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Team Vitals
Head Coach: Kevin White 2018 Record: 3-7 Tenure: 14th season Assistants: Kevin White, Mike Aliotta, Anthony Colabella, Joe Lee and Dylan Rimsky State Section: North, Group 2
The Players
The Franchise Player(s): Senior RB/LB Nick Matthew
The Core: Senior QR/DB Reilly Nelson (6-2, 180), junior LB/FB Brett Lewis, senior OL/DL Justin Lockwood, senior OL Matt Tcheejeyan, senior OL David Sisco and Junior TE/DE Trey McDonald.
Studs to Look Out For: Senior OL Faiz Shaikh, senior DB Dan Cavallo, junior OL Matt Smith, junior OL John Ramirez, junior DL Pete DiNicola, junior LB Zach Van Zile, juniori DB Will Catell, junior DB Jeff Krippner, sophomore QB Aidan Duffy and sophomore WR Jack Matthew.
The Skinny & Prediction
There is a lot of buzz around town about Kinnelon. While Nick Matthew is an extremely versatile player, this year’s Colts are by no means a one-trick pony and opponents will be having a hard time figuring out who to focus on.
Coach White is a state championship coach and knows what it takes to go the distance. Battling through this schedule will be tricky as there are not one gimme games. One good thing about this schedule is most of the middle stretch will be in front of their home fans.
Anther good thing about Kinnelon’s schedule is they’ll likely be facing the same opponents in the postseason as teams like Parsippany, Wallkill, Mountain Lakes and Pequannock are all slated as preseason favorites to make it to the playoffs. So facing off against a familiar foe is better than facing an unknown team.
Teams, not individuals, win championships. If this Colts team can stay fortified and keep the focus on the greater team, there is no reason we can’t see this group making noise in the Second Season.
George Muha has been covering high school sports since 2006. He feels high school scholar-athletes are the most important part of the community and highlighting their achievements on the field, in the classroom and within the community is his personal mission.