Shady Spring – Last year was different for Shady Spring football coach Vince Culicerto. Not just because of COVID, but because he was faced with something he hadn’t encountered in his career – injuries by the dozen.
By Week 3 he had lost his starting quarterback and top two skill players in Jadon Hershberger and Isaiah Valentine to injuries.
The Tigers hope last season was more of an outlier.
“We’ve had more time with them this year to get them ready,” Culicerto said. “Last year was rough with the protocols and everything. We’re doing football just like we did two years ago. They got to get out here and weightlift, they got to go to their summer camps which means they’re on their feet working. Last year we were all sitting and then just tried to jump in and play again and I really think that hurt my team because I followed the rules.
“I think that led to some of it, but every veteran head coach told me they’ve had that bad luck year. And I’ve been fortunate not to have one that bad and that one was it. We’ll hope to not have one again, but just getting to condition and train should help this year.”
As Culicerto eluded to, that likely won’t be the issue this time around. In addition to fall camp, the Tigers had a full three-week period at the end of July to get the ball rolling on their season. Culicerto has already noticed a difference.
“These guys have been on the field for a bit and that gives you a good advantage when you have attendance, which we did,” Culicerto said. “We had really good attendance. Our team this year? We’re going to see. We had a lot of kids play last year that normally wouldn’t with the crazy season and the injuries. I know experience is huge, but we’ve got some green guys too. We think we can be okay, but you don’t know yet.”
One of the storylines out of camp is the quarterback battle between junior Cameron Manns, who started several games last year due to injury, and sophomore Brady Green, who transferred from Independence. Manns has the lead on the job but is open to moving around and possibly playing receiver.
For Culicerto, who has deployed a two-quarterback system in the past, it’s a good problem to have.
“I love it,” Culicerto chuckled. “Cameron’s showed out. Brady, we love to death and he’s going to be special, but he’s had a year off and he last played in middle school. But he’s also getting used to me. We think the world of him, but Cam’s right in and rolling but he’s looked real good. It’s not for sure, but it’s a good problem to have. We’re going to try and get both of them in the game.”
Whoever wins the battle will have support on offense. The Tigers return offensive contributors Bryson Pinardo and Tyler Mackey, both of whom are weapons in the running and passing game. That’s optimal for Culicerto who loves getting his skill players in space with quick passes but he still expects a balanced offense.
“I think we’re going to show both,” Culicerto said. “It’s just going to be more about what’s working best for us. We can run and pass, but our line’s going to determine a lot of that. Are we moving people out? Is it a team we feel we can run on? If I feel like I can run, the percentages are higher and I’ll stick to it. But I might come into a game and think we’ll have to put it in the air to open up the run. But Caleb Whittaker is another guy that can help us along with Pinardo and Mackey. Whittaker started as a sophomore, so we’ve got a decent bit of boys who can run, some players to throw it to and two quarterbacks that can run too, so we’ll see how it works.”
The Tigers will need to be firing on all cylinders if they hope to return to the playoffs after a year on the outside. Still, Culicerto isn’t lumping lofty expectations on this team. After their stint in Class AAA, rebuilding the program took several years, thus he knows it’s a process to get back to the postseason.
“I think our top goal is to return from last year injury free,” Culicerto said. “And I really know how important that is after last season. We also want to be more aggressive. With this team, our defense let up a little bit and that was due to some injuries. But still, we just weren’t really aggressive, weren’t good tacklers but I think we’ll be better at it. I think getting some wins under our belt early would be huge too. I think that would build their confidence up. Last season has them with their heads down a bit, but we’re trying to build that back up and the only way to do it is to win games, so I think we can be decent. That’s what I’ve been telling people which means one way or the other we’re going to be right there in the middle and we’ll see how it’s going to end up being.”
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94
Schedule
1 08/27/21 7:30PM H – TUG VALLEY –
2 09/03/21 7:30PM H – NICHOLAS COUNTY –
3 09/11/21 3:00PM H – SUMMERS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL –
4 09/17/21 7:30PM A – INDEPENDENCE SENIOR –
5 09/24/21 7:30PM A – PIKEVIEW –
6 10/01/21 7:30PM A – WESTSIDE –
7 10/08/21 7:30PM A – WYOMING EAST –
8 10/15/21 7:30PM H – MINGO CENTRAL –
9 10/22/21 7:30PM H – RIPLEY –
10 10/29/21 7:30PM A – LIBERTY (RALEIGH) –
Roster
# Pos. Name Gr Ht Wt Avg
1 QB/WR BRADY GREEN 10 6’3 200
2 WR WALKER FURROW 10 5’4 105
4 WR IAN WHITED 12 6’0 175
8 K/WR WILL HARMON 11 5’9 170
9 WR MYLES GREENWAY 9 6’0 150
10 WR TYLER MACKEY 11 5’9 170
11 WR JACOB SHOWALTER 12 5’7 140
12 QB KAMERON BALL 12 6’1 160
13 QB CAMERON MANNS 11 6’4 215
15 QB/WR BRADY ROSE 9 5’9 150
16 WR JAYDEN STRAUGHN 12 6’1 165
19 WR JACOB KUBOW 9 5’7 125
22 RB JAMES SELLARDS 11 6’1 210
23 RB HUNTER HAMILTON 10 5’6 150
25 RB BRIAN EVANS 12 5’8 150
26 WR MICHAEL BURGESS 10 5’4 130
28 TE/RB CALEB WHITTAKER 12 5’10 195
30 WR JACOB LILLY 10 6’0 155
33 RB GARRETT BLAKE 10 5’6 155
34 WR HAYDEN JOHNSON 12 6’0 175
41 RB BRYSON PINARDO 12 5’10 185
44 RB BRODY SEABOLT 9 5’6 160
45 WR GAVIN DAVIS 10 5’9 175
50 OL CONNOR PENNINGTON 10 5’7 190
51 OL TREY BIGLEY 12 5’10 265
52 TE RHYAN GREEN 11 5’11 155
53 OL DYLAN RITCHIE 9 5’11 170
54 OL BEN MYERS 11 6’1 250
56 OL ADEN SEABOLT 12 5’8 165
57 OL JONATHAN CANTLEY 9 5’10 220
58 OL PHOENIX SNUFFER 12 6’0 200
60 OL JAKOB PRESLEY 11 5’10 220
61 OL BUZZ MCCORMACK 9 6’1 220
62 OL JOSEPH GUAJARDO 12 5’9 260
63 OL JACOB DILLY 11 5’11 190
64 OL ALEX REDDEN 12 5’10 285
65 OL TRAVIS MORTON 11 5’8 260
70 OL NATHAN HILL 9 5’10 220
72 OL TANNER SMITH 9 5’7 240
77 OL JOHN HINKLE 10 6’1 250
78 OL LATRAEL HAIRSTON 10 6’5 310
79 OL JOSEPH MEADOR 9 5’9 270
80 TE COLTEN HENDERSON 9 6’1 200
82 WR BRAELEN HOLSTEIN 10 6’0 180
84 TE KAEDEN COOPER 9 6’2 165
88 WR/TE CONNOR DAVIS 9 5’8 175