There has been a big change with Eastern Football, and it isn’t just a coach’s name; it is the team’s entire mentality.

After losing three seasons in a row following the departure of former Head Coach Dan Spittal, there was an offseason of much uncertainty. Former Defensive Coordinator John Doherty took over for Daniel Boguszewski as Head Coach, and the program went in a different direction.

The team exploded out of the gates, with a 4-0 start including wins against Trenton and Absegami. However, in the comeback victory against Trenton, another major change occurred. Starting quarterback Chase Stafford was replaced by a newcomer, Andrew Heck, who helped lead a 4th quarter rally and ensure victory for the Vikings. Heck would remain the starter for the rest of the season, and emerged as a team leader.

The real tests started in Week 5, where the team marched into Sicklerville to take on Division I committed quarterback Devin Leary and his Timber Creek squad. The team suffered a defeat, but it wasn’t a huge letdown considering the level of football that fans have grown accustomed to Timber Creek playing.

Eastern bounced back the following week, in a 40-21 rout of Pennsauken to clinch a playoff spot. Unfortunately, they couldn’t carry that momentum into the following weeks, losing a stout to Delsea defense, followed by a pair of heartbreaking defeats to Triton and Paul VI, both of which were decided by 6 points.

The subpar finish placed the Vikings as the 7th seed of the NJSIAA Group V playoffs, which matched them up with the 2nd seed, Rancocas Valley. Eastern was unable to stop the ground attack of Rancocas’ star running back Iverson Clement, and had their championship hopes stymied on a frigid Friday night in Mount Holly.

Though the season came to a bitter end, the team wasn’t all doom and gloom come Saturday morning. They were able to recognize many noticeable improvements over the course of the year.

The defense was excellent at stopping opponents from putting up big numbers over the year. Key performers included safety Zakee Johnson, linebackers TJ Franden and Jake LaRosa, and defensive tackle Ben Sperling. LaRosa made the comment, “Effort from players in the off season getting better and hard work during the season to stay prepared for the teams we faced were the major contributing factors to our improvement.”

“I think one of the most important is trying to get our guys to understand that football takes a ton of work to be good at,” said Doherty, “and just showing up to practice is not enough.” The coach’s stress of hard work and commitment was great for the success of his players on and off the field.

An area of the team that benefitted from Doherty’s stress of hard work was the offensive line. The line consisted of captain and center Rocco Tursi, left tackle Jermaine Donaldson and left guard Ben Sperling. This unit created space for running backs TJ Franden and Umar Davis to work with all season long. As Rocco Tursi says to his teammates, “Poor practice leads to poor performance, and poor performance leads to pain.”

“Honestly, everyone has stepped up this year to make an impact on the field both offense and defense and our backups stepped up to make the team better,” said Andrew Heck. Coach Doherty’s instillment of the virtues of hard work and effort led to a Vikings squad that was reinvigorated with energy the likes of which Eastern hasn’t seen since the days of Tom Flacco.

With the team retaining many starters into 2018, it is hard to imagine this team regressing in the future. As Tursi said, “We will do great if we all work hard in the offseason and during the summer.” However, to Coach Doherty, there is no real offseason. “It [football] is a 24 hour, 7 day, 365 days a year habit in which you have to do whatever you can to improve, just like any sport or passion you want to be good at.”