New team, who dis? A sneak peek at Nantucket High School football's 2023 season
The Nantucket High School football team is going through its own version of a renaissance in 2023.
Now in their second season under head coach Tim Psaradelis, the Whalers look drastically different than they did last season, after graduating over 20 senior players.
This year, there are only four. Lots of younger players will now be thrown into roles where they are expected to contribute. Perhaps the most important thing, in Psaradelis' eyes, is that this year's group is receptive.
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"Very enthusiastic, very coachable, very eager group of players," Psaradelis said. "Ultimately very optimistic, I'm excited."
Going through a changing of the guard can often be a positive for a team. The fresh voices and perspective can allow for new ideas to come forward, and a new culture to be created, and for this year's team, it's done just that.
But if there's one theme that Psaradelis is trying to emphasize this year, it's that leadership can come from anywhere.
"The message to the kids is, it's whoever wants to step up. If a captain is a sophomore I'm okay with that," Psaradelis said.
Overall, the team is just more together this season, and Psaradelis believes one of the strengths of his team is their increased chemistry.
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"The overall chemistry of the team, watching them interact with each other, watching them speak with other ... it's such a different feel."
One of the four seniors, quarterback and defensive end Carlos Aguilar, agrees, and says this year's group gets along better than any in the past.
"This year I feel like we've stepped it up a lot," Aguilar said. "We just had no chemistry (last year), and this past week, you could tell there was a huge difference."
Another difference in this year's Whalers team is a new focus on execution and a simplified scheme.
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"We've really simplified what we're doing, kind of cut out a lot of the noise," Psaradelis said. "In terms of the philosophy, it's just going to be very clean, very precise x's and o's from us."
Junior wing and defensive back Jake Haight is another who has been around the team for a few years and sees a difference.
"Last year we were just trying to get by, we didn't have very high expectations," Haight said. "This year, we've come firing out of the gate, thinking about everything ahead of us, and wanting to be better than last year."
The team is young, but Psaradelis believes they're on their way. He and his staff are encouraged by what they've seen thus far and are excited by what's to come this fall.
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Head coach: Tim Psaradelis
Last season record: 1-9
Nantucket Whalers 2023 schedule
Week 1: Saturday, Sept. 9, vs Carver
Week 2: Saturday, Sept. 16, at Mashpee
Week 3: Saturday, Sept. 23 at Sandwich
Week 4: Saturday, Sept. 30 vs. Tech Boston
Week 5: Saturday, Oct. 7 at Dennis-Yarmouth
Week 6: Saturday, Oct. 14 at St. John Paul II
Week 7: Saturday, Oct. 21 at Monomoy
Week 8: Saturday, Oct. 28 vs. Martha's Vineyard
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Key matchups
In 2022, Nantucket lost to Mashpee, Sandwich, Dennis-Yarmouth and Martha's Vineyard by a combined 21 points last season, including one-point losses to both Mashpee (29-28), and Martha's Vineyard (14-13). This season they face all four of those teams again and will be looking to flip those games into wins.
Key returning players
Carlos Aguilar, QB/DB, senior
Jake Haight, Wing/DB, junior
Samraj Khatri, OL, junior
Sujal Mali, OL, junior
Arann Hanlon, RB, sophomore
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Nantucket High School football 2023 season: Schedule, key matchups
