By Kevin Connelly

kconnelly@vindy.com

CORTLAND

What do you get when you combine a three-way quarterback battle to begin fall camp and a brutal first three regular-season games?

Lakeview’s less-than-satisfying 0-3 start to last season.

The Bulldogs managed to turn things around by finishing unbeaten over the final seven games, but an early first round exit from the playoffs was all they had to show for the experience.

While the early season slate isn’t any easier this year — at Hubbard and back-to-back home games against Struthers and Howland — the Bulldogs have a quarterback coming off an impressive sophomore campaign who is looking to build on his, and the team’s, late-season success.

“I feel a lot more comfortable and relaxed,” said quarterback Angelo Marino. “Now I just have to keep getting better every day.”

That’s been the mindset for the entire team, and head coach Tom Pavlansky is pleased about what he’s seen so far.

“Angelo, like most of his teammates, has gotten bigger, faster, stronger,” said Pavlansky, now in his 16th season. “This team has goals and they’ve been working hard to achieve them.”

Offense

Along with Marino, Lakeview has eight other returning starters on an offense that averaged 350 yards last season. Michael Mannella will handle the bulk of the carries, while Ryan Pishotti will be one of many familiar targets for Marino.

“Having that experience is obviously a plus,” Pavlansky said. “I guess you’d rather have it than not, but again most of the kids played in significant games last year and hopefully they can build on that, and understand what allowed them to have success.”

Marino’s work in the offseason was mentioned more than once by his teammates.

“He’s been working really hard getting better, getting his arm stronger, getting the tight spiral the ball needs to have every single time,” Pishotti said. “He’s also been working on his timing with different receivers.

“It was a step in the right direction last year, but we worked more and more together in the offseason just getting that timing down again.”

Defense

The Bulldogs’ defense doesn’t return the numbers the offense does, but the core of the unit is intact.

Luke Harrison and Chris Romano will be up the middle, while Andrew Grove and Ryan Pishotti will patrol the secondary.

“Those four guys have a lot of experience,” Pavlansky said. “They’ve played a lot of ballgames here the last two years and we’re going to rely on those guys to help bring up some of the younger guys so they understand what the level of play’s going to be like on a Friday night.”

Romano led the team in tackles last season, and expects to do the same again this year. The senior also wants to be a leader in his approach.

“We’re an underrated defense right now,” Romano said. “We want to make big plays. We’re going to be young, but we’ve got big players on defense that people should look out for.”

Special Teams

Matt Pasternak, last year’s district player of the year in soccer, joined the other football team midway through last season. While Pasternak will still play on the Bulldogs’ soccer team, Pavlansky is excited to have him on the football team for a full season.

“Matt has the strongest leg that we’ve had since I’ve been here, so hopefully he can be a weapon for us,” Pavlansky said.

Outlook

If the Bulldogs can make it through their early gauntlet better off than they did last year, they could push Hubbard in the All-American White Division.

But Pavlansky refuses to look at it like that.

“We know the first three weeks is quite a challenge and so if we just focus on those first three weeks in terms of wins and losses, that may defeat the purpose of getting better today,” he said. “We just want to get better today and then go see what happens.”