Sachem Players, Coaches Take Part in Suffolk Coaches Football Combine

With the sun shining and balls being thrown on the field at Half Hollow Hills West High School it almost felt like football season Sunday afternoon.

While the regular season is quickly approaching sooner then you expect, the off-season is in full swing as nearly 200 players took part in the second annual Suffolk County Football Coaches Association (SCFBCA) Combine.

Tested on the usual six areas of the bench press, short shuttle, vertical leap, broad jump, 40-yard dash and three-cone drill, athletes' scores were recorded, every move video taped and information dispersed through Blue Chips, a recruiting service based on Long Island.

“It’s being filmed, so a coach can go on a website and see a kid run the 40-yard dash or watch a kid bench press,” said Hans Wiederkehr, president of the SCFBCA.

After the combine testing, players broke off into two separate groups – linemen and skilled players (QB, RB, WR) – and worked on drills, which were also filmed.

“If you run a 4.5 in the 40, what good is it if you can’t catch a football?” said Wiederkehr. “So now the coaches can see them throwing a football, catching a football. Other combines you get your number, do your thing and go home. Here there is a lot more going on.”

The results are emailed directly to each player so they have the material to send to college coaching staffs.

“This is a great opportunity for the kids on the island to get a feel for where they are,” said Sachem North head coach Dave Falco. “From a college standpoint it’s good to be able to tell a coach they participated in this combine and how they did. The main objective in this is to promote football and let the colleges know we’re serious and we have some really good athletes here.”

The top finishers from the showcase are invited to a combine the same day as the Empower Upstate-Downstate Football Classic June 6 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Sachem’s Jesse Scanna and James Thompson will compete in the classic this year.

Joining Falco at the combine were his assistants Dave Caputo, Mike Marrato, Tom Pandolf and Alex Grimm.

Among the Sachem athletes participating were North’s Dalton Crossan, who participated in a Nike showcase at Penn State Saturday, Trent Crossan, Tyler Andreassi, Vincent Provenzano and Vinny Juliano, as well as East’s Steven Casali, Joe Ryan, Mike Marchello and Anthony Riggi.

“It shows the college coaches what we have and what we can do athletically,” Casali said. “It helps. Football season is all year around. You always have to work hard.”

"It's great to compete against Long Island talent," said Dalton Crossan, who finished first in two categories and third in another. "It's great for Long Island football to get their talent out there and to show people that it's the real deal."