WESTFIELD – Westfield State University football will kick off the 2017 season at Nichols College at 7 p.m. on Friday night, September 1.
The Owls return 48 players from the 2016 season highlighted by junior All-Conference running back Travon Holder (Cheney/Hartford, Conn.) who led the Owls with 769 yards rushing and five touchdowns a year ago.
“We’ve worked really hard to get the new players into our system and culture,” said Owls head coach Pete Kowalski. “Our captains and our leadership council have been very involved and we have a lot of people working off the same page.”
The Owls named four team captains: senior tight end Devin Lekan, junior wide-receiver Evan Cain, junior linebacker Andrew Carpenter and junior defensive tackle Nick Borsari.
Westfield State’s Travon Holder runs the football as Chris Saba looks to make a block. (WSU file photo)
“We were competitive in a lot of our games last season, but it’s a big leap to winning those games,” said Kowalski, who’s Owls finished 2-8 in 2016. “We’re older, smarter, and more mature, but those things alone don’t guarantee you will win just because a year has passed. We feel really good about the partnership we have developed with the University’s movement science program and professor Jason Sawyer has helped as an expert in strength and conditioning working with our team, and the players were very dedicated to it in the off season. I think we have seen some results with fewer injuries and our players are stronger, now we need to see it translate on the field.”
Westfield faces Nichols in the season opener for the 10th consecutive year. The Owls won last year’s matchup 34-21 behind 168 yards rushing from Holder.
The Owls will have a new signal-caller for 2017. Senior Phil Cohen is the most experienced, having seen action in 14 games, including eight last season. For his career, Cohen has completed 45-98 passes for 540 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore Jake Cassidy is a transfer from Division II St. Anselm College, and sophomore Andrew Peltier is back for a second season in the Owls system.
Owls’ Nick Borsari sheds a blocker. (WSU file photo)
The Owls return an experienced group at the receivers, with Cain, Evan Garvey, and Tyler Bevan leading the way. Cain has been a big play threat when healthy, with 34 catches for 433 yards and three touchdowns over the past two years, but has seen time in just six games. Garvey delivered a solid freshman season with 33 catches for 398 yards and a pair of TD’s, and Bevan made 20 grabs for 269 yards a year ago.
The Owls return Lekan at the tight end, and sophomore Adam Cahill and Temple transfer Bailey Raymond give the Owls multiple options.
Sophomore Chris Belsito will spell Holder, and juniors Mike Amoroso and Ben Geschwind will see time at fullback.
“As a former defensive coordinator, I want to see our offense be versatile and do the things that give defenses problems. We’re going to use multiple sets, and whether it’s five wideouts or tight ends and fullbacks, we will play to our strengths,” said Kowalski.
“We let our players know what their roles are, and try to keep them involved. Our players know their roles and need to take advantage of their opportunities to be productive. Sometimes it might only be one or two plays for a package that they are in, but you never know which play might be the most important one of the game. We like unselfish players, and that’s what we get a lot of at Westfield State and that’s the fun part of coaching.”
The Owls lost several key players along the offensive line from last season, but return sophomores Chris Saba and Saul Cabrera, and guard Andrew Horstmann is back after missing last season.
Defensively, the Owls are ready to roll.
“I think our defensive line has improved,” said Kowalski, “and it’s our second year with (defensive coordinator) Brian Cain leading our defense and his third year with our program. We have a lot of players on the defensive side with experience in his system and the game has slowed down for them a little bit, and they are an enthusiastic group. Traditionally, we’ve had a strong defense at Westfield State, and we want to continue that.”
Borsari leads the defensive line from the interior, and Jackson Callahan, Jake Mullins, Darryl Denson, Latin Taylor, and Ommel Bonilla give the Owls both experience and depth.
Westfield State head football coach Pete Kowalski addresses the team after a “Homecoming” victory in 2016. (WSU file photo)
Carpenter and senior Zach Howard lead the linebacking corps. Sophomore Leo Clinton, Jr. is the Owls top returning tackler, making 77 stops, including 11 TFL’s in 2016.
The defensive secondary returns senior William Tejeda, who led the team with four interceptions and made 69 tackles last year and sophomore Jack Buckley, who picked off three passes a year ago. Juniors Brandon Rivera and James English are both back as well. “Coach O’Brien has a long history of producing good defensive backs and has been a real asset to our program,” said Kowalski.
The Owls’ head coach also leads the special teams unit this year.
“We try to limit our starters’ involvement on special teams, which is an opportunity for freshmen and others to open doors for themselves by making plays. It’s all on film,” said Kowalski. “If you’re a good player and making plays, we’ll find out on film.”
“Ultimately, we want to be a tough, physical football team,” said Kowalski. “The pendulum always swings back and forth, run, pass, speed, physicality. We’re going to try to be the best at the things we do. We take from many concepts, but ultimately we want to dictate what happens in the game- run when we want to run, pass when we want to pass – it is much better to dictate than to be dictated to.”
In looking at Friday’s game, Kowalski is more focused internally than externally.
“It’s a season opener, we have some new players, coaches, their roster has changed, Nichols has a good program. It will be a good challenge.”
“I think every program has had some challenges this year with the changes the NCAA has made to the preseason,” said Kowalski. “But I think our coaching staff has been pretty flexible. With every change there is some good and some bad. With just one practice a day, I think our preseason has probably been less physically demanding, but we try to teach proper techniques through drills and repetition, and it is good for player safety. We’ve tried to limit full contact in practice for the last 20 years, and have tried to be ahead of the curve in limiting live snaps and utilizing drills for technique.”
“The big question is ‘what are we doing to make ourselves better’,” said Kowalski. “Are we better than last week, are we further along? We will start to find out this week, and know more week by week.” – Courtesy of Westfield State University Sports
