First Posted: 8/20/2014
Pittston Area coach Jim Norris may be in his first year as head coach, but he’s very familiar with what’s been happening on the field for the Patriots.
Norris has seen Pittston Area – three straight 3-win seasons. But times are different, he said. And things are about to change.
The young coach’s first goal? Change the culture.
“I think losing is contagious and I think winning’s contagious,” Norris said. “The unfortunate part is you have to act like a winner before you are one.”
Norris is a student of former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh. He gets a lot of what he does from him.
“He talks about creating a culture of excellence,” Norris said. “Those are the things we’re trying to do here. If you want to be an elite program, it’s not easy. It’s exhausting.”
Pittston Area has had one winning season in the last decade – in 2008, the Patriots were 6-5. But the Patriots, according to Norris, have put together a great off-season, especially offensively.
This is Norris’ first year as the head coach. He’s certainly changed some things. One thing the Patriots are focusing more on at practice is hitting. And a lot of it. From the opening whistle to the closing whistle, shoulder pads and helmets are cracking.
Norris was a part of the staff when this year’s seniors were sophomores. Now, he gets to take those players to graduation.
“I love being around the kids every day. I think it’s been a great experience,” Norris said. “I got to know a lot of these guys during their sophomore year and being able to coach them their senior year it’s a real privilege.”
The Patriots struggled offensively a season ago. But there were some bright spots. Senior back Kyle Gattuso split time with graduated James Emmett at quarterback. Gattuso will be the guy under center when the season starts Saturday.
Gattuso rushed for over 800 yards as a junior. That included a breakout game against rival Wyoming Area. In that game, Gattuso racked up 123 yards in the first quarter, including scoring runs of 60 and 66 yards, on his way to the 36th annual Carmello Falcone Memorial Most Valuable Player award. He finished the game with 210 yards on 25 carries.
“He’s an intelligent kid,” Norris said of Gattuso. “The quarterback has to be a guy who is going to be a general. He’s the guy on offense that takes the huddle, he’s a winner and Kyle has that winner’s edge.”
Norris did admit, however, the Patriots will show more than one quarterback throughout the season.
Pittston Area seems to always have a playmaker or two in the backfield. This year is no different. Leading that charge are seniors Joshua John and Angelo Aita – two of the fastest kids in District 2 during track season.
Pair that with the speed and versatility of Gattuso and the Patriots have something cooking.
“We have a really athletic, smart senior class,” Norris said. “To get to coach kids like that in my first year is great. Then we put them in practice with Gattuso and senior back Kyle Petroski, there’s two more guys that can hang with them.”
Pittston Area will show a lot of looks this year offensively. The Patriots won’t be too much of an I-formation bunch, but through film and a few scrimmages, Norris feels he’s narrowed it down to what the team is really good at. He also feels like he’ll have some of the best guys in the district.
Some familiar faces are gone defensively – Michael Schwab, Hassan Maxwell, RJ Haas – but the Patriots have something cooking up their sleeves. “A group of misfits,” as Norris called them.
The starting defensive front is one that should be reckoned with this season. However, only three of the six guys have played football.
Norris feels senior end Joe Montini will be one of the better kids in the league along side of Pittston Area wrestling senior John Armitage, who is in his first year wearing a helmet. The biggest player on the team, Troy Franklin, will be a handful up front. To top it off, senior Matt Romanowski is in his first year, coming off a great wrestling season. Junior Devon Biggers will also be a part of that group.
“ – the wrestlers know how to grind,” Norris said. “This will be a fun group to watch.”
Pittston Area will run a base 4-3 defense. It’s not going to be very flashy, but basic. One thing that may be flashy is the speed of the defense. And that’s the goal for the Patriots.
“Hopefully the fans don’t get bored,” Norris laughed. “It’s pretty basic. We just want to be really fast defensively.”
Leading the charge in the defensive backfield will be junior Ryan Davis and senior Shane Flannelly – both extremely fast players.
Pittston Area is really proud of its work in the offseason. The offense, believe it or not, was actually ahead of the defense when camp opened. There are some smart seniors on this team, and athletic ones as well.
“They bought into it,” Norris said. “We have some special kids on our team. They are some of the fastest and the smartest. They have a ton of potential and they have people believing in them for the first time in a long time.”
The Patriots haven’t scored a touchdown in three straight season openers – it’s been back-to-back 28-0 losses to Abington Heights. Pittston Area travels there to start the season Saturday.
