By Kyle Kondor
Since training camp started for Ewing’s football team on Aug. 11, the coaching staff has been carefully evaluating athletes to determine who will be taking snaps at quarterback, handling the carries at running back and catching passes at receiver.
But there’s at least one position where they already have the answer: kicker.
While kicker and punter may not be the most glamorous of positions on any football team, they haven’t been a question mark for the Blue Devils since 6-foot, 185-pound senior Mike Ficci joined the team last summer.
“During our special teams conditioning drills he kicks the ball in the end zone a lot and sometimes he kicks the ball out of the end zone,” said third year head coach, Drew Besler of his kicker, who has garnered interest from Division I colleges such as Virginia, Rutgers, and Monmouth as well as a handful of Division III schools.
Last season, Ficci nailed 17 of his 23 extra point attempts as well as a good percentage of his field goal attempts. His longest made field goal was from 34-yards out, and he also averaged 23.2 yards per punt, which earned him first team All-Liberty division honors at that position.
Ficci earned his varsity letter in soccer as a sophomore before joining the football team as a junior. Ewing special teams coach Matt Dalessio was instrumental in recruiting Ficci as a kicker when he originally heard of his interest in switching sports.
“I talked to my parents early last summer about possibly trying to kick and giving it a try,” Ficci said. “I made the switch because I felt it would be a great experience, plus everyone comes out on Friday nights and watches the football team play. I wanted to be a part of that.”
In July, Ficci attended a camp in Toms River specifically designed to help football kickers improve.
The camp, which is run by an organization known as Kicking World, consisted of 40 kids, ages 13 to 18. Former college kickers including Kicking World head director Brent Grablachoff, put the campers through drills, group training sessions, and competitions.
These activities gave each kicker an opportunity to showcase their skills in hopes of being invited to Kicking World’s exclusive camp at West Hills High School in San Diego, California on Dec. 6. Ficci was one of four individuals at the Toms River camp to receive that invite.
“It was an honor because that means I caught the coaches eyes and they considered me one of the best kickers there,” Ficci said.
Though Ficci is excited about the opportunity to improve his kicking game under the warm San Diego sun at the beginning of December, he’s hoping that he has alternate plans back in the Northeast: playing in the Central Jersey Group III State Championship at The College of New Jersey.
“We have a lot of guys returning on defense and our offense has some really good players as well,” Ficci said. “I’m excited to start the season and make some noise for the team.”
The road back to the playoffs could be a tough one, though. In order to make it back to the playoffs for a second consecutive season, Ewing will have to go through it’s new divisional opponents Lawrence and Hopewell — the two teams that faced off against each other in last year’s Central Jersey Group III State Championship.
“We weren’t ready to play at that speed in our state tournament game last year,” Besler said. “I think we will be this year by playing better teams during the regular season.”
Like many other high school athletic programs, Ewing has lost its fair share of talented athletes following last year’s 5-5 season, which ended at the hands of Hopewell.
“Our main contributors from last year have gone on to play in college,” Besler said.
Devauntay Ellis rushed for 1,258 yards as a senior last season and accompanied that with 11 touchdowns. He’ll begin playing at Monroe Junior College in New Rochelle, New York, this fall.
Delaware Valley College has acquired the talents of defensive back and running back Tre Jones and offensive and defensive linemen Kyle Seifert, while defensive back Tyler Julious has headed to Farleigh Dickinson Univesity.
Last year’s senior quarterback Vandy Hall is another player that will be wearing a different uniform this fall, though it won’t be a collegiate one. He decided to take a post-graduate year at Peddie School in hope that he’ll land more scholarship offers to play at the next level.
Besler was still undecided on who will be under center for the Blue Devils this year as of the second week of training camp, though he’s narrowed his decision down to sophomores Tommy Mueller and Damiyon Doggett.
Last year, Hall rushed for 519 yards and 8 touchdowns, though only three of Ewing’s scores came through the air last season. Therefore it may not be too difficult for the underclassmen to outdo Hall, though their lack of varsity experience might indicate otherwise.
“Our quarterback this year is going to be a sophomore so we do have to get better at passing the football from where we were last year,” he said.
Mueller spent all of last year as a receiver at the junior varsity level, and Doggett transferred to Ewing this year and also played receiver for Nottingham’s junior varsity team as a freshman.
“What our quarterback is going to have is a handful of receivers with a lot of varsity experience so he’s going to have a lot of help,” Besler said. “What he’s going to have to do is make the read and at least put the ball in a position where the receiver can go and get it.”
Ewing returns six receivers from last year’s team that combined to make 33 percent of the team’s 30 receptions. Those names include sophomore Justin Reed as well as seniors Tyquan Young, Amos Quoi, Eric Self, Terrance Grisome and Savon Brittingham.
“Some of the seniors from last year set the tone for us to work hard so we’re going to try and pick it up where they left off,” said Brittingham, a senior who will be one of the guys stepping in at running back for the Blue Devils this year.
He is also one of nine starters returning from last year’s defense that allowed less than 17 points per game.
As a linebacker, Brittingham was second on the team in total tackles with 66, trailing only cornerback Terrance Grissom, who had 82, including a team leading 7 interceptions.
“I’ve been working on being a leader as a senior on this football field,” Grissom said. “Our class has always had high confidence in ourselves, so we’re just continuing to work hard so we can make it to the championship this year.”
Ewing will open up it’s season in Lawrence on Sept. 13 against the Central Jersey Group III State Tournament runner-ups.
“Last year it was about competing,” Besler said. “This year it’s about getting to states and making some noise when we get there.”
Kicker Mike Ficci, pictured during practice on Aug. 14, 2014, has attracted interest from Division I colleges such as Virginia, Rutgers, and Monmouth, as well as a handful of Division III schools. (Photo by Kyle Kondor.),
