(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last of a four-part series on the units for Saturday’s 45th annual Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic at Bradford’s Parkway Field. Today, the New York defense.)
For the first time in 19 years, Mark Blecha has been drawing up plays to rattle an opposing quarterback.
Not since his days at Olean High School has Blecha held the role of defensive coordinator. But such is the Franklinville/Ellicottville assistant’s responsibility on the New York staff Saturday night for the Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic.
At F/E, Chris Mendell, not Blecha, is Chad Bartoszek’s DC.
“When Chris decided he could not coach (in the Big 30 game), I guess it just fell on me,” Blecha said.
Not that he’s complaining.
Blecha, who leads F/E’s special teams and coaches its linebackers and running backs, is enjoying his first Charities Classic coaching experience after 28 seasons as a high school mentor. From 2000 to 2013, he was Franklinville’s head coach before it merged with Ellicottville.
“I started in Olean in ‘90,” Blecha said. “Right out of college, I got the phys ed job and they needed an assistant coach, so I started coaching with Mike Kane and learned a lot from him.
“When I was at Franklinville, I was offered quite a few years (to coach the Big 30 game) and always turned it down just because I had a lot of staff turnover throughout the years and things like that. It’s a big commitment. But when this year came around, I said something to (Bartoszek) — ‘Hey, you know what? This would be a good year to do it.’ No. 1, my son (Brock, one of New York’s quarterbacks) is in it, so it would give me another game with my son. It’s been a lot of fun.
“Working with the kids, I always thought it would be great to have a bunch of all-stars — kids that all can play at a high level and want to be there.”
Although Blecha hasn’t been a defensive coordinator since 1999, a benefit is his familiarity with the game’s mandated 4-3 defense.
“I’ve run a 4-3 defense ever since 1996,” he said. “My first couple years doing the defense down in Olean, we just ran a 5-3 and then the next year, in ‘96, I implemented a 4-3 defense. … I took it with me to Franklinville.
“We’re using the same terminology that we used when we had our 4-3. It’s nice getting back into it and relearning it a little bit and tweaking it a little bit. It’s been a good experience.”
At the start of practice, Blecha asked his New York all-stars how many were familiar with the alignment.
“I’d say it’s maybe about a third of the defense. They raised their hands and said we either played it or we we played forms of it maybe,” he said.
One challenge is knowing what to expect from Pennsylvania’s offense.
“I did a little research,” Blecha said. “I knew it was the Kane coaching staff, so I assumed that they’re going to run Kane’s offense. I just got online as much as I could and tried to find clips of their games. Their quarterback (Reed Williams) has a highlight video … so I watched some of that, just trying to see their sets and the kind of plays that they run. He’s a good quarterback — he threw for 2,000 yards. I saw some of their run stuff, so I just charted all of that stuff. So hopefully that’s what they’re running. It’s tough. It’s not like the season where you have four or five games that you can break down and get real tendencies.”
He added: “We’ve had bad days, but we’ve looked really good in practice. The kids are learning the discipline of the 4-3. If you don’t play a 4-3, it’s different from the other defenses that you play.”
New York’s tackles are Gavin Clemens (Bolivar-Richburg), Brad Pacer (Bolivar-Richburg), Colston Saulter (Cuba-Rushford) and Walter Woodarek (Franklinville/Ellicottville).
The ends are Camron Kostadinov (Portville), Scott O’Donnell (Cattaraugus-Little Valley), Dakota Olson (Franklinville/Ellicottville) and Tim Ulinger (Cattaraugus-Little Valley).
At linebacker are Vinny Certo (Southwestern), Logan Gough (Wellsville), Thomas Moran (Allegany-Limestone) and Braden Siebert (Salamanca).
In the secondary are cornerbacks Parker Cole (Bolivar-Richburg), Wake Kless (Pioneer), Deric Leiper (Franklinville/Ellicottville) and Roman Napoleon (Allegany-Limestone), plus safeties David Hlasnick (Portville), Daunte Jeter (Olean), Tucker Rouse (Cuba-Rushford) and Dawson Sanderson (Cuba-Rushford).
Zack Linderman (Olean) is the team’s kicker.
“I remember my whole experience back 32 years ago playing in it, and I’ll never forget it,” said Blecha, a Pioneer graduate who was a safety and punter in the 1986 game. “That’s what we hope to do for these kids.”
