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By Elio Velez
Brooklyn Daily
Brooklyn Tech football coach Kyle McKenna is optimistic about this season, despite graduating the stable of talented seniors who brought the team to the quarterfinals of the Public School Athletic League championship division last year on the crest of a seven-game winning steak.
With stars James Gales off at Princeton, Thomas Plonski at Villanova, and Kyvaune Brammer at Fordham, McKenna will have to rely of a hungry young squad to step up this year.
“I’m very optimistic and excited about this year,” McKenna said. “I know there are guys who may not have had that leadership mantle before, but now they have the opportunity to do so.”
The Engineers squad has only six starters returning on both sides of the ball, but have enough experience with 21 upperclassmen on the roster to jump into the lineup. New starting lineman Mohamed Eldaly, is a senior who says his teammates embrace the opportunity to carry the torch of last year’s stars and continue the program’s rise.
“We want to keep the good things going,” Eldaly said. “They [Plonski, Brammer] were big guys but we got some things this year that will work in our favor.”
The offense shifts to a balanced attack after mostly relying on the speedy legs of Gales last season. McKenna believes two-year starting safety Tristan Brown will be a major factor starting at running back, after he showcased his speed in past seasons as a backup.
“I’m excited for the chance,” Brown said. “We got a lot of good players here.”
Junior quarterback Elijah Rueda, a first-year starter, will have two big wide receiver targets in 6-foot-3 Deon Mash and 6-foot-2 Alfred Gamby.
The player who could receive the most scholarship offers this campaign is middle linebacker Chawit Bunditwong. Emerging last season as the team’s leading tackler, the 6-foot, 220-pound senior has the skills and the academics to attract interest from a few Patriot League schools already.
“I think he was one of the best middle linebackers in the city last year,” McKenna said.
The line backing core should be consistent with senior Hassan Parker and Lawrence Menyah leading the way. Mash and Gray Abraxis will anchor the defensive line and Teshawn Guy starts at cornerback. The special teams are boosted by junior Nick Fuertes’s big leg.
Tech has the motivation and talent to remain a viable football program even with a tough schedule containing such teams as defending champions Erasmus Hall. The Engineers players think they are up for the challenge.
“We’re getting prepared,” senior Chris Casares said. “We’ve done a lot of work in the offseason so we are actually prepared for everything,”