all newcomers, we'll go with junior running back Pat Joseph, who was the Lions' top offensive threat in a preseason scrimmage against Barnegat on August 23.
 PIVOTAL
GAME: Despite the success of Colts Neck and Barnegat in their first seasons, Jackson Liberty is playing with house money. Rather than the obvious choice of the debut game against Bridgeton, we'll go with the October 12 trip to Holmdel for the Lions first game against a Shore Conference opponent.
E-mail:
clayton@digitalsports.com.
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