High school football: After rough season, Amherst is ready to turn the page

AMHERST — The Amherst football team is ready to turn the page. In fact, if you ask senior receiver Cameron Gendics, the Comets already have. Last season, coach Kenny Fritz' first at the helm after replacing Mike Passerrello, Amherst struggled … failing to win a game and giving up points in bunches. This season the attitude and mindset are entirely different. "We're barely talking about last season," Gendics said. "We're trying to forget about it and put it out of our minds. Our whole motto this year is 'belief.' We believe in the coaches and the coaches believe in us. Now we have to get some momentum going. "Everyone is ready to let (last year) go, and we're a lot more positive. Definitely. We have really good team chemistry, too. It's an entirely different feeling in the locker room this year. "We're ready to grind it out every week and are going to be a lot more physical this year. Fritz also thinks the Comets have put last season's frustrations behind them … and the changes, although minor, have had a giant impact. "Things like being late to practice … those things don't happen anymore," Fritz said. "There are a lot of things that have changed, and it's not because we have better kids. I loved my seniors last year like I love my seniors this year. "There is a clearer expectation, unlike it being somewhat foggy the first year. That's huge. The kids also know, now, that you have to do things that are best for the team and not necessarily best for the person. "We've talked about it in the locker room and among the coaching staff, but we don't really talk about it much now because we've put it in the past." Fritz pointed to the quarterback position as an example of how the Comets have bought in this season. Senior Christian Heckman will not be the starter, as sophomore Cole Norris has earned the starting job. Through it all, Fritz pointed out that Heckman has worked to elevate Norris. "Right now Cole Norris is our starting quarterback and Christian is coming in in situations when we need him," Fritz said. "Christian has done a really good job of becoming another coach for Cole and understanding the situation that isn't necessarily a comfortable situation. It's another situation where he is doing what's best for the team before the person." Amherst will have a nice rotation at running back, with senior Bishop Fryson handling the bulk of the carries. "We have some other players we feel confident in, too," Fritz said. "This is one of the first years I feel like we have a really strong competition at running back. J.R. Bires is a sophomore, Oliver Fekete is a sophomore and Nick Costello is a junior, and those are four quality kids that would be seeing a lot of time if they were at another school. "They are just all at the same school and I feel really lucky to have them." The defensive side of the ball was where the Comets fell woefully short last season, giving up a whopping 43.6 points per game. Fritz knows what it will take for Amherst to turn the defense around. "Absolute physicality and tenacious effort," he said. "I tell the kids all the time, defense is such a mindset. You have to know you are going to take your 11 against their 11 no matter what. Playing physical, relentless effort … that wears on a team and it's the kind of mentality that we have to have." Fritz said the lessons from last season, although in the past, will pay off for the Comets in the future. "We say it's the best lesson that nobody asked for," Fritz said. "You find out a lot about yourself and the people around you when you are as unsuccessful as we were last year. What we never wavered from was what we stood for as a program. We stayed true to that and I think this year we'll reap the benefits from that." Contact Mike Perry at (440) 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com.