Horace Mann Lions await game in their own den

2016 Private school Pig Skin preview

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It costs nearly $50,000 annually to attend Horace Mann, but virtually none of that money will be earmarked for travel expenses for its football team this season, as the Lions’ upcoming schedule never has them leaving the neighborhood. It’s a quirky benefit for Horace Mann but one the Lions will surely take, no questions asked.  

“Whoever organized that schedule really did us a solid,” said senior safety Mason Roth.

“That’s nice, wonderful,” Lions’ head coach Matt Russo said. “We lucked out with this schedule. We’re kind of happy about it. It saves some time, and these kids are so busy these days with SAT prep classes and the actual SATs and ACTs. So you would like the guys to have a little bit easier schedule sometimes.”

What will Lions fans see this season, now that they know it won’t be hard to find them? Perhaps a repeat of last year’s championship run could be in the cards for a Horace Mann team that returns a solid nucleus of key contributors from last season’s 6-2 team that claimed the Hudson Valley Football League title.

“I think we’re pretty much right where we were last year. We’re maybe a little bit more athletic but not as experienced, so it could go either way,” Russo said during a recent practice. “We could be a little bit better than the 6-2 last year, or maybe end up the same as last year.”

Another key benefit for the Lions this season – other than the schedule – is the depth of talent on the team. It’s a deep well and one Russo hasn’t had to work with in recent years.

“I think we have more depth than we’ve had in a long time. We’re up to 59 kids in the program, which is a really big number for us,” Russo said. “We’ve never been up that high before. So, we’ll be looking to maximize our depth. We can make sure we can keep guys fresh and rotate guys in, because there are some positions where the drop off isn’t terrible from starter to second string. The numbers are really going to help us.”

Despite graduating 10 seniors from last year’s team, the Lions return some key personnel for their run at a repeat this year. Chief among them will be the quarterback and offensive skill positions, along with the return of the bulk of the offensive line.

“We have our quarterback, Marc Murphy, coming back this year, and he was only a sophomore last year,” Russo said. “So we have some stability there. We’re also bringing back three core offensive linemen led by Conrad Skala, who is our center. We also have Vaed Prasad and also J.P. Cerini back on the line. They got some girth and we like the girth. They are all seniors this year, all three started as juniors. J.P. is a two-way player for us, so he’ll be on our defensive line as well. He’s a nice quick, big, strong kid, and he will help us out a lot.”

Murphy, who started as a sophomore last season, thinks this team is poised to do some special things this year.

“I’m feeling great, and our offensive line is looking amazing,” Murphy said. “We lost a couple of seniors, but we got some new sophomores who are looking really good. Conrad is back at center, and it’s good to have those guys back up front. A lot of guys are back, and I think we’re going to be a lot better than last year.”

The Lions will also return veterans at both wide receiver and in the defensive backfield, which should further bolster Horace Mann’s title chase hopes.

“We’re bringing back a couple of wide receivers who started last year led by Pierce McMahon. And we’re also bringing back a couple of cornerbacks who started for us with Max Porges and Alec Ginsberg, who got significant playing time there last year due to injuries,” Russo said. But we’re a run-heavy team, we run the ball a lot and the kids are pretty well-versed in it, especially from the blocking point of view. They got a full year under their belts in terms of blocking all the different defensive fronts that we’ll see and things like that. They’re pretty well-prepared for that. So we’re just looking to build off of what we did last year.”

Russo made it a point to single out a couple of other players who he thinks will be keys to the Lions fortunes in 2016. One is Roth, the veteran defensive back, while the other is a sophomore who made a splash as a freshman last season.

“Rafael Silverman is definitely a player to watch,” Russo said. “He’s only a sophomore and he plays defensive end and tight end for us. He actually started at defensive end as a freshman last year. He’s a big, strong kid and very athletic. He’ll definitely be someone to watch, as will Mason Roth. He’s our starting safety, and pound for pound probably our strongest player.”

Roth is excited to get the season started, and he feels it could rival the 2015-edition version of the Lions.

“It’s the same core coming back. We have Marc, and we have the same offense and the same defense,” Roth said. “We’re ready this year. We’re more experienced, we’re deeper, we got the numbers and we got the talent and we got younger guys who are the same size as the older guys so we are ready to get going. We’re ready to kill it.”

Horace Mann won’t have to wait too long for its first test of the season, when the Lions will take on neighborhood rival Riverdale in its season opener on Sept. 10.

“That’s always tough. They’re a big rival for us, but it’s always a fun game,” Russo said. “We’re so close in proximity that we actually walk to the game at Riverdale. We opened up with them last season, and we open up against them again this season. Last year they got us, they beat us 26-6. They got us pretty good. But last year Marc was only a sophomore, and it was the first-ever game he started and there were a lot of nerves, so we weren’t as prepared. This time, I think we will be a little bit more prepared than we have been.”

Murphy is also chomping at the bit for a rematch with the Falcons.

“That as our first game of the season, and I don’t think we were really prepared. But this year we came into camp ready for that game, and I think it will be a great test for us,” Murphy said. “There were a little bit of nerves last year, but it will be different this year.”

The Riverdale game is one of only two road games for the Lions this season, with the other coming in their other neighborhood rivalry game at Fieldston on Oct. 15. So, what does Roth think of the Lions’ favorable schedule?

“It’s always nice to play at home with the energy,” Roth said. “But we got one of our away games at Fieldston this year, and it’s their homecoming, so I’d love to crash their party again just like we did last year.”

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