With 15 Seniors, Cape Tech Football Looks To Build On Momentum

HARWICH – The Cape Cod Tech football team is ahead of schedule. 

 Despite losing last year’s starting quarterback Aidan Choukri and starting running back Rovens Jean-Baptiste, there is optimism surrounding the Crusaders following last year’s 4-6 squad that snuck into the vocational playoffs before capping off the season with a 16-6 win over Upper Cape Tech on Thanksgiving. 

 “I’m excited for the amount of experience we have coming back,” Cape Tech’s second-year coach Calvin Castillias said. “We have 15 seniors and 11 or 12 of them have gotten varsity experience since their sophomore year. So, this is their third year of varsity experience and we have some high hopes to do something special this year.”

 Tech was one of the Cape’s biggest surprises last fall. The team opened its season with a 14-12 road victory over Monomoy in Castillias’s debut and later qualified for the vocational postseason.

 In the playoffs, Tech held a 12-0 lead over host Franklin County until the final minutes, when injuries bit the Crusaders and ultimately cost them the game.

 “That was an experience the kids needed,” Castillias said of the voke playoffs loss. “I think it only intensified their thirst to get back there. Everyone wants to get to the MIAA tournament, but after our experience in the voke playoffs last year and getting a taste of the postseason, we’d love to get back there, too.”

Castillias said senior Sean Gillette will be a key piece for the Crusaders this fall, and he expects him to see time at quarterback, wide receiver and cornerback. Fellow senior Peyton Morris will be the primary ball carrier after rushing for 1,000 yards as a sophomore before Jean-Baptiste started last year, and senior Jason Sprague will lead the defense at linebacker.

While Gillette has received most of the first-team reps at quarterback, Castillias said senior tight end Brandon Canto and sophomore Daniel Handville have both performed well during the preseason to create a QB battle throughout camp.

Up front, senior Aiden Giacobbi will be the anchor for the team’s offensive line.

“He’s our hoss,” Castillias said of Giacobbi. “He’s our top lineman.”

After spending most of last year’s preseason getting to know the players and implementing his systems, Castillias said the Crusaders were able to hit the ground running this year. With so many veterans returning to provide leadership, the coach said it has felt like a much smoother operation heading into his second season. 

“The amount of reps that we got at camp this year felt completely different from what we were able to do last year,” Castillias said. “We got reps at all levels — our varsity, our second string guys, our JVs — everyone got so many reps. We feel like we’ve made huge progress compared to where we were last year at this point.”

Cape Tech opens its season at home against Monomoy at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 13 before traveling to St. John Paul II for its first road game on Sept. 26.