Last season Ellenville coach Tony Borriello learned from an opening game, 41-19 spanking given his team by Sullivan West. The coach knew he had a good squad and figured they would meet up again with the Bulldogs in the sectional final. So while Sully West and Ellenville were subsequently rolling over regular season opponents, Borriello decided to dedicate a day of practice each week to creating a defense that would slow-down the Westies’ spread offense.

Sully West cruised into the title game with a perfect 9-0 record, but Ellenville was ready this time. The Blue Devils won the game, 34-20, and the sectional Class C crown.

Borriello might be figuring that 2009 could be déjà vu all over again. Or at least he hopes so. Ellenville suffered some major losses via graduation but still look to be formidable. Ten players return from last year’s roster. The major returnee is one of the coach’s sons, all-state tackle A. J. Borriello (6-3, 290), a senior, who dominates the trenches on both sides of the ball. His younger brother, soph Robert Borriello, will be the quarterback.

Lining up in the backfield with the younger Borriello are senior FB Andrew Platt, an honorable mention all-star in ’08. He was the unsung hero of last year’s backfield which included dazzling Dan Exner (307 rushes for 1,979 yards) and powerful Eric Thayer. The new RB’s are senior Michael Wernick and junior Ameer Maxwell.

Joining the elder Borriello brother up front are veterans in seniors Don Corso (OT/DT) and Bryan Nunez (G) plus junior Scott Anderson (C). Meanwhile Platt returns to defense where he was an all-star DE last season as does senior Amiel Maerling, a solid LB.

The Blue Devil opener sees New Paltz come to town on Friday. Ellenville and the Bulldogs rock and roll on September 25^th.

Like Ellenville, Sullivan West also lost some all-star performers. The biggest loss was QB Brad Reimer with his 2,198 all-purpose yards. Yet the Bulldogs and their coaches are confident that junior Ryan Alsdorf will do quite nicely, thank you, in orxchestrating the spread.

Alsdorf’s main passing target is all-star RB/WR Austin Erlwein. Chris Murphy, another senior, joins them in the backfield as the FB. Senior Lattie Rabii is also a WR. Reliable senior kicker Art Norden also returns.

Mark Tesseyman (5-9, 240), a senior guard, leads a strong offensive line that includes veteran senior Mike Schmidt (TE), soph T Todd Roeder (6-4, 260) , junior T Eric Leewe and senior C Gabe LaGrutta.

Tesseyman, an all-state linebacker, will spearhead the defense along with DT LaGrutta, DE Leewe and CB Rabii.

Coach Ron Bauer’s Bulldogs open Friday at home against Section Four’s Deposit.

Sean Keenan led his young Millbrook team to a 6-3 record last year and into the Class C playoffs. Two of the losses were to champ Ellenville and the other to runner-up Sullivan West. The Blazers will again be a young but experienced. Gone, however, is all-state RB Nick Finger. Also missing is senior D.J. Cummings, a state sprint champ who will forego football this year to concentrate on track.

But don’t cry too much for Millbrook. They’ll be plenty competitive. Veteran senior David Hollingsworth, a tough and quick little fireplug (who’s now 5-9, 195) will return to his FB spot while junior Peter Keenan, the coach’s 6-3, 210 son, will run, block and catch passes. Soph Kyle Cuomo (5-9, 185) will likely be the QB, but Keenan also has experience there while Cuomo can also move to RB.

The offensive line is led by all-star junior Steven Vitale (5-10, 185) plus fellow juniors Josh Rose (6-1, 253 T) and Kyle Sticsia (6, 225 G). Vitale was an honorable mention all-star lineman in 2008. A major Blazer weapon is junior kicker Aidan Little, named the ‘08 first team placekicker in SNF Classes C-D.

Defensively, Hollingsworth was a second team all-star LB while both Keenan (LB/DB) and Rose (DT) were honorable mentions.

Don’t sell this young Millbrook team short. The Blazers have a big challenge Saturday, however, as they open at Burke Catholic.

Spackenkill is another squad that could end up in the C playoffs. Coach Don Niese’s Spartans are counting on an offense with lots of potential to put up some points this year.

The Spartan offense is led by a trio of returning skill-position all-stars to lead the way. All are seniors. First there’s WR Mark Letus, a first-team C-D all-star. Letus is honorable mention all-star QB Nick Contelmo’s favorite target. To carry the ball there’s honorable mention RB Marcus Rawles.

The offensive line is led by senior guard Nick Kustas. Joining him up front are senior center Tim Walsh and junior T Eric Sullivan. On defense look for Kustas to lead from his LB position while Sullivan and Walsh are DT’s.

Spackenkill opens Saturday with a home league game against fellow Dutchess County rival Pine Plains.

Liberty has a new head coach this year as former offensive coordinator John Wilhelm takes over for Jim O’Connor who once again got the program back on its feet.

The Indians’ main guy is senior RB/LB Brandon Tompkins, one of the section’s top performers. Promising soph Marshon Williams is up from the jayvee to run Wilhelm’s new spread offense. Junior Eddie Soto, senior Malcom Strother and junior Jovaughen Clark will get some carries while senior WR Michael McLean tracks down passes.

Leading the lines are seniors Kris Merklin, Darren Klein and Paul Heisler. Meanwhile Tompkins will spearhead the defense. Last year he was a first team all-star linebacker.

Liberty plays up at Delhi Saturday to open the season.

Tri-Valley coach John Rusin has quickly earned the reputation of being one of the section’s top coaches. At small Tri-Valley he’s learned to adapt to crises, be flexible and to make his players flexible, too. Graduation hit his team pretty hard, and now he has a new challenge - the loss of his top player.

Star senior RB Dan Byrne, an ’08 all-star honorable mention, reportedly will be out of action, possibly all season, with a back injury. That means that the new go-to guy will be talented senior RB Matt Bogorad.

Good-looking junior Pete DiMilia will also be a big performer for the Bears as he plays both QB and RB. Senior Bobby Beale will play some QB as well and will also be the top receiver when DiMilia is under center.

The linemen include seniors Erik Raymond (T), Ross Bonnell (T/DT) and Logan Ackerley (G/NT). Brendan Moore, another senior, will be a DB and will return kicks.

Tri-Valley opens at Eldred on Saturday.

Pine Plains lost all nine of its games last year. Coach Jim Jackson is in his second year at the helm of his alma mater’s varsity football team. Prior to that he coached two seasons at FDR which went 0-18 during those seasons. Hopefully, the Bombers will get their leader his first win as a high school head coach!

Leading the returning veterans is senior Dylan Proper who will be the main ball carrier. Seniors Chris Van Buskirk (FB), Chris Horn (WR) and Casey Brown (TE) join him in leading the offense. Blockers include Brandon Reuter and Tom Hazel, also seniors. Overall nine seniors will be starting this year.

Coach Jackson is smiling more this season and thinks his Bombers will surprise some people. We’re hoping for Jackson’s sake that they do.

Pine Plains travels to Spackenkill Saturday.