Staying on Top: 2024 Holmdel Football Preview
One of the most difficult challenges in the history of Holmdel football has been sustaining winning after a stellar group of seniors graduates.
The Hornets face that hurdle this year after not only losing a bulk of their lineup from a 9-1 team, but also head coach Jeff Rainess, who stepped down after leading them to their best sustained stretch of winning in program history in his eight seasons.
The ingredients are there to keep the victories coming under new head coach Noel Kavanagh, who has been an assistant on state championship teams at Freehold and Neptune and knows the standard the Hornets are looking to uphold. Coming off a run to the sectional semifinals last season, the Hornets want more.
“I think our expectations are to be in the playoffs and to make a run once we get there,” Kavanagh said. “As a first-year coach, you want to go out there and perform. Jeff Rainess was awesome. He did a great job. There’s definitely some pressure on me to win games, but I can’t do anything more than take it one game at a time.
“I’ve seen what a good football team looks like, what great football coaches look like. I think that we can be an excellent team. It’s really about staying healthy.”
A primary building block is junior dual threat quarterback Jack Cannon, who threw for 1,049 yards and 10 touchdowns and ran for 507 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore. He leads an offense that’s transitioning from the run-heavy veer under Rainess to more of a spread look under Kavanagh.
Cannon, who has drawn some Ivy League interest as well as other FCS and FBS schools in the Northeast, is one of just three returning starters on offense.
“He’s very athletic, makes really good decisions, and has great touch on his deep ball,” Kavanagh said about Cannon.
Senior Matt Iulo returns as a starter at running back, and the wide receiving corps is deep for a team expected to put the ball in the air much more this season. Senior Frankie Serini, junior James Murphy, senior Trey Critchley, sophomore Michael Todisco and freshman Anthony Serini round out the wideouts. Todisco and Anthony Serini are two promising newcomers who should make an immediate impact.
The offensive line only returns one starter, senior center Demetri Lazarou. The remainder of the line will be made up of senior Hamza Elmesi and Rob Miodusewski at left tackle, Evan Savarese, Peter Vasilidias and Donnie Mason in the mix for left guard, juniors Jack Tiller and Miodusewski at right guard and senior Cipriano Bodnar and junior Luke Scheiss competing for time at right tackle. Juniors Alex Reyes and Carmine Aliperti are the tight ends.
Junior Brandon Mueller and sophomore Jan Ibriham are competing to be the kicker.
The Hornets return four starters from a lockdown defense that registered a school-record six straight shutouts last season and led the Shore Conference in only allowing 4.8 points per game.
“We have some talent on defense, and I think we’re pretty physical,” Kavanagh said. “We just don’t have a lot of playing experience.”
Bodnar is a returning starter at defensive end, and the other end will be either Elmesi or Aliperti. Savarese will be at noseguard in the Hornets’ multiple front.
Frankie Serini and sophomore Matt Scheinman will get snaps at the hybrid safety-linebacker bandit position, with Murphy or Scheinman at the other hybrid spot. Matt Iulo will be at weakside linebacker, with junior Aydin Ceka also seeing time there.
Junior Peter Berardi is a returning starter at middle linebacker, and Reyes and Lazarou are in the rotation at strongside linebacker. The Hornets lost a key returner at linebacker when senior Evan Saghafi transferred to rival St. John Vianney in the offseason.
The secondary has some experience with senior Jack Powers and Critchley as returning starters at cornerback. Todisco steps in as the starting safety, and Aliperti will be the punter.
After winning a division title last season, Holmdel is in the newly aligned Class C North with Manalapan, Manasquan, Raritan, Wall and in-town rival St. John Vianney. Holmdel will be gunning for the first back-to-back division titles in its history.
The Hornets also have never won an NJSIAA sectional title in their history, so that is a driving motivation for a team that reached the semifinals last season.
At a Glance
Head coach: Noel Kavanagh, first season
Career record: 0-0
2023 record: 9-1
Offense: Spread
Defense: Multiple
Coaching Staff
Defensive coordinator/asst. head coach/OL/LB: Scott Cannon
Special teams coordinator/RB/DB: Dallas Clem
WR/DB: Joe Castellano
OL/DL: Dave Sherman
Freshman head coach: Mike Oxley
Freshman asst.: John Venturi
Athletic trainer: David Katz
Circle the Date: Sept. 13 vs. St. John Vianney
This is an important divisional game and a rivalry game between two schools located in Holmdel. Plus, one of the Hornets’ top linebackers transferred to St. John Vianney in the offseason, so there’s some extra spice to this one. Last year, the game went to overtime before Holmdel pulled out a 20-14 win.
Rookie watch: Anthony Serini, Fr., WR
Serini is expected to be a regular target for Jack Cannon in an amped-up passing game. He also may see time on defense. Sophomore Mike Todisco is another two-way talent who should make an impact.
Stat to Know
Holmdel’s defense only allowed 48 total points all of last season, and only two teams cracked 10 points against them.
SCHEDULE
| Friday 8/30 | Long Branch | 6 p.m. |
| Friday 9/6 | @Ocean | 7 p.m. |
| Friday 9/13 | St. John Vianney | 7 p.m. |
| Friday 9/20 | Manasquan | 7 p.m. |
| Friday 9/27 | @Wall | 7 p.m. |
| Thursday 10/10 | Raritan | 7 p.m. |
| Friday 10/18 | @Monmouth | 6 p.m. |
| Friday 10/25 | @Manalapan | 7 p.m. |
