Speed Key for Flyers in 2011 Campaign

They say that speed kills.

Speed has the ability to make things happen; make other teams blink.

Speed will be key for the varsity football team as it begins its 2011 campaign this afternoon at home.

Last Season: 0-7 league; 1-9 overall

Coach: Stephen Boyd (third season).

Position Breakdown: “Overall team speed is better this year,” head coach Stephen Boyd said as the Flyers wrapped up training camp Friday afternoon.

This will be the second year Chaminade will be running their triple option offense, which doesn’t require every linemen to be a certain height and weight.

“It’s very hard to defend, you have to spend a lot of time defensively making sure that everybody has their certain responsibility,” Boyd said. “It’s really made for a team that is quicker off the ball.”

Both junior and senior offensive lines have had 2010 to adapt to the style of play and should be ready to fully implement on the field. Two current juniors who played as sophomores are QB Joseph Anile IV and RB Daniel Fowler.

One of the key components in Chaminade’s roster will be speedster John Desepoli, one of three seniors who were not on the team last year. The other two are RB/DB Matt Graham and Brendan Caputo, who are “having an immediate impact on our team because they’re all athletic,” Boyd said. “The main thing is our team speed in the team positions is better; that doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t block anybody.” Junior WR/DB Thomas Zhenker and Henley McCaber add to the defensive line.

Expectations: One of the perennial axioms of the Catholic League is that every year everyone gets better.

At the end of the 2010 season, Chaminade was ranked 10th in both offensive (1,592 rushing, 747 passing) and defensive categories (average of 339 yards allowed per game).

“We put the defense on the field too much last year,” Boyd said.

The first half of 2010 was marked by close losses where the offense failed to score in the second half of games.

The opposite proved true in the second half of the season where the Flyers showed comeback prowess beginning with .

Boyd is quick to point out that the Flyers made mistakes but “we learned a lot. You just can’t make mistakes especially in this league there are too many good teams.”

One of those teams will be waiting Saturday as Kellenberg will play its first Triple-A match against its sister school.

“There’s no where to hide. You don’t look at the schedule and say ‘well that’s an easy game. Every game is a battle. If you’re not healthy and you’re not fully prepared, you’re in for a real tough situation. I think it’s great because week in and week out, the opponents just get tougher and tougher and tougher.”