Post Classifieds
Bengals gearing up for new season
Quarterback Kacz returns to lead team into the Empire 8 Athletic Conference
By A.J. Speier
On August 16, 2012
The Buffalo State football team will join the Empire 8 athletic conference for the 2012 season after
spending six seasons as a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
The conference features five teams from the state of New York in addition to Buffalo State, including
Alfed State, Hartwick, Ithaca, St. John Fisher and Utica. Two teams from Maryland, Frostburg State and
Salisbury, round out the Bengals new competition.
Buffalo State's rivalries with Cortland and Brockport remain - the team will square off against both
schools in non-conference matchups for its first two games of the season. The Bengals also signed a
two-year contract to play defending Division III National Champion Wisconsin-Whitewater and will
round out the non-conference portion of their schedule against them.
Heading into the season, the Bengals will bring the NJAC's top offense from a year ago to the Empire 8
and look to have similar success. The Bengals averaged 36.6 points per game offensively and boasted
the top rushing offense, averaging 208.9 yards per game and 29 touchdowns. They also had the third-
best passing offense, averaging 223.3 yards per game.
Junior Casey Kacz appears to be the frontrunner to start at quarterback over last season's opening-
day starter, senior Ryan Lehotsky. Kacz led the Bengals to a 4-2 record over the final six games of the
season after Lehotsky began the season with just one win in four games - an 82-17 route of Western
Connecticut State.
"(Lehotsky) has motivation because he wants to start and it's motivation for me because I know that
I can have my spot taken from me at any time like he had his spot taken last year," Kacz said. "I know
the same thing could happen to me. If he plays better in camp and just outperforms me, I know (the
coaches) won't hesitate to put him back in because he knows the offense just as well as I do and he's a
good competitor and a great quarterback. I know with him right there, I have to constantly be pushing
myself."
The Bengals also have an interesting competition at running back. Rich Pete showed he could handle the
load last year when opening day starter Ismail Brooks was hampered by an injury. Pete rushed for 753
yards and nine touchdowns on 100 carries while Brooks rushed for 478 yards and 8 touchdowns on 100
carries.
"I think Ismail Brooks and Richard Pete made a lot of strides," offensive coordinator Greg Forest
said. "Those guys understand their roles a little bit better than last year. They understand that not only
are they going to be in the backfield toting the rock, but they're going to be out there catching passes as
well which will put more pressure on the defense and make our offense more diversified."
At wide receiver, Mike Doherty figures to start after leading the team with 46 receptions for 659 yards
and four touchdowns. Caesarae Lewis finished second on the team with 31 receptions for 387 yards and
three touchdowns and will look to compete for the other starting job with Justin Medley, David Jacobs,
John Beers and Joe Ferraro. Zachary Best will start at tight end.
The offensive line will feature three returning starters in center Kyle Shreve, left guard Josh Jesonowski
and right tackle Brendan Barthel. Adam Hurd, John Knudsen and Mike Feirabend will compete for the
left tackle and right guard jobs.
Defensively, the Bengals will still operate in a 4-2-5 defensive scheme and will look to improve the
NJAC's third-best run defense, which allowed just 132.1 rushing yards per game.
"We just continue to get better," linebacker Brandon Hodgins said. "Kids keep getting older. We've got
more kids coming in that can play ball. We're looking to have a really solid defense this year."
The defensive line has yet to be determined, but Sean Littlejohn, Ben Denn, Steve Murphy, Jahi Owens,
Craig Klemick, Will Doerr and Gorden Schubert all figure to be a part of the rotation.
At the linebacker position, last season's leading tackler Pasquale Vacchio will have to battle Jordan Boser
and Eddie Weiser for one of two inside linebacker jobs. Hodgins and Matt Wesolowski appear to be the
favorites to occupy the Bengal and Tiger positions, which are similar to a hybrid safety/linebacker role.
In the secondary, Josh Mims will switch from cornerback to safety as the team looks to improve the
NJAC's second worst pass defense after allowing 220.9 yards per game last season. Cortland transfer
Joe Manasani will look to battle Jeff Moore, Sean Mapp and Isaac Clark for the two starting cornerback
positions.
"My expectations for the team this year are high," Mims said. "Coming from last season with all of the
close games we were in and just how we couldn't finish at the end. We were in all of those games and
we should've won them. We just had a couple of mental errors that broke us down, but I believe those
errors and mental blocks are not going to prevent us from winning games this year."
The Bengals will begin training camp Aug. 10 with the regular season beginning at home against
Cortland at noon on Sept. 1 on Coyer Field.
A.J. Speier can be reached by email at speier.record@live.com.
Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly
Recent The Record News Articles
Runge's on-court progress parallels off-court success
Buffalo State men's basketball coach Fajri Ansari remembers his decision to recruit Seth Runge out of Springville-Griffith Institute ...
Bashore Baltimore bound after finding success in fashion field
Kelsey Bashore opened her email over spring break and glanced over one particular message several times to confirm what she was ...
Ladies win OT thriller to close season
After being eliminated from the playoffs last week, the Buffalo State lacrosse team knew Saturday's game at Potsdam would be its last ...
Discuss This Article
GET TOP STORIES DELIVERED WEEKLY
FOLLOW OUR NEWSPAPER
LATEST THE RECORD NEWS
- We've Moved to www.buffstaterecord.com!
- Obama divulges new higher education initiative during visit to UB
- Ailing Podolefsky steps down as president
- SUNY appoints Cohen interim president
- President Podolefsky announces leave to fight cancer
- Rappers put Pepsi in a bind
- Congrats to grads: take next step with gratitude
RECENT THE RECORD CLASSIFIEDS
OUTSIDE THE LINES
- A Story To Sing About
- The Gap in Gum Care: Why Caring For Your Teeth’s F...
- Top Tips for Signature Scents and Better-Smelling Laundry
- A Dog Trainer’s Top Tips to Support Pets Through Life S...
- Clear the Air of Indoor Pollutants This Spring
- Stroke & Dementia in Black Men: Tips for Staying Healthy...
- Hispanics and African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye...
- African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye Disease
- Infinity Kings: Final Book In A Favorite Fantasy Series
- What You Need To Know About Keratoconus and the iLink...
FROM AROUND THE WEB
- 7 Reasons Renting an RV Should Be On Every Family’s S...
- Don’t Let Diabetes Shortchange Your Golden Years
- No Child is Forgotten By Marine Toys for Tots
- Sweeten Your Springtime Salads With Healthy Chilean Grapes
- Young Author Translates 4,000-Year-Old Text to Reveal...
- Keeping Cool and Energy-efficient Amid America’s “...
- Addressing Sarcopenia with a Healthy Diet
- Subway’s New Wraps Elevate Eating on the Go
- Family Teacher Conference Topics Beyond Academics
- Youth Take Down Tobacco
COLLEGE PRESS RELEASES
- Shoff Promotions Comic Book & Sports Card Show
- Semiconductor Research Corp unveils 2024 Research Call, $13.8M Funding
- Charles River Associates Opens Second Scholarship Cycle, Expands to the UK
- BLUMHOUSE AND AMC THEATRES LAUNCH FIRST-EVER HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN FILM FESTIVAL
- THE GEN Z IMPERATIVE: LISTEN TO FEELINGS AND GIVE GEN Z A VOICE
