SAUGUS — The Saugus High football team had an up-and-down season last fall, going 5-6 and battling injuries to key players such as defensive standout Braden Faiella and quarterback Cam Preston. Both stars have since graduated, among others. For sixth-year coach Steve Cummings, he’s ready to get back on the field come August 16.
“It’s very exciting, because you spend all this time in the offseason waiting. You see the kids in the weight room getting ready for the season. Now, it’s exciting to be in that time of the year where you get to go see all that hard work pay off,” Cummings said. “It’s a great time of year. Time to stop drawing things up on the whiteboard and actually get the guys on the field. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Cummings believes his program’s offseason workouts have “increasingly been better.”
“I think we start off a little further ahead than we did four or five years ago,” Cummings said. “You’ve got to make sure your staples are in – the things you say you’re going to be able to hang your hat on in the fall.”
He knows the individual talent that’s been lost, but hopes the experience the underclassmen have pays off.
“You really hope the guys that were playing with them picked up on things that those two (Tommy DeSimone and Faiella) did in particular — even guys like Isaiah Rodriguez, Cam Preston, Ameen Taboubi. We had a really good senior class last year. Not just with their skills, but we had guys that were natural-born leaders, which made everything for everybody a lot easier,” Cummings said. “We’re hoping that the guys they were playing with, those freshmen, sophomores, and juniors last year, saw that and understand how big of a role it is.”
Talent-wise, Cummings knows it’s going to be hard to replace.
“From a talent standpoint, Braden is probably one of the best linebackers that played in this area for a long time,” he said. “To think you’re just going to replace that level of talent, you’re going to fall short there. We have four guys who were on the team last year that are playing college football. That’s a great thing to happen for the program, but at the same time, it’s now that you have to find a way to replace those guys.”
Cummings admits he’s “not expecting anybody to be Tommy DeSimone, Isaiah Rodriguez, or Braden Faiella.”
“But I’m hoping that we have enough guys that can come in and take little pieces of what we do and make that their own,” Cummings said.
Two guys who have been putting in strong offseason work, according to Cummings, are Koby Jette and Cody Munafo, two starters from last season’s roster.
“Cody Munafo has been starting for us since he was a sophomore and this will be his senior year. He was playing linebacker next to Braden and was a big part of our offense last year, blocking for Tommy,” Cummings said. “We’re excited to expand his role on the team. He’s a very tough kid. He’s strong and puts the time in the weight room, time on the track, and he’s one of those guys who we’re looking forward to seeing.”
“We also have Koby Jette, who started for us last year as a sophomore. We’re looking forward to the strides that guys like him are making. He’s another guy who’s thrown himself in the weight room and done all the right things in the offseason,” Cummings said. “I don’t know many guys in this area who are outworking those two.”
Despite both Jette and Munafo having great offseasons, Cummings made sure to reiterate that Saugus football loves its competition battles.
“I tell the guys all the time that we’re going to compete for positions. That’s what we want to do as a program: promote competition,” he said. “I tell them we don’t have a single starter. Nothing is handed out. The guys are going to come to practice next Friday and earn everything. There are 11 open spots on each side of the ball.”
The Sachems open the season with back-to-back road games against Cambridge Rindge & Latin on Friday, September 13 and Wilmington the following week.
“We’ve got some pretty good road games. We open up with Cambridge which, last year, was a Division 2 playoff team. For us to be in Division 5… those are games I like to take part in,” Cummings said. “I like those games because we’re going to find out a lot about our team, really quick. We then go and play Wilmington in Week 2 on the road. Wilmington was a Division 5 playoff team last year. To have those games in our non-conference schedule gives us an idea of where we are and how we measure up early in the season.”
Complete schedule
Friday, September 13 – @ Cambridge Rindge & Latin – 6 p.m.
Friday, September 20 – @ Wilmington – 6 p.m.
Thursday, September 26 – vs. Lynn Tech – 6:30 p.m.
Friday, October 4 – @ Winthrop – 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 10 – vs. Salem – 6:30 p.m.
Friday, October 18 – vs. Gloucester – 6:30 p.m.
Friday, October 25 – @ Swampscott – 7 p.m.
Friday, November 1 – @ Chelsea – 6 p.m.
Thursday, November 28 – vs. Peabody – 10 a.m.
