Hightstown Football Playing For Neighbors in Opener

While the members of the Hightstown High School's football team have been working hard the past month to get ready for the season opener, they have not lost track of what's going on around them.

"With the support of Alix Arvizu [the principal] and Gary Bushelli [the athletic director], we will run a fundraising event to help the community of Hightstown for Irene relief," Hightstown Football Coach Pete Brescia said.

According to Brescia, he and the players on the team would also love to pull a win off in the opener, scheduled at home against Hamilton at 7 p.m. on Friday. That would be good for the team and the community.

Brescia is back for second year at Hightstown. He led Hightstown to a 4-6 record in 2010. He hopes that will be first of many seasons on the job. He would love to stop the revolving door of Hightstown High football coaches.

"I love the kids and the working environment," Brescia said. "I don't ever plan on going anywhere else. I also have a great staff and they love it here."

Brescia understands a football team is a part of a community and feels the fundraising night, which will be helped out by the cheerleaders, is the right thing to do.

The opener will also give Hightstown a chance to introduce itself to the community. After all, this is a team that graduated 22 seniors.

According to Brescia, Hightstown took giant steps forward in the scrimmages.

"We got better in every scrimmage," Brescia said. "We matured as a team and put ourselves in a position to play Hamilton."

"Where I feel most confident is in the skill positions. We have a lot of returning starters in those positions."

In comparison, Marcus Lawrence, a senior, is the only returning lineman.

Other returning senior starters include Lawrence Mendies (running back), Cameron Harper (wide receiver), Eric Anderson (CB) and Darien Millard (safety)

The returning juniors are Joe DeCristofaro (linebacker), Kevin Lenart (WR/DB) and Max Kutler (WR/DB).

The other seniors on the team include Matt Walker, Chris Vanwhy, Chris Achaibar, Nick Astone, Chris Boyle, Nick Demko, David Figueroa, Connor Geraty, Charles Jackson, John Mejia, Mohit Patel, Jared Pitcher, Abraham Rahawi and Aprett Singh.

Other juniors on the team include Jeffrey Wiley, Taraee Brown, Jonathan Sheridan, Joey Radley, Terrence Powell, Erik Headley, Andrew Daniels, David Collier, Brandton Cortese, Jude Brenya and Brandon Block.

Sophomores include Robert Walsh, Brandon Badillo, Roger Byas, Zach Wroblowski, Marcelo Suquilanda, Daniel Defontes, Charles Ferrel, Will Grelis, Justin Haughton, Adeyemi Keji, Dustin Kollman, Dhruv Patel, Adam Perez, Ryan Reece and Devin Russo.

"Last year we made great strides," Brescia said. "The kids have all worked hard and it shows. They have poured everything they have into this team."

Well, not quite everything. They have enough let over to focus on helping out their community.

"I was shocked when I saw all those pictures of Hightstown under water," Brescia said. "That's why we're doing what we're doing."