Snyder Tigers
NJTCC, Division 6
North 2, Group II
2008:0-8
Playoffs: None.
Head Coach:
Franz Pierre-Louis
1st Year
Returning Starters
Offense: 1
Defense: 0
Offense: Triple Option
Defense: 5-2
2009 Schedule
9/11 at Millburn 7 p.m.
9/18 vs Immaculate Conception 7 p.m.
9/26 vs Hoboken 1 p.m.
10/3 vs Sussex Tech 4 p.m.
10/10 at Lincoln 7 p.m.
10/16 at Hudson Catholic 7 p.m.
10/24 at Moore Catholic 1 p.m.
10/31 vs St. Anthony 4 p.m.
11/6 vs Marist 5 p.m.
Football Preview Guide
Team Previews
Bayonne
Dickinson
Ferris
Harrison
Hoboken
Hudson Catholic
Kearny
Lincoln
Marist
Memorial
North Bergen
St. Anthony
St. Peter’s Prep
Secaucus
Snyder
Union City
Weehawken
Class in session
Michael Collado is one of the few players on Snyder with varsity experience.
Click Here for more photos from Snyder's football practice.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
JERSEY CITY – Franz Pierre-Louis likes challenges. So when the former Essex Catholic head coach took the job at Snyder this June, he wasn’t deterred by the Tigers’ back-to-back winless seasons.
“It didn’t deter me, it turned me on to the job,” Pierre-Louis said about Snyder’s recent struggles. “It’s a challenge for me and I love challenges. I contacted my coaches that coached with me before and they were up for the challenge as well. It’s a test of our coaching ability as well. That’s what makes this exciting.”
Pierre-Louis and his coaching staff are working with a blank slate this season. With just one returning starter and just a handful of players with any type of football experience, Pierre-Louis has compared his group to an expansion team. As a result and emphasis has been placed on teaching the fundamentals of the game in camp.
Thus far, Pierre-Louis has been pleased with the progress his team has shown since he arrived. He knows that this season will be judged more on development than on wins and losses.
“If we can see progress from week in to week out, we’ll be pleased,” Pierre-Louis said. “That’s our overall goal, to see consistency and make progress each and every week.”
Offensive Overview:
At 6-foot-2, Kendal Francis gives Snyder a big target in the passing game.
Pierre-Louis has installed the triple-option offense at Snyder. Quarterback Malik Winchester said the adjustment to the new offense was difficult at first, but “the players are showing good potential and they’re picking it up.”
Winchester enters his second year as the starting quarterback, and is the team’s lone returning starter on offense. Junior Michael Collado gives the Tigers a speed receiver with a toughness that goes beyond his 5-foot-7 frame. Fellow junior Kendal Francis is a 6-foot-2 possession receiver and William Martin starts at tight end.
Junior Maurice Johnson is a first-year player that has turned heads at running back in the preseason.
“(Maurice) doesn’t have any varsity experience, but he had a great camp,” Pierre-Louis said. “He’s a hard worker, he’s a tough runner and we’re expecting him to lead the ground attack.”
Defensive Overview:
Linebacker Rashawn Ramirez has adapted well to Snyder's new 5-2 defense.
Winchester and junior Kasheen Hickson start at cornerback for the Tigers. Those two along with sophomore safety Dennell Johnson comprise a secondary that Pierre-Louis feels is the strongest unit on defense right now.
Junior middle linebacker Rashawn Ramirez has shown speed and good instincts at the position and will lead the front seven.
“He has picked up our defensive scheme rather quickly,” Pierre-Louis said. “He’s very knowledgeable at the game and he finds the football.”
Francis will also start at linebacker in Snyder’s 5-2 front.
Star Spotlight: Malik Winchester QB/CB
Quarterback Malik Winchester is Snyder's lone returning starter this season.
As the only player on the roster with any starting experience, Malik Winchester’s role this season goes well beyond the roles of starting quarterback and cornerback. He also will have to be an on-field mentor for his young teammates.
“I’m expecting Malik to be a leader and teach the younger players how to be productive on the field,” Piere-Louis said. “We’re expecting Malik to be a leader.”
“I try to show them the right way and a winning spirit,” Winchester said about his responsibilities as a leader. “I’m just trying to get them to get that winning mentality.”
Winchester completed 42 passes for 320 yards a year ago and brings some mobility under center. During the offseason, he said he worked on improving his pocket presence and his follow through.
But more than anything else, Winchester wants to put an end to the Tigers’ losing streak that dates back to 2006.
“When I first came here I thought we were going to win,” Winchester said. “Each year we kept losing and losing. This year, I’m very, very hungry to get a win this year.”