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Long: Loaded Crusader offense owns day

Bergen Catholic fans could not have asked for a better day weather-wise to be outside Saturday morning to take in the annual Red & White Intra-Squad scrimmage. With the enjoyable weather, music pumping through Crusader Stadium, and with the smell and sight of smoke emanating from various grills, one would think it was already the September 11th season opener against LaSalle High School. But despite this being only the first preseason scrimmage, the excitement and anticipation for a new era of Crusader football was evident with a large contingent of fans catching their first glimpse of the Nunzio Campanile era.

Coach Campanile, standing out from the rest of his coaching staff on the field as he wore his red Under Armour BC coaching jacket despite the 80 degree weather, presided over the contest between his offense in white and his defensive unit in red. He saw a big play nearly go the distance on the first play from scrimmage as new quarterback Tanner McEvoy found running back Mike Gerst with a simple drop off pass that the speedy junior nearly took down the near sideline before getting tripped up at the last second by a member of the secondary. Like his older brother and former BC speedster Nick Gerst, Mike will be a serious speed threat on outside runs for the Crusader offense this season.

Obviously the focal point of the offense and for the entire Bergen Catholic squad will be the play of their senior signal caller Tanner McEvoy. McEvoy impressed with his decision making abilites in the spread attack. While the senior QB did not necessarily connect on any long throws during the scrimmage, he dazzled with his mobility in and outside the pocket, and was devastating on his designed QB draws and option runs. This was certainly a key for Mike Halligan's exceptional play last season under center, and McEvoy showed his athleticism by breaking several tackles and just showing his keen field vision that he used to become an elite receiver the past two seasons.

And for those who still believe that McEvoy should have been left at wideout, well Coach Campanile did feature McEvoy at his old position in several different formations during the scrimmage, and included a nice reception of 20+ yards on a perfect pass from back up Anthony LiGregni.

Again while the white team did not challenge the defense down field all that much, the offense looked adept at connecting with corner routes and seam patterns that eventually led to scores. The option is still alive on offense, but McEvoy looked a little shaky with some of his pitches to his tail backs. The offense has a ton of playmakers this season, and the one to keep an eye on is certainly junior wide receiver Chucky Wingate. The sidelines were buzzing whenever he made a circus-like catch, and he reminds me a lot of Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham with his ankle-breaking moves right after he hauls in a reception. With Wingate as a slot receiver and getting plenty of attention in the middle of the field, things will be sure to open up for star wide receiver Cam Dickerson who hauled in a nice pass across the middle and finished off his run an additional 30 yards down the sideline.

The standout player in the scrimmage was tailback/tight end Spencer Kulcsar who broke free from a host of tacklers down the far sideline and reversed field to the near side for an 80 yard TD run. Kulscar is a workhorse running back who can break off a jaw-dropping run any time he touches the ball. The newest Crusader weapon on offense will be running back James Dawson, a transfer from Don Bosco, who also broke off a 70+ yard touchdown run in the second half of the scrimmage. The running back stable of starter Karl Bostick, who had some power runs in the first half, Kulscar, Gerst, and Dawson might prove to be the best collection of speed in North Jersey.

They had plenty of holes opened up by an offensive line that looked to be in tremendous physcial shape, as all the lineman looked tall, thin, and were not hunched over at all during the scrimmage. Zach Sparber looks to anchor the line at left tackle this season, and TC Picariello delivered some devastating trap blocks.

The BC defense was interesting to watch because they were content with giving up the underneath passing routes, but were solid in not giving up any long passing plays. Chucky Wingate added an interception for a TD in the second half off of McEvoy, and Shutang Mungwa is certainly an intimidating presence in the secondary and on run support. Kulcsar looked good at linebacker, but the thing that caught my eye was seeing Cam Dickerson lined up on occassion at linebacker and defensive back where he made one shoestring tackle and an excellent pass deflection. Nick LaTesta will be the number one corner and the defensive line is young but fast and frequently made McEvoy scramble out of the pocket. The defense is fast, they just need to add the physcial component to their arsenal. BC's defense was good today, but the day belonged to Coach Campanile's offense loaded with playmakers at several positions.

NOTES:

-Ryan Finkel, a junior who has played quarterback during his Crusader career, looked solid today as a wide receiver playing alongside the first team wide outs in Dickerson and Wingate.

-McEvoy showed off his arm strength several times by just chucking the ball 50 yards down the field by scrambling sideways out of the pocket. He still is working on his accuracy, but looked good with his sideline passes near the first down markers in several drives.

-Coach Campanile was heard screaming to his offensive unit during the 4th quarter portion of the scrimmage to pick up the pace on the field, "Unless you want to finish 8-3 again for the season."

ABOUT DAN LONG

Dan Long graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2003 where he was the Sports Director of BCTV and coined the immortal phrase Crusader Crazies for the raucous BC student section. He is currently the radio voice of the Bergen Catholic football and soccer teams, the founder of DL Sports Media, and a weekly contributor to BergenCatholicFootball.com.