High School football summer snapshot: Wall has program reset 2 years after hazing scandal
A 4-7 record would normally indicate a season was not a winning one.
But, in light of what the Wall High School football program went through from the end of the 2021 season to the start of the 2022 season, when a hazing scandal resulted in student arrests, suspensions for players and coaches and the cancellation of the final two games of that season, 2022 was a win for the program.
Head coach Ed Gurrieri, in his first season at Wall after a highly successful 13-season stint at Manalapan over two different tenures, his coaching staff and the players on the 2022 team got the program back on an even keel.
“The kids that are returning and the ones who graduated did everything we asked of them. I’m proud of that and I’m proud of the way they played because they really played hard,'' Gurrieri said.
Senior quarterback Andrew Olsen said there was a "cloud'' over the team last season due to the after effects of the scandal.
"We're past that and have moved on. We're excited for this season,'' Olsen said.
Senior left guard Ben Sasso said the start of last season "was rough.''
"I like to thing about the future,'' Sasso said. "That was the whole thing last season was just the next game. We kept putting things behind us. Now, that we've got our feet under ourselves, we can really hit the ground running.''
Both Olsen and Sasso said the players and the coaching staff are all on the same page.
"We have a relationship with him (Gurrieri) now,'' Olsen said. "Last season, we met him just a few months before the season started. Now, that he's been around the school, it's easier to go to him when we're having troubles about plays.''
"We're definitely more prepared,'' Sasso said. "We feel like we can actually practice, our football, our conditioning and our hitting, instead of worrying about our assignments, like we did last year.''
On the field, Wall, which went 25-4 on the field from 2019-2021 with an NJSIAA Central Group 3 championship in 2019 and the unofficial Shore Conference championship and consensus No. 1 ranking in New Jersey in 2020, started 0-6, even though it was competitive in some of the games, against a brutal schedule.
However, once the Crimson Knights got away from the powers in the Shore Conference American Division, they were able to win four straight and the NJSIAA South Group 3 regional championship.
“If we had played just one division below us, we would have been fine,’’ Gurrieri said. “I think if we could have figured out to get one more win (during the regular season) and get to the playoffs, I think we would have been fine for the first couple of games.’’
Wall could face the same issue this season in an American Division that is probably even tougher because defending NJSIAA Group 5 champion Toms River North moves back into the division.
The division has a defending group champion in Toms River North that went 14-0 last season, two returning group runners-up in Rumson-Fair Haven and Red Bank Catholic, a sectional runner-up in Middletown South and a very good Donovan Catholic team.
“I think we’re going to be OK, but the only thing I worry about is everybody in our division is better than they were last year,’’ Gurrieri said.
"Everybody is going to write us off, but we're not writing ourselves off, we're ready to go,'' Olsen said.
Another effect of what happened in 2021 is that Wall has only 13 seniors and 54 players overall in the sophomore-senior classes, Gurrieri said.
“It’s going to take time,’’ Gurrieri said. “We feel like you have to go through the whole cycle of the four years before you start feeling the full effect (of building the structure of the program). But, I think in Year 2, we’re headed in the right direction.’’
Gurrieri said he lobbied for a move down to the Colonial Division. However, a win over Manalapan in the final game before the playoff cutoff was probably the reason Wall stayed in the American Division and Manalapan went down to the Colonial.
“A couple of years from now, if we get this thing going, the way we want to get it going, I’ll stay here. I’ll play anybody, like I said at Manalapan, I’ll play anybody, anytime,’’ Gurrieri said.
Sasso, whose older brother Charlie was a standout linebacker on the Wall teams from 2019-21, said Wall can return to those days.
"I feel we have some great players, and that's what it takes to take this program to the next level,'' Sasso said.
Wall, whose strength last season was a defensive front seven that was hit hard by graduation, has some pieces on offense in returning quarterback Andrew Olsen, running back Mason Adam and four returning starters and size on the offensive line.
Those pieces should fit in nicely in the Pro-power I formation that Gurrieri’s teams have consistently run through the years.
Shore Conference American Division
NJSIAA South Group 3
2022 Record: 4-7
COACH: Ed Gurrieri, 2nd season at Wall (4-7); 15th season overall (113-42)
Wall High School football: Must-win games
Considering Wall is likely going to be an underdog in all five of its divisional games, the nondivisional games against Manalapan, which went 3-7 last season, Howell, which went 5-5 and defeated Wall last season and Group 2 Middle Township, which went 6-4 and qualified for the NJSIAA playoffs last season, are critical as to how the season will go.
"Those are teams that we're equal to. If we get those, believe it or not, with the strength of our schedule, we might get a home game for the first round of the playoffs,'' Gurrieri said.
Wall High School football: Top performers
Chris Rogers, Sr. OL
The 6-foot-5, 325-pound Rogers will be the left tackle.
"He has very good feet for a big guy. He's good with his hands and he's got a mean streak in him,'' Gurrieri said.
Ben Sasso, Sr., OL
Sasso at 6-foot-3, 270 pounds, will be the left guard. Gurrieri said Sasso has received an offer from Wagner College
"He's very athletic and very smart,'' Gurrieri said.
Bob Langworthy, Sr. OL
The 6-foot-1, 260-pound Langworthy will be the right guard. He also had 24 tackles, four of which were for a loss, last season.
Andrew Olsen, Sr. QB
Olsen threw for 667 yards and six TDs last season.
"He had to learn a whole new system and whole new terminlogy,'' Gurrieri said. "It was like he was learning a whole new language. He started to get really good toward the end of the year, and it's carried over.''
Mason Adam, Jr., RB/LB
Adam ran for 464 yards and 10 TDs and returned two interceptions for TDs last season.
Tony Credle, Jr. RB
Credle had 19 tackles last season. He and Adam will split the duties at running back.
Wall High School football: Program players
Nick Wonsala, Sr., WR/LB
Wonsala had 17 receptions for 172 yards last season.
Shea Brennan, Sr., WR/DB
Brennan had four tackles last season.
Matteo Massotti, Jr., DL
Massotti had 12 tackles last season.
Wall High School football: Names to know
Tom Plitski, So., LB/RB
Plitski has really good football instincts, Guerrieri said.
Justin Davis, So., LB/TE
He is big, fast and physical, Gurrieri said.
Dylan Cohen, So., LB/RB
Cohen is fast and strong and has good instincts, Gurrieri said.
Heath Reinhardt, So. PK/P/DB/WR
Reinhardt had a field goal and was 23-for-24 in extra points last season.
Wall High School football: Playoff history (22-16)
21 NJSIAA playoff appearances.
5 sectional championships (1982, 1983, 2002, 2016, 2019).
Wall High School football 2023 schedule
Aug. 25: At Manalapan, 7 p.m.
Sept. 1: Howell, 7 p.m.
Sept. 8: At Middletown South, 7 p.m.
Sept. 15: At Red Bank Catholic, 7 p.m.
Sept. 22: Donovan Catholic, 7 p.m.
Sept. 29: Middle Township, 7 p.m.
Oct. 6: At Toms River North, 6 p.m.
Oct. 20: Rumson-Fair Haven, 7 p.m.
Nov. 23: Manasquan, 11 a.m.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore football: Wall High School 2023 preview
