Bedfordtimesregister.com - Chanel football begins new era with new squad

by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

The St. Peter Chanel football team has a new head coach and faces new challenges entering the 2008 season.

Wally Spisak takes over for the departed Dave Stupka, who's now coaching at Midpark. Spisak and his staff are charged with the task of replacing 15 talented players lost to graduation.

In fact, Chanel has just three returning players with extensive experience at the varsity level. Those three are senior tight end/outside linebacker Arthur Jordon, senior guard/linebacker Adrian Torres and junior halfback/defensive back Isaiah Chambers.

That being said, the Firebirds have a lot of newcomers that they'll be counting upon for contributions during the course of the campaign.

The newcomers include junior Dominic Petrella and senior Cameron Brown, who are competing for time at the quarterback position. Brown will also play strong safety.

Junior lineman Tanner Neumore sat out the 2007 season with a broken wrist, but he's ready for action this year. Joining him on the line are senior tackle Bill Barrett, senior center Brandon Alatas and junior tight end Tedario Cassel.

Among the newcomers in the backfield are junior fullback Demetrius Styles, sophomore wingback Danny Orrill, senior wingback Eric Hinton and sophomore wingback Kadeem Brewer.

On the defensive line, sophomore Cody Walters will play nose tackle, while senior Royal Blaine will hold down one of the tackle spots. Also in the mix are junior inside linebacker Devonta Williams and junior outside linebacker Bobby Gittinger.

In addition to Brown, Chambers and Hinton, junior Brady Payne will roam the secondary. In the area of special teams, Jordon has been tabbed to handle the placekicking duties.

According to Spisak, one of the team's concerns at the outset of the season is depth.

"We have a good group of kids, and they've very dedicated," said Spisak. "We're just low on numbers. We have 40 kids, and that includes some freshmen. We have 10 freshmen, and the rest are upperclassmen. Our No. 1 issue is that we want to stay healthy.

"As far as strengths are concerned, we have a lot of team speed," Spisak added. "We have an inexperienced offensive line, though, and that's probably our biggest weakness. We're going to try to correct that."

Last year, Chanel finished the regular season with an overall record of 6-4. That was good enough to get the Firebirds into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, they ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Youngstown Ursuline, the eventual Division V state runner-up. Chanel traveled to Youngstown for its first-round game and suffered a 43-0 drubbing at the hands of the Irish.

Chanel is a member of the White Division of the North Coast League. Spisak anticipates a highly competitive slate of league games.

"Our cross-town rival is Trinity, and that's somebody we're always gunning for," said Spisak. "They have a new head coach there and a good program. We always look forward to playing Cleveland Central Catholic, as well as [Villa Angela] St. Joseph's, and Lake Catholic is the last game of the season. We have Elyria Catholic and Canton Central Catholic on the schedule, too."

Spisak has been impressed by what he's seen of his players so far, and he's optimistic about the Firebirds' upcoming season-for more reasons than one.

"We're just going to take it one week at a time and focus on the fundamentals," he said. "We want to improve each day and do the best we can. There are a lot of lessons from football that you can relate to life in general. We want the kids to leave [the program] with something that will last a lifetime. Wins and losses will happen regardless, but the lessons of life are what's most important."

Spisak's assistant coaches are Dan Woneolowski (defensive coordinator/cornerbacks/wingbacks), John Spisak (offensive coordinator/running backs/linebackers), 1972 Chanel graduate Frank Russo (defensive line), Joe Bielanski (quarterbacks/cornerbacks), Tom Sereinak (wide receivers/kickers), Jason Walters (offensive and defensive line), Chanel graduate James Duke (tight ends/linebackers) and Sam Fiorentino (offensive and defensive lines).

Chanel will open the new season Aug. 22 against Cleveland John F. Kennedy. Kickoff time at Ripp Field is set for 7:30 p.m.

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