Monroe-Woodbury is gearing up for its fifth straight appearance at Carrier Dome. Is saying that putting the horse before the cart? Sure. Five straight? Isn’t that just wishful thinking? Definitely not. The 2009 Crusaders appear to be loaded.

Meanwhile head coach/offensive coordinator Pat D’Aliso and defensive coordinator Bernie Connolly are still busting each others’ chops as only a pair of best buds who’ve been through the grid wars together for over two decades could.

“How good is our offense? You‘re kidding!” quips D’Aliso in mock horror. “When we scrimmage Bernie’s defense, we’re lucky to score six points.”

“Don’t believe him,” Connolly interrupts. “His offense just put up 49 points against the defense.”

The truth is that both the Monroe-Woodbury offense and its defense should be very good this season. In the offense’s case - very, very good. This Saturday both platoons will get to bang heads with kids wearing different colors as they scrimmage down in Staten Island. Opponent Susan B. Wagner is ranked the preseason #5 team in New York City.

Last year’s Crusader roster included 32 underclassmen, one of those being all-state quarterback Dan Scalo (6-3, 205). In 2008 Scalo somehow led his team to the state AA championship game while suffering from a torn labrum which was surgically repaired in the off-season. As the ‘08 season progressed, his left arm got weaker and the pain worsened. By the day of the state title game, Scalo flat-out couldn’t pass at all.

So how was M-W able to keep his injury relatively secret during the ‘08 campaign?

“It was easy,” D’Aliso said. “Everybody already considered us a running team, and Danny was our leading rusher. That we didn’t pass much was no surprise to most people.”

Scalo rushed for 1,452 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2008. A desperate Orchard Park team, trailing 17-0 at the half in Syracuse, stacked the defense in the second half to stop Scalo’s ground game while its offense cranked it up a couple of notches to pull out a 21-17, come-from-behind win.

It was the third straight loss in Syracuse since the Purple’s state title victory in 2005. The Crusaders are on a serious mission to end that losing streak. Those three losses represent 75% of the Cru’s defeats since their 58-4 tear started back in 2004.

Last year D’Aliso had brought in Joe Sessa from the Army Sprint team to bulk up the Crusader passing game. Sessa has since left M-W, but D’Aliso still has those new passing wrinkles at his disposal - wrinkles no opponents saw last year. That being said, the Cru with its spread offense is still a run-first team; and the healthy Scalo is still the section’s undisputed top rusher.

D’Aliso’s ground game won’t be one-dimensional, however. Expect to see junior Trevor Officer (now 6, 195) get his share of carries from the fullback slot.

“Trevor is very quick and has great vision,” said D’Aliso. “He’s makes for a better combo back in the shotgun than a pure fullback, but he’s looked so good and has improved so much that we’ll start him there.”

With all-star senior Andrew Tolosi (5-8, 165 all-purpose back) ill and currently out of action, senior John O’Brien (5-11, 180) should see lots of playing time.

But D’Aliso still has plans to balance his attack with a potentially intimidating passing game that features a trio of tall seniors. Back at split end is Patrick “Packy” Laird (6-4, 200) who too rarely got to show off his speed and leaping abilities last year. He’ll be joined by tight end Kareem Edwards (6-4, 210) and Jared McFarlin (6-4, 200) who had transferred in last year from New Jersey prep power Don Bosco.

“I believe this is the best crew of receivers we’ve ever had,” D’Aliso added. “They look like a basketball team.”

Incidentally, Laird will also be the placekicker who has the unenviable task of replacing state record-setting booter Jamie Boyle who’s now in Orlando, kicking for UCF.

The interior offensive line looks very formidable as well with only the left tackle slot still up for grabs. All-state senior Cody Villman (6-3, 275) returns to right tackle while veteran senior Tim Grupp (6-1, 260) moves from left tackle to right guard. Anchoring the line at center will be junior Josh “Moose” Skowronski (5-11, 260). D’Aliso thinks that the third-year varsity performer might well be the best center M-W has ever had (and the Cru has had some excellent ones). Meanwhile senior Andrew Dollbaum (5-11, 280) moves up to the first unit as the left guard.

On Bernie Connolly’s side of the ball, 10 positions also seem to be sewn up. Leading the defense is hard-hitting all-star senior safety Ryan Morgan (6, 170). Other returning starters are senior all-star DT Jordan Bari (5-11, 230) and senior DE Jeff Scheels (6-5, 215). Stepping up to start at the other DE is senior Jeremiah Dorsey (6, 195) and junior NG Pierre Salomon (6-1, 240). The inside linebackers are seniors Matt Beyar (5-11, 205) and Dave Cabassa (5-7, 175) with senior Pete Diede (5-7, 160) and junior Devan Gagliardi (5-9, 155) on the outside. One corner will be junior Anthony Cardone (5-8, 160) while the other starting corner will likely be determined Saturday.

Beyar will be the team’s punter. It takes a pair to replace Boyle.

The Crusaders will open their season on Friday night, September 4 when they travel up Route 17 (or Interstate 86 for you newbies) to tangle with rugged Section Four power Binghamton. Playing up in Section Four is always a challenge for any non-Section Four team. They generally play really good football up there, and the extra challenge the hometown officiating presents should only make the Cru that much tougher.

THE REST OF AA DIVISION I LOOKS SOLID

Before Monroe-Woodbury can start thinking of the state regionals, it obviously has to get past the other talented AA teams that loom in Section Nine. In M-W’s own league, Division I, there’s always Newburgh Free Academy to deal with. New head coach Bill Bianco says that, “We’ll be ready and tough.” His battle cry is “Shock the state!” And upending the rival Crusaders somewhere along the way would do just that.

Last season the Goldbacks shocked everyone when they overcame a 16-point Minisink Valley lead in the sectional AA semi-finals and won in double OT, 29-23. The powerful Warriors had been expected to meet M-W for the Class AA title. No one overlooks Newburgh.

This year the ’Backs should have another strong and veteran offense which features dangerous skill position players. Fred Locklary (5-11 168) returns to tailback; superman Marcus Spearman (5-11, 195) is back at tight end. Oscar Spooner (5-9, 150) is again a wideout while all-star Austin Haarmann (6, 245) is the center. Those four seniors also serve as the team’s quad-captains.

Spooner is one-third of a veteran and very speedy trio of receivers which also includes seniors Tyrel George (5-10, 175) and Barry Surrett (5-9, 160). Junior Brandon Clark (6, 150) seems to have the edge to start at quarterback with senior Greg Quintana (5-11, 175) also in the hunt.

Defensive coordinator Bill Vogt’s troops feature Spearman, an all-state LB in 2008, plus senior LB Ben Mahaffey (6-2, 190), junior lineman Nate Davis (6-2, 240) and soph lineman Mikal Myers (6-3, 240). Locklary and George will return to the secondary. Talented kicker Mike Demschick, a sophomore, also returns. Overall 27 are back from last year’s NFA varsity roster. The jayvee squad lost but one game in ‘08.

Last year coach Jim Wright’s Pine Bush squad opened eyes with its 7-2 overall record. Among their highlights was holding Monroe-Woodbury to a 17-7 margin in their matchup. Wright’s hard work in helping develop a feeder system is starting to pay off.

Leading the PB returnees are all-star OG/LB Joe Skrobola, QB Mitch Przybocki, RB Carlos Guzman, WR’s A.J. Latta and Adam Berentsen, DE Bart Kot, safety Joe Terpstra, tackles Bert Greene and Bart Jiminez and G Dan Flanick. All are seniors. There were 21 juniors on last year’s team.

Middletown is another program on the rise. Remember that it wasn’t all that long ago that Pine Bush and Middletown were top dogs in the big school division. Last year Steve Barone’s Middies started quickly, winning three of their first four games, before faltering. This year, like Pine Bush, the Middies will start feeling a big impact from their feeder program. The new junior class is talented and should lend some much-needed stability to Middletown’s roster.

Leading the returnees is senior all-star Frankie Molina a 6-1, 175 WR/SS. Joining him is smash-mouth all-star junior Carmelo Perez (6-3, 245 DE) who should be one of the section’s premier defenders. They’ll again team up with veteran senior center Sean Parrington (6-2, 195) and junior DT Raimonn Goddard (6-3, 270).

Some other returning starters are TE/LB Eric Bryant (5-10, 185 senior), LB/RB Kadeem Dixon (5-9, 190 senior) and CB/WR Jalon White (6-1, 175 soph). Juniors Vincent Mortellaro (5-7, 165) and Maximino Gonzalez (5-10, 150) are the quarterback candidates.

Kingston had an uncharacteristically rough go of it last season, finishing 0-4 in Division AA-1 (2-7 overall). New head coach Jeramie Collins has replaced 15-year head man Tom Loughlin for 2009.

The Tigers return some excellent skill players. They include all-star RB Sean Fontanez, FB Mike McGrath and TB Derrick Jackson plus receivers Nashwan Hoffman and Johnny Gorton.  All are seniors. McGrath (5-9, 215) was also an ‘08 all-star LB. Joining him at LB is veteran senior Cameron Hommel (5-9, 180). Meanwhile there are plenty of slots to fill up front.

The receivers should be especially active this year.  Collins has installed the spread offense with junior QB Jimmy DiCicco at the controls.  Former Tiger superstar QB Scott Ricketson is Collins'offensive coordinator.