As training camp quickly approaches, one of the things that excites Robbinsville High football coach Andrew Patterson the most is being able to see his complete team in action for a full season.
Because what he saw in just half a season last year was pretty darn good.
When the Ravens began 2022 with a 1-4 record, the talk around Mercer County was that they couldn’t handle the jump to the West Jersey Football League Valley Division (even though they went 1-1 vs. division teams in that stretch).
That could not have been further from the truth.
The problem—which pretty much fixed itself midway through last year—was banged up body parts.
Robbinsville played without four of its top performers during that time, as injuries decimated the roster. Junior running backs/linebackers Hayden Perusich, Liam Astemborski and Chris Naperkoski all missed the season’s first five games, while do-it-all junior Grayson Hopkins started the season opener against Montgomery only to suffer a season-ending injury in the first quarter.
“If I go from my game scrimmage film to my Montgomery second-quarter film, it looks like we’re a different team,” Patterson said. “And we were, because of a number of guys who weren’t present because of injuries in scrimmages.”
When Perusich, Astemborski and Naperkoski returned for Game 6, Robbinsville won its final four regular-season games and tied Hightstown for the Valley Division title with a 4-1 record.
After losing to Carteret on the last play of the game in a state consolation contest, the Ravens finished 5-5.
“It’s not that the kids we had on the field weren’t any good,” Patterson said. “They were athletes as well. But we had to wrap our heads around the fact we have to now revamp so much stuff on both sides of the ball because guys who were doing it all in preseason weren’t there anymore. Losing one guy is enough, we were down five projected starters at one point.”
But three returned for the second half, and four will be back this year.
And despite losing leading rusher Matt Surtz and some veteran linemen, the Ravens could be even better this year if everyone (knock wood) stays healthy.
“We’ll be back with the ‘hidden Ravens’ that nobody saw at the start of last year,” Patterson said with a laugh.
Leading that brigade is Hopkins, who was on track to be one of the team’s top defensive backs and receivers before injuring his shoulder making a catch against Montgomery. It was his third catch of the young game but last of the season.
“He had some fabulous catches in that first-quarter drive and then he goes down,” Patterson said. “He’s just versatile. We can play him as a slot receiver, an outside receiver, defensive back or inside/outside linebacker. He’s a kicker/punter and kicks from 45 to 50 yards in practice. Once he came back last year he wasn’t cleared to have contact for the entire season.”
As Hopkins returns this season, he brings more with him than just talent. He brings a presence.
“He’s always positive, just a ball of energy,” Patterson said. “The kids follow his lead. Not having him out there last year was crazy. If I showed you film of his production on both sides of the ball during preseason scrimmages against Bordentown and Pascack Hills, it would be unbelievable. He had a pick six against Bordentown, he had some circus catches. In just one play, we lost a kicker, punter, outside linebacker and top receiver.”
And in several other plays, Robbinsville losta a ton of depth at running back and linebacker.
So much so, that when Surtz was forced to leave the Allentown game by an official who feared a concussion (which proved negative), the Ravens did not have a running back. The Redbirds were able to rush the quarterback and play pass coverage, virtually ignoring the run game. Thus, an 18-7 lead turned into a 35-18 loss.
Even when Surtz returned the next week against Notre Dame, his yards were limited. He finished with 110 but 80 came on one play as he gained just 30 on his other 14 carries.
That all changed the following week when the wounded returned. After rushing for 491 yards in the first five games, Surtz exploded for 795 in the final five.
“Most of Matt Surtz’s production last year started when he had a 250-pound fullback (Naperkowski) blocking for him,” Patterson said. “He’s a similar size to Surtz. Once he came back he was obviously Surtz’s lead blocker in our iso power stuff, but he himself had 101 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and also had 11 catches (for 59 yards). That’s just in five games where he was mostly the lead blocker.”
With Surtz gone, Naperkoski will likely get more carries and also block for Perusich and Astemborski, who can both tote the football. Astemborski had 101 yards and a TD on 31 carries upon his return.
Perusich had six carries for 27 yards and two catches for 21 yards, and can also back up first-team Valley Division quarterback Luke Hanuscin if necessary.
“He was the freshman quarterback two years ago and did a great job,” Patterson said. “He knows the package – the run game, pass game. He can carry the ball as a running back, he can play inside linebacker or outside linebacker, and he’s just a great kid all around. He’s as sweet as can be until he puts the helmet on and starts to play.”
Then there is Astemborski, another two-way threat, who Patterson said “is a big kid, and he’s legit. He could be there as a starting running back for any team. So you look at those four, and that was a good portion of the team that nobody saw much of at all for the first half of the season. Once they came back we rolled the rest of the season.”
Robbinsville hopes that roll continues this season. Aside from the four injured players, Hanuscin is back after throwing for 1477 yards and seven TDs and rushing for 250 yards. Alex Giordano and Andrew Freeman are returning receivers and defensive backs, Donnie Ryan had 44 tackles as a linebacker/defensive back, two-way lineman Sebastian Leigh was Valley Division first-team at defensive line and 6-3, 240-pound two-way lineman Patrick Meehan is also back.
Barring another disaster where nearly half the starting lineup gets hurt for any length of time, Robbinsville could succeed this year in a way it hoped to last year.
“The first five games of the season will look different this year if everybody stays healthy,” Patterson said. “I’m not gonna predict wins or losses, but at least the first five games will look like what we thought it would look like last year.
“I don’t see us not being competitive in every game. When the fourth quarter comes around we should be in the mix if not in the lead. If we’re healthy we’ll look more like we did in our last five games last year.”
That’s what happens when the “hidden Ravens” show themselves.
Robbinsville High School football player Chris Naperkoski (who was one of four players who missed multiple games last year) protects the ball as he runs up field during a 2022 game. (Photos by Don Ryan Photography, donryanphotography.com.) ,
