The Record Blogs: Off the Record: Training camp report No. 10: Tamarac High School

CLUMS CORNERS -- The Tamarac High School football team is certainly hoping to nick up its opponents this season. Junior quarterback/safety Nick Casale, senior tailback/linebacker Nick Feldmaier and senior tight end/defensive end/linebacker Nick Newell - along with senior two-way lineman Wade Hansen - all figure to be major players in 2010.

Tamarac head coach Erick Roadcap (right) oversees a Bengals huddle during practice behind the high school last week. (Photo by Mike McMahon - The Record).

One of the thing that head coach Erick Roadcap stresses to his players is his study of the area's college coaches, including Bob Ford at the University at Albany and Joe King at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Roadcap implores that his players need to emulate a college-level practice to maximize their time together and give the team its best chance to win football games.

"I try to convey it to the kids, watching those college coaches, one of the biggest things with their success is hustle, execution and transition," Roadcap said. "Just to watch some of those practices, just to get them to see what it’s like. they buy into it, they do, but they need reminders when they start dozing off. They’ve done a pretty good job, focused on that and built off it."

Junior Nick Casale will be starting under center for the second straight season. (Photo by Will Montgomery - The Record).

Nick Casale, like many of the players on the Tamarac football team in 2009, took his licks on the field. The Bengals starting quarterback as a sophomore, Casale passed for over 700 yards and gained valuable experience in the process.

"It was our first year on varsity last year and as quarterback I learned so much about reading defenses and just everything," Casale said. "It was just a learning experience. It has made this year so much easier and next year, too. We were running almost half, more than half, of the plays in the first two days of practice."

Nick Casale walks back to the huddle in front of Tamarac head coach Erick Roadcap during practice last week. (Photo by Mike McMahon - The Record).

Another skill player stepping up this season is Nick Feldmaier, who is making the move from fullback to tailback in 2010. (One of my favorite stories I ever wrote at The Record was on Nick's older brother, Zach Feldmaier, who played his senior year for the Bengals in 2008).

Nick Feldmaier is looking forward to running with the ball more this year rather than just serving as a lead blocker.

He was also happy to hear Roadcap talking about the Bengals Week One game against Lake George during the first week of training camp, which was a motivation to the players.

"It’s a reality check that the game is coming up soon," Feldmaier said. "He doesn’t want us goofing off when we have a game ahead."

"He’s really drilling that we haven’t beat the teams we’re not supposed to beat," said senior lineman Wade Hansen. "We’re not supposed to beat Lake George. We’re going to have to figure that out ourselves and that’s what we're working toward."

Nick Feldmaier is set to take over as the Bengals' tailback in 2010. (Photo by Will Montgomery - The Record).

One of the biggest changes for Tamarac this season will be its size and experience on the offensive line, which bodes well for Feldmaier and Casale.

For more on that offensive line, check out The Record's Kickoff 2010 section tucked inside the paper on Thurs., Sept. 2.

"That’s probably our strength," Roadcap said. "The one thing about Tamarac that I’ve struggled with – and this is my fifth year – I’ve always been overloaded with a lot of quick skill guys like David Fox, Phil Arnold and Nick Knauer. This is the first year where I have an offensive line that averages over 200 pounds. They’re not just big, they’re fast. They're not just big guys, they’re quick. They’ve worked hard in the weight room. Now we have the line to complient that skill that we’ve always had, that’s prob the biggiest thing."

Nick Feldmaier looks for running room during a scrimmage drill at Tamarac High School football practice last week. (Photo by Mike McMahon - The Record).

Tamarac playbook
COACH: Erick Roadcap
STARTERS RETURNING: 7 defense, 7 offense
2009 RECORD: 4-5
NICKNAME: Bengals
OFFENSE: Spread
DEFENSE: 4-3
LAST PLAYOFF GAME: 2008
LAST SECTION II TITLE: 1983 (Division II)
DIVISION: Class C, North

Tamarac, 2009 game-by-game results
Bishop Gibbons, L 35-7
STILLWATER, W 27-7
HOOSICK FALLS, L 40-13
Cambridge, L 41-0
CORINTH, L 33-0
Mechanicville, L 16-14
HOOSIC VALLEY, W 34-13
Cairo-Durham, W 42-0*
Catholic Central, W 49-14*
*Crossover games
Home games in CAPS

For video highlights from Tamarac training camp, visit www.troyrecord.com/video/sports

Tamarac, 2009 stats review
Rushing, Att, Yds., Avg., TDs
Nick Knauer, 135, 819, 6.1, 12
Nick Feldmaier, 36, 209, 4.7, 4
Passing, Comp., Att., Yds., Avg., TDs
Nick Casale, 42, 93, 709, 16.9, 4
Receiving, No., Yds., Avg., TDs
Tyler Larvie, 14, 268, 19.1, 3
Scoring, TD, 2-pt, PAT, FG, Tot.
Nick Knauer, 12, 0, 0, 0, 72

Nick Newell, who has played wide receiver and offensive line in recent years, hopes to find a happy medium at tight end in 2010. (Photo by Will Montgomery - The Record).

Tamarac 2010 Roster
Player, Yr., Ht., Wt., Pos.
Nick Arnold, Soph., 5-10, 170
Nick Ballato, Frosh., 5-10, 170
Dakota Bissell-Evans, Jr., 6-0, 212, OT-DT
Bob Bogan, Frosh., 5-8, 140
Mike Bornt, Soph., 5-10, 171
Ryan Broderick, Sr., 6-0, 185, RB-LB
Sam Burden, Soph., 5-11, 173
Nick Casale, Jr., 5-10, 176, QB-DB
Joe Clayton, Jr., 6-1, 262, OT-DT
Derrick Colon, Soph., 5-10, 176
Nick Feldmaier, Sr., 5-9, 177, RB-LB
Tom Galipeau, Jr., 6-3, 213, TE-DL
Nate Grab, Jr., 5-11, 171, OG-DL
Wade Hansen, Sr., 6-5, 220, OL-DL
Joe Hulsebosch, Jr., 5-11, 175, OG-LB
Eric Kowalchyk, Sr., 5-8, 162, WR-DB
Steve Lajeunesse, Frosh., 5-10, 160
James Large, Jr., 5-8, 192, OT-DL
Tyler Larvie, Jr., 5-8, 140, WR-DB
T.J. Lavigne, Soph., 5-9, 189
Zach Mason, Soph., 5-10, 145
Reed Meehan, Sr., 5-7, 155, WR-DB-K-P
Taz Messig, Jr., 6-1, 255, OT-DL
Mark Morine, Jr., 5-9, 152, RB-DB
Tom Morine, Frosh., 5-5, 135
Dan Motzer, Frosh., 5-6, 135
Joe Motzer, Jr., 5-10, 155, WR-DB
David Newell, Frosh., 5-7, 190
Nick Newell, Sr., 6-1, 184, TE-LB-DE
Kevin O’Keefe, Sr., 5-10, 176, WR-DB
Adam Reiter, Soph., 5-10, 164
Charlie Rodda, Soph., 5-10, 163
Rick Roden, Soph., 5-10, 157
Chris Stillson, Frosh., 5-5, 140
Jared Sweeney, Jr., 6-1, 201, OL-DL
Justin Wagner, Soph., 5-3, 121
Devan Warika, Soph., 6-1, 198
Eric Wright, Jr., 6-1, 188, WR-DB-K-P
Jesse Yetto, Jr., 5-9, 152, WR-DB
Sam Yetto, Frosh., 5-9, 150
David Zimmie, Frosh., 5-8, 160
Nick Zotto, Frosh., 5-9, 165

Tamarac’s three keys to the season
1, A strong defense.
2, Junior quarterback Nick Casale. "He’s big," said head coach Erick Roadcap. "He threw for over 700 yards and completed more than 50% of his passes (in 2009). He’s going to be big and we have to keep him cozy."
3, Staying healthy.

Tamarac, 2010 schedule
Friday Sept. 3, vs. Lake George, 7 p.m.
Saturday Sept. 11, at Hoosic Valley, 1 p.m.
Saturday Sept. 18, at Granville, 1 p.m.
Friday Sept. 24, vs. Watervliet, 7 p.m.
Friday Oct. 1, at Greenwich, 7 p.m.
Friday Oct. 8, at Corinth, 7 p.m.
Friday Oct. 15, vs. Mechanicville, 7 p.m.
Oct. 22/29, Playoffs/Crossovers, TBA

Wade Hansen is set to play all over the offensive line for Tamarac in 2010. (Photo by Will Montgomery - The Record).

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Keep checking back on the blog for a training camp report posted every day between now and opening day of the high school football season on Thurs., Sept. 2. The schools will be posted in no particular order, so please be patient if you don't see your school right away.

Also keep your eyes open for our 48-page preview section - Kickoff 2010 - which hits the newsstands inside The Record on Thurs., Sept. 2.