New start for Beacon football

Bulldogs excited for 2002 season

By Sean T. McMann
Poughkeepsie Journal

 

Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal Beacon High School football coach Tony Truscello, center, oversees practice on Friday. Truscello replaced Frank Lofaro at the top job this season.

Darryl Bautista/Journal Beacon High School quarterback Casey Scott drops back to pass during Friday's practice.

The mid-August sun beat down on Brian Faison as he stood on Hammond Football Field.

Faison, who will enter his junior season at linebacker for the Beacon High School football team, wished he had a pigskin in his hand.

Instead, he held a paint brush.

He and some 60 Bulldogs painted Hammond's bleachers blue and yellow just days before the team's first preseason practice.

''Man, it was hot. It was tough,'' Faison said. ''They were looking pretty bad -- new wood with nothing on them. But we had a really good time.''

Those freshly painted stands aren't the only new things surrounding the Beacon football team. They were, however, a concrete -- well, wooden -- example of the philosophy that new coach Tony Truscello has brought to the program: Take pride in everything you do.

''It seems to be something they're taking to heart. We definitely see a change in attitude in the team,'' said Truscello, who takes over for long-time coach Frank Lofaro. ''This team has some pride in what it does. They have some pride in their program. We're happy about that.''

New school building

Along with their new attitude and new coach, the players will also be the first students to learn in the new high school, which opens this week.

In short, Truscello said, it's a good time to be at Beacon.

''The school's such a wonderful building,'' he said. ''The kids have a different outlook on going to school, and they have a different outlook on the football program.''

The Bulldogs hope that ''different outlook'' will translate into different results on the field.

Beacon finished 0-8 in 2001, a year that could have left players disheveled.

The Bulldogs, however, took the season in stride, Faison said, staying positive throughout the losses.

''Last year, the morale of the team wasn't down,'' he said. ''We struggled against good teams, but we went out there to have fun.''

Quarterback Casey Scott said that last year's debacle motivated him and his teammates to make this season a success.

''Everyone wasn't too happy about that,'' the senior said. ''We spent a lot of time together in the weight room, trying to make everything better. We have a talented team. I'd like to see us win a few games.''

That attitude, coupled with Truscello's style, led to a successful and productive preseason.

The team won its division at a 7-on-7 passing tournament in Warwick this past June. That gave the Bulldogs enthusiasm. Then they needed guidance, a way to channel that positive energy.

That's where Truscello stepped in.

The coach e-mailed his new charges, keeping them motivated, before printing up and distributing a player handbook, outlining what Truscello expected from his players.

''They noticed the organization,'' Truscello said. ''They're doing the little things we haven't seen in a while.''

The players are also seeing faces they haven't seen in a while.

Truscello looked for moral support from many community organizations, such as the town's Pop Warner program, all of which have responded in kind.

''We reached out, and the community responded,'' the coach said. ''We've got some of the old coaches back, and we're trying to blend everything together.''

Old and new. Youthful enthusiasm and aged experience. The Bulldogs hope those combinations will produce a season as pleasing to the eye as those Hammond Field bleachers.

And speaking of those bleachers?

''They actually came out pretty good,'' Faison said.