Aug. 21, 2007

The Sacred Heart football team is in the last week of summer training camp as they get ready to kick-off their 17th season on the gridiron. As the team continues to prepare for their August 30th opener at Assumption, let's preview the 2007 Pioneer linebackers and defensive backs.

LINEBACKERS:

Senior Robert Occhiuzzi (Red Bank, NJ) and juniors Rich Marrone (Brooklyn, NY) and Andrew Clayton (Egg Harbor Township, NY) will lead the linebacking corp in the Pioneer's 3-4 defensive scheme.

Occhiuzzi returns to his starting spot outside after earning the start in all 11 games in 2006, finishing with 39 tackles, 5.5 for a loss including a sack and a half. He collected a career-high eight tackles, one for a loss, against Albany and had four tackles and a sack in a win over Iona. Marrone, who played in all 11 games last fall at the other outside linebacker spot, will move to the inside this fall and along with Clayton will look to replace last year's starters Rolando Garcia and Jon Corto, the team's top two tacklers with over a 100 stops each.

Marone finished fifth on the team in tackles in 2006 with 55 (24 solo/31 assists) with seven stops in the back field including a pair of sacks. At Monmouth, he picked up a career-best 10 tackles, seven solo, and in the win over Iona, Marone recorded seven tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

"The loss of Jon Corto and Rolando Garcia leaves us with a big drop off," from fourth year head coach Paul Gorham. "Stepping up to replace them inside will be Clayton and Marone, who makes the move inside from his starting outside linebacker spot last year. On the outside, Occhiuzzi is back as a three-year starter with sophomores Chansler Davis (Islip Terrace, NY) and Andre Geraghty (Bellevue, WA) on the other side."

"Freshmen Matt Dorsch (Beacon Falls, CT) and James Pelzer (Laurel, MD) can back-up inside while junior Justin McCulley (Sickerville, NJ) will add depth on the outside."

DEFENSIVE BACKS: The defensive backfield returns its two starting safeties in senior John Wilson (Bloomfield, CT) and junior Steve Young (Brooklyn, NY). Wilson is the Pioneers top-returning tackler after recording 68 last season, 45 solo. He also led the team with four interceptions and five pass break-ups. He turned in a career-high 14 tackles, eight solo, with a forced fumble and an interception at Stony Brook. Wilson had a three-game stretch last fall with double digit tackles against Albany (11), Stony Brook (14) and Saint Francis (11). He also had a stretch where he played three-straight games with an interception, against Duquesne, Wagner and Monmouth.

Young started all 11 games at safety last season and posted 68 tackles in his first season on the field in the Red & White. He finished the year with 6.5 tackles for a loss including a pair of sacks, an interception with four break-ups. He had a career game against Albany making 13 tackles, five solo, coming up with two tackles behind the line of scrimmage including a sack, a forced fumble and a pass break-up.

Junior Rishard Brown (Miami, FL) returns to at one corner spot while fellow junior Jeff Hodges (Royal Palm Beach, FL) and redshirt-sophomore Andre Isla (Brookhaven, NY) will compete for time at the other corner position. "At corner, Brown and Isla along with Hodges give us three guys for two spots," commented Gorham. "Brown brings experience while Isla will be in the mix for the first time. He has had a strong camp and is seeing the results of working hard in the off-season."

"We return both are starters at the safety spots in senior Jon Wilson at free safety and junior Steve Young at strong safety. Redshirt freshman Josh Thomas (Hartford, CT) will contribute as well."

"Getting added pressure up front, especially with the return of (Bill) Hayden who led us in sacks in 2005, will help take pressure off our cover guys. But we still need to be sound in coverage and make fewer mistakes and coming up with some of those tipped balls will help too. Turnover can be a lot like birdies in golf, they tend to come in bunches."

Up Next: A preview of the Pioneer Running Backs and Special Teams