Mathews seeking leadership

August 25, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

By Kevin Connelly

VIENNA — The general consensus among Mathews football players is that the Mustangs lacked leadership during their 1-9 campaign last season. With just three seniors departing from that team, there will be plenty of candidates to step up and take on the role this year — it’s just a matter of who will do it.

“I want us to grow as a team,” said senior linebacker Angelo Freed. “Last year, we didn’t play like a team and we had a lot of young guys, but this year we’ve got to come together.”

Second-year coach Mike Palumbo feels his team is light years ahead of where it was last season.

“Kids know what to expect and it just seems a lot smoother than it was last year,” Palumbo said.

Offense

The Mustangs are moving Alex Bagaglia — who was under center for them last season — to fullback and transitioning Cobie Pratt into the quarterback role. He will rely heavily on the running game with the return of 1,000-yard rusher Austin Arnal and Evan Glancy, who appeared in just three games a year ago, but ran for 300 yards in one of them.

WR Wyatt Ford will be asked to take on a bigger role.

“We want to control the ball which means limiting our turnovers, being smart and knowing our responsibilities individually and as a team,” Ford said.

Defense

One of the biggest issues with last year’s defense — which gave up more than 275 yards on the ground — was its lack of aggressiveness.

Freed likes the changes he’s seen.

“We’re coming out hard this year,” he said. “It’s our job to keep the younger guys motivated.”

Special Teams

Catching the ball isn’t the only thing Ford will be asked to do. Palumbo said he’ll also do the majority of the kicking.

Outlook

The good news about losing just three seniors off last year’s team is that you have a depth chart full of familiar names. The concern is that the collection of names didn’t perform up to expectations last season.

“I think it’s going to take us being a team and someone stepping up and showing some leadership,” Bagaglia said. “We didn’t have much of that last year, so it’s important.”

With 10 returning starters on offense, and nine on defense, Mathews won’t have the youth factor as an excuse this fall. Palumbo started six freshmen in Week 10 last season to prepare them.

“We want this year,” Freed said. “This is our year.”