Needless to say, it wasn’t the triumphant return that Eric Piccolo envisioned, when he decided to go back to his alma mater, Dickinson High School, heading back to the place where his high school coaching career began more than a decade ago.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. Piccolo went back to Dickinson in 2004 and inherited a nightmare. The Rams were dreadful, losing all 10 games, getting outscored, 373-68, in the process. Quick math shows that the Rams lost every game by an average score of 37-6. There’s only one word to describe such a debacle. Ouch.
“You can never throw an entire year away,” Piccolo said. “Those are the growing pains that a program has to go through, if you’re going to turn things around. Just like learning to walk, you’re going to fall a few times. But you have to get back up and get going again. Of course, it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Some kids survived. Hopefully, they’ve all learned a lesson and they’re moving on. But it was a pretty tough go.”
Just how tough? Well, Piccolo dismissed a good portion of his team a year ago for disciplinary reasons. Another handful was ejected from the team’s first game against Union Hill for fighting. When he needed another running back, Piccolo found one in Aldrick Williams while Williams was playing with the school’s marching band.
“I plucked him right out of the band,” Piccolo said. “He ended up being our best running back. It just shows you what was left over. I had to fight for talent.”
Williams (6-1, 215) did not return to the band this year. He returns to the gridiron for his senior season and he remains Dickinson’s best running back.
“It’s a case of a gifted athlete who was hurt as a sophomore and didn’t want to come back out for football,” Piccolo said. “Now, he’s back playing and he’s doing well. He’s a great kid.”
Last year’s starting guard, Effiginio “Chito” Arroyo, is now the team’s starting quarterback. The 6-0, 225-pound Arroyo missed some time last year with a dislocated ankle and shoulder, but he’s healthy this year and adapting to his new position.
“He loves the game and the kids all respect him,” Piccolo said of Arroyo. “He runs the team well. You would never think this kid was an offensive lineman last year, because Chito’s been fantastic for us.”
One of the Rams’ top running backs is senior Jose Esposito (5-8, 165), who Piccolo says has “good speed and can get to the outside.” Senior wide receiver Benjamin Yu (5-7, 135) also has good speed and is a tough customer. Piccolo affectionately calls him “BYU.”
Senior Edmund Carter (6-0, 250) is the Rams’ tight end. Carter has good hands and is a big target for Arroyo.
Seniors Nathaniel Jackson (6-4, 295) and Jeffrey Alvarado (5-10, 210) are the tackles, with senior Emmanuel Esposito (5-10, 200) at center and senior Stevenson Benoit (5-9, 195) and junior Andrew McLean (5-9, 190) at guards.
On defense, Williams and Jose Esposito are the defensive ends, with sophomore Khalil Abdul-Kareem (6-0, 230) playing the nose guard. Carter and Jackson are the defensive tackles.
Arroyo and McLean are the linebackers, with seniors Oscar Brown (5-9, 195) and Joey Avillo (5-5, 145) joining Yu and junior Robert Anthony (5-8, 165) in the secondary.
The team’s chances will improve when Darnell Jenkins, an outside linebacker and a transfer from Hudson Catholic, becomes eligible in 30 days.
“He should help us out a lot,” Piccolo said of Jenkins, who started last year for Hudson Catholic.
So where does a team that was 0-10 a year ago and surrendered 373 points go a year a later? Obviously, the Rams have to be on the way up.
“It was a hard lesson,” Piccolo said. “It was hard to tell the kids that they needed to lose before they can win. We’re in this for the long run. Hopefully, we’ve exorcised the demons and can move forward. We have a good group of steady guys who have been at every practice. You can’t turn back the clock and can’t dwell on what happened in the past. We all have to move forward. End of story.”
The Rams open their 2005 season Sept. 10 against Union Hill.
—Jim Hague