Wissahickon

By DANIEL CARVALHO

dcarvalho@timesherald.com

LOWER GWYNEDD — It takes a certain kind of person to throw on the Wissahickon High shoulder pads.

Or at least that’s the way fourth-year head coach Jeff Cappa looks at it.

“We have really good athletes walking in our school,” Cappa said. “It takes a special person to come out and play for us.

“We run a tight ship and the guys that aren’t able to do that I’m OK with. We don’t need the numbers, we want the right people in here doing the job.”

Make no mistake about it, Cappa and his coaching staff are all business. And when you play in a conference with the likes of skilled schools such as Plymouth Whitemarsh, Upper Dublin, Upper Merion, Cheltenham and newcomer Hatboro-Horsham, there is no room for error.

The Trojans are preparing for the upcoming 2014 football season the only way they know how — hard work and dedication with quality, not quantity.

“We started out the summer with 60, we’re down to about 52 right now,” Cappa explained.

“I don’t worry about the number of players we have, I worry about the types of players we have … We got 52 of the right kids that do the right thing and work hard.”

After falling short of the Suburban One League American Conference title a year ago with a league record of 5-2, Wissahickon returns a handful of starters.

Most noticeably the Trojans get an experienced contingent in offensive linemen, with three out of five starters coming back. Drew Bright-Bailey, Jason Caso, and Kyle Stein, that will go to battle in the trenches getting a push in the running game for senior running back Josh Trunk, and some breathing room for two-year starting quarterback Michael Marino.

In just his junior season, Marino is comfortable in his role as the field general of the Trojans. He threw for 823 passes in 2013 and seven touchdowns, and will have help offensively with all-around athlete Josh Smith returning for his final year.

Smith was the leading rusher for Wissahickon a season ago, picking up 556 yards on the ground and finding the end zone four times.

But it’s also how Smith contributes with his arm and on special teams that makes him a standout on the roster. He contributed with 184 passing yards and four TDs and he took two kickoff returns back for scores.

“The problem that we have offensively and it’s a good problem to have — how do we get all the guys the ball?” Cappa quipped. “We have so many guys that can carry the football and do some good things for us.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Trojans will rely on returner Kyle Stein to wreak havoc on opposing backfields. Stein accounted for 42.5 tackles, one sack, one interception, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.

“We’re really focusing on building up our defense,” Cappa said. “We changed some of our schemes to get more guys flying to the football.”

All in all, the Trojans will be banking on their speed and quickness on both sides of the ball by subbing in fresh legs, something Cappa notes can be used to win some games.

“We’ve got a lot of speed with the skill players,” Cappa said.

“We don’t win games with the size, you win games with the tenacity and the passion to get jobs done. (The players) do that in the weight room, they do that on practice, and hopefully it translates to the games.

“We don’t have 11 starters on offense or defense,” Cappa said, “we have 15 to 20 offense, 15 to 20 on defense.”

And as always, the ultimate goal for Wissahickon is a championship – whether it is conference or district.

“First goal is a winning record, second goal is playoffs, third goal is conference championship,” Cappa said. “We are striving right now for all of that. Anyone that plays the game that isn’t striving for a championship, you’re not doing it the right way.”

“Obviously everybody wants to make playoffs, but right now we just have to take it game-by-game and just come stronger the next game and having a winning season,” safety Jon Laracuente said.

“That’s our goal every year.”