Football team suffered from growing pains

by Eric Keppeler
Grand Island Dispatch, November 17, 2006

The 2006 season didn’t go quite as well as Grand Island football coach Dean Santorio might have hoped.

Inexperience and injuries were enough to slow the Vikings in a tough Class A-North. Grand Island wound up 3-6 overall and 3-3 in the division, but the Vikes struggled down the stretch, losing five of their last six games.

It was a tough way to follow up the 2005 campaign that saw Grand Island go 9-2 and win a sectional crown before finally falling in the regionals. After losing so many starters from that talented squad, a drop-off might have been expected, but that didn’t make it any easier when it happened.

“What really hurt us was losing two close games at the beginning of the year,” Santorio said. “We lost to Albion and Starpoint, and we were one play away from winning both of those games. We were a little inexperienced. We had a lack of execution and we made some mistakes that hurt us, but we could easily have won our first five division games.”

There were bright spots.

The rotation at quarterback between sophomore Joe Oliverio and junior Matt Klock became a moot point when Klock suffered a broken leg midway through the season. Oliverio completed 42 of 89 passes for 636 yards and three touchdowns, while Klock went 20 of 44 for 265 yards and one TD.

“Joe did a nice job after Matt got hurt,” Santorio said. “It built a little confidence for him. Next year, they’ll both be back and we want to find a way to get them both on the field. The goal is to have them both ready to go.”

The rushing attack was by committee as Matt McKenna ran 73 times for 349 yards and three touchdowns, while Darryl Caldwell had 77 rushes for 237 yards and one TD and Alex Webb had 31 carries for 175 yards and five touchdowns. Mike Scappechio was hurt for much of the season and finished with 48 carries for 168 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior Phil Wendt was the leading receiver with 24 catches for 302 yards and a pair of scores. Zac Tondera added 11 catches for 193 yards and Alex Neutz had 11 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, senior end James Rayhill led the way with 61 tackles – including a remarkable 24 for loss – and 9.5 sacks. Webb added 49 tackles and 25 sacks, while Nick Tomkins had 43 tackles and 2.5 sacks and Christian Nestark – who was a force at linebacker before suffering a fractured ankle in the fourth game of the season – had 35 tackles and an interception.

Several of the Vikings earned All-League recognition as Rayhill, Wendt, Neutz and Nestark all made the First Team. Tomkins, Webb and Andy Czerwonka made the Second Team and Jason Voltz, Mike Davis, McKenna, Jim Boorady and Kong Chen received Honorable Mention.

The Vikes will lose a number of seniors but hope to reload with members of this year’s 6-2 junior varsity squad.

“Every year, we try to be competitive enough to fight for a playoff spot,” Santorio said. “We want to continue that. If we can develop our offensive line, I think we can improve and challenge for the playoffs.”