Postseason Coverage – Part 2

The Marple Newtown Tigers defense, under the tutelage of Lou D’Alonzo, has operated every season under the same philosophy: improvise, adapt and overcome. This is what a defensive coordinator and coaching staff must do when their personnel changes can be drastic from year-to-year.

Coach D’Alonzo knows change and the numbers over the years have shown that he has a concrete understanding of what to do with his players on defense, despite the loss of valuable seniors after each season.

In retrospect, if there ever was one year D’Alonzo was least stressed in setting up his defense, it was 2006.

Starting up front and known in 2006 as the Wolfpack, coached by Nick Reynolds, the Tigers defensive line was made up of players that were simply big and nasty.

The books ends of the defensive line were Shane Breslin (DE, #56) and Pete Massaro(DE, 59). The interior was made up of Dave Hansell (DL, #1) and Perry Koliatsis (DL, #77). Depending on the situation, Coach Reynolds would rotate in Vinny Quercetti (DL, 61), Jay Trio (DL, #54) and Guy DeFeo (DL, #55).

In the regular season (10 weeks), this group accounted for an astounding 272 tackles, 41 tackles for a loss (TFL) for minus 165.5 yards, 14.5 sacks for minus 83 yards, 13 quarterback hurries and 12 forced fumbles.

Hansell, Koliatsis, Massaro and Breslin lead the team in tackles respectively.

Dan Giordano (LB #10) and Pat Aigeldinger (LB, #4) were key cogs in the linebacker crew for the 2006 defense.

The secondary was lead by Steve Giordano (DB, #6) and John Rutecki (S, #32).

In 2006, these players were critical to the success of the defense in a season where they posted 5 shutouts and held their opponents to 7.1 points per game.

Prior to the start of the 2009 season, the coaching staff had to figure out how to replace both inside linebacker spots. Those positions were vacated by Nick Stephens and tri-captain Dan Giordano, the Tiger’s leading tacklers in 2008 (both had 76 tackles each).

The other key losses on defense from 2008 were the Tiger’s other two captains, Phil Graziano (S, #20) and Steve Reynolds (DE, #51). Graziano was the second leading tackler on the team with 54; including 6 TFLs. Reynolds was just behind Graziano as the team’s third best tackler with 46 total. He also led the team with 4 sacks, 8.5 tackles TFLs and 5 quarterback hurries.

The 2009 defensive line welcomed back key starters in Kevan Strigle (DE, #68) and Christian Whiteside (DT, #77). Through ten weeks of regular season play, senior captain Strigle has 25 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack and 2 fumble recoveries. Whiteside, a junior, has accumulated 42 tackles, 8 TFLs, 3 sacks and 1 forced fumble.

Also making significant contributions on the defensive line is junior T.J. Fite(DT, #64) who has 29 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery. In addition to Fite, junior Pete Finegan (DL, #54) has performed well and has contributed with 2 TFLs, 1 sack, 2 QB hurries and 1 forced fumble.

The top two linebackers, Brian Kelly (LB, #50) and Carl Kasarky (LB, #22), lead the team in tackles with 74 and 58 respectively. Kelly has been quite a force on the defense with 2.5 sacks for minus 15 yards, 7 TFLs for minus 33 yards, 1 QB hurry, 4 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. Kasarky has 4.5 TFLs for minus 7 yards, 6 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles and 1 interception.

Providing the defense a nice boost in the regular season was junior Matt Gregory (LB, #28). He leads the team in sacks with 4.5 for minus 36 yards, 7 TFLs for minus 41 yards, 1 QB hurry, 1 fumble recovery and 1 blocked kick.

The 2009 secondary is led by Vince Christiana (DB, #81) who is the third leading tackler on the team with 52 tackles, including 3 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery and 2 interceptions.

Ryan White (DB, #18) and Johnnie Watkins (DB, #3) make up the rest of the 2009 secondary for the Tiger’s defense. White, a junior, has 28 tackles including 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception. Watkins, a sophomore, has 23 tackles and leads the team in pass breakups with 8 during the regular season.

TIGER’S DEFENSE VS. OPPOSING OFFENSES