New era begins at J.P. Stevens under Joe Riggi Longtime assistant coach the logical pick to replace Frank Zarro BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer FILE PHOTO Jahyere Bryant is back as one of the featured playmakers on a J.P. Stevens team that hopes to improve under first-year head coach Joe Riggi. EDISON - When the J.P. Stevens High School football team opens the season Sept. 15 in Perth Amboy, several changes will be evident. First and foremost, longtime head coach Frank Zarro will no longer be roaming the sidelines. Zarro retired in June after a 37-year teaching career. Wearing the headset and taking over the head coaching duties is Joe Riggi. A Stevens graduate and the team's defensive coordinator the past eight seasons, Riggi brings 13 years of coaching experience to the Hawks' sidelines. "I spent a lot of years with Frank," Riggi said. "He was the defensive back coach when I was a player here at Stevens and he's been a great mentor and role model." Also new to the Stevens sideline is assistant coaches Kirk Hamrah and Mike Feaster. Hamrah spent time as the head coach at Bridgewater-Raritan, while Feaster is a true first-year coach. In addition to losing Zarro, Stevens lost a bunch of key players from last season's 5-5 team, including quarterback Greg Sica and kicker Eric McCutcheon. Perhaps one of the best kickers to come through Middlesex County in a number of years, McCutcheon and his foot are currently playing for Monmouth University. "We return just three starters from last year's team and just three coaches," Riggi said. "We're a very young team and we'll need to rely on the leadership of the three returning starters. Hopefully, the experience of making the playoffs last season will be incentive for the seniors to show the younger guys what it takes to win." Heading the list of returnees is tailback Jahyere Bryant. Bryant finished last year just a handful of yards shy of the 1,000 yards mark. The Hawks expect another big year from Bryant at both tailback and cornerback. "He brings explosive speed to our backfield," Riggi said. "It will be key for us to get him off to a strong start." A big reason for Bryant's success last year was the solid play of lineman Chris Scerbo. A starter since his sophomore season, Scerbo will be looked upon to anchor the offensive line and set the tempo on the defensive side of the ball. The team's third returning starter, Angelo DiPietro, saw minutes at running back and outside linebacker in 2006, but appears to head the list of possible candidates to replace Sica at quarterback. Also competing for the quarterback position is junior Rocco Mazza. "Rocco is our only player to bring experience to the position," Riggi said. "He played quarterback at JV last season, so he's been under center with our program and he knows the responsibilities that go along with the position." With DiPietro potentially seeing minutes at QB, junior Dujan Fleming and sophomore Stephen Dumchus are candidates to see significant action with Bryant in the Stevens backfield. "Stephen has good speed and strength and could be in the mix back there," Riggi said. "I think Dujan has shown a lot of improvement at camp and is another guy that could see some time in the backfield." With the wealth of talent the team has in the backfield, it should come as no surprise that the team is built for speed. "Speed is definitely a strength of ours," Riggi said. "We'll have to utilize our speed on both sides of the ball." As for a replacement for McCutcheon at kicker, the jury is still out, since Mc- Cutcheon left some pretty big shoes to fill. "We know how important special teams are, because our special teams' play won us some games last year," Riggi said. "It is something we work on every day, but it is a process."