BEES “DANDY DOZEN” READY TO GO
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Tuesday night, August 18, 2015
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS – As football practice in August goes yesterday was one of those dog days that dragged on and on. And at the end of it 12 players emerged from an earlier practice session and then film and then some good pumping-up down in the weight room. By this time the Bees were ready for some R and R. Or at least the chance to sit around and talk some Brecksville-Broadview Heights football.
“The humidity was 50% today. Trainer Tom (Iannetta) has one of those gadgets that tells him the humidity,” said senior two-way lineman Nick Sokolowski. And that set the stage for the Bees “Senior Round Table”. An annual, casual get together with each years senior football players, and the chance for them to share their thoughts on a myriad of topics related to the upcoming season.
Veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black came up with the sensational idea about a half-dozen years ago. It is one of the highlights of the preseason for this old scribe, the opportunity to sit down in the Bee Hive picnic pavilion and chew the fat with the fellas for a while. A more respectful group of young men you won’t meet.
“This group is stacked with leadership. They are leaders in the classroom, on the field and in the community.” – Coach Black.
Although few in numbers the BBHHS graduating class of 2016 is an experienced and tight-knit group that has plenty of ‘been there and done that’ seasoning under its collective belt. They have been a big part of Bees teams that have made the playoffs for a school-record two consecutive seasons. The elder- statesmen of the squad have played in big games; three in the post-season, they helped win an outright Southwestern Conference championship (2013), and have laid claim to back-to-back victories over arch rival North Royalton to hold a firm grasp on the coveted Golden Shoe.
“This is one of the most successful groups of seniors we’ve ever had. They already have 18 wins in their varsity career before their senior year. While they may be small in numbers they have a lot of experience as a class on Friday night. Over 25% of the class has been three-year starters for us.” – Coach Black.
Twelve young men. A “Dandy Dozen” if you will comprise this years senior class. The Brecksville football program is in good hands with these gents showing what it takes to get the job done on the practice field and when the bright lights go on come Friday nights.
And so the much-anticipated discussion began. Questions were tossed out. They were answered at random by whomever had a thought on the subject.
The million dollar question was first. It was relative to the Bees facing a tough schedule this fall in both its non-conference games as well as its slate of seven new opponents in the Suburban League. So what about the schedule? Are you guys motivated by it? Are you uneasy about it? What’s the mindset?
“I think everyone is overlooking us. We’re one of the smallest schools in the National Division so we have to go out and prove that we belong in the Suburban League and can do something special,” said captain Tyler Tupa.
And how about the Bears? You get them at home this year, but it is a mid-season game instead of an early season game. And starting this season it means even more because it is now a conference game. Talk about the rivalry, and what it means that Royalton is in the Suburban Conference too?
“Every game is a big game for us. Against Royalton the entire city gets involved with it and that’s great. But for us every game is important,” Niall Lewison, a captain, said.
There are not a lot of you guys. This is somewhat of a small senior class. Define your role? And what does this upcoming season mean to you guys as a class?
“We’ve all been together for a long time, and we have a lot of experience together coming up. Our goal is to make the playoffs three years in a row. We would be the first class in school history to do that. A good number of us helped out when we made the playoffs our sophomore year. And more of us got experience making the playoffs last season. We want to carry that on, and set good examples for the younger guys so that they can do the same,” said captain Danny Shirilla.
What was your take after Saturday’s scrimmage at Highland? And what does the team have to do this week to get ready for the Painesville Riverside scrimmage this Friday?
“I thought we did some good things, but we have to get our speed up. That was one of our biggest problems against Highland. But once we got our one’s some more looks I thought we showed a little bit of that fire that you saw last year. And that has been what has made us so successful in previous years,” Zach Venesile, a 4.3 GPA student, said.
The Bees are 36-17 with three playoff appearances and one outright conference championship in the last five seasons. That is a nice five-year run. Do you guys feel pressure? Do you feel motivated? How do you feel about keeping that kind of success going?
“I think we have to play together like we have those past years. We’re not just teammates. We’re brothers out there on the field. So we have to keep playing like that, play tough and play fast. You’ve got to play like a Bee, man!” said captain Ryder Seballos.
“It’s a group of men that have a lot of character. They are very easy to pull for and are very successful because of that.” – Coach Black.
Talk about the fact that you can’t just do it with a senior class. Talk about how important the juniors and sophomores are, and the roles that they are going to play with this seasons’ Bee team?
“We’re going to have a lot of younger guys throughout our rotation because a lot of us are going to be playing both ways. So we are going to need some guys to step-up big. We have the talent in the junior and sophomore classes to help us out a lot. We need to all work together to help us accomplish our goals as a team,” running back Josh Underwood said.
A month from now Brecksville will be heading into its first game ever in the Suburban League. Realistically where do you guys see this team 30 days down the road? And what needs to be improved on the most from now until then?
“Right now the biggest thing that we need to improve on is getting the fire lit as soon as practice starts. And as soon as game time comes around. We have to work together and come out from the beginning going as hard as we can,” said Nick Sokolowski.
People who follow Brecksville football pretty much know what the Bees like to do offensively, and they pretty much have an idea of what type of defense the team plays. Can we expect anything new, different, or perhaps some wrinkles to the game plan this season?
“I think we are going to surprise people because we haven’t played a lot of the teams on our schedule in the past and they haven’t seen us. So it’s going to like a guessing game. Like playing a chess match. You never know what’s going to happen. We just have to go out there and do our jobs and everything will take care of itself,” Tupa said.
How has camp been so far, and what does the team have to do to finish these next two weeks strong before the opener against Padua?
“I would say that a consistent effort is a huge thing. We need everyone up and down the lineup contributing. The sophomores that give us the scout team looks, they really bring us up and get the tempo going. That is going to be important the next few weeks,” said Venesile.
The fun stuff. The off-the-field stuff. How important is having “The Swarm”, the student body, show up in big numbers on Friday nights?
“I think it’s a big thing. It’s a big deal. Because the more people we have supporting us and knowing that they are behind us really pumps us up and gives us more confidence. And if you have more confidence you are going to play better. So it is important,” said Seballos.
And with that the 2015 Bees Senior Round Table came to a end. But it wasn’t without some friendly chop-busting. “When can we interview you?”, several of the players asked in near unison. The challenge is on. Win the Suburban League and or make the playoffs and the microphone is yours.
2015 BEES FOOTBALL SENIORS:
No. Name Ht, Wt Position Hobbies
#2 – Josh Underwood … 5-9, 180 … RB/LB … Video Games
#7 – Danny Shirilla … 6-0, 160 … CB/WR … Golfing, beating Ryder in Madden
#10 – Zach Venesile … 5-9, 170 … WS/WR … Bird watching, NetFlix
#11 – Ryder Seballos … 5-10, 170 … DE/TE … Hanging with friends, beating Danny in WWE
#13 – P.J. Austin … 6-1, 160 … WR/CB … 2K, Madden
#19 – Tyler Tupa … 6-2, 200 … WR/SS … Golfing, singing
#22 – Niall Lewison … 5-11, 186 … SS/WR … Friends, video games
#58 – Nick Sokolowski … 6-5, 250 … LT/DT … Firefighting, friends, boating
#60 – Bobby Gladding … 6-0, 195 … OL/DL
#70 – Dean Campbell … 6-1, 230 … DN/OG … Working on cars.
#77 – Andrew Siegman … 6-4, 250 … OT/DT … Cooking, gardening
#78 – Eddie Sternad … 5-11, 230 … DN/DT … Hunting, Madden
SENIORS IN THE CLASSROOM:
Three Bees have accumulative grade point averages above 4.0 through their first three years of high school; Zach Venesile (4.3), Ryder Seballos (4.1) and Danny Shirilla (4.1).
See You At The Bee Hive!
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