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"I don't think our record was an indication of where we ended up," Lye said about his first year at the helm. "We were two plays away from being 5-5. We should have beaten North Branford (a 28-14 loss) and at Gilbert (a 23-12 loss), we got off the bus after a two-hour ride and weren't ready to play. Those are two games you wish you could have back."
During that seven-game losing streak, Morgan was held to single digits in points four times, including shutouts at the hands of Valley (17-0) and Haddam-Killingworth (34-0).
"The middle stretch of our season was brutal and we had three freshmen and two sophomores starting," said Lye. "Now they have experience, but it's tough when you come in with 14 and 15- year-old kids and ask them to be productive on the varsity level."
As for the race at the top of the league this year, most coaches in the Sassacus believe that Haddam-Killingworth is one of the division favorites.
"H-K is the best team in the league and they bring back almost everyone," Lye explained. "They just line up and pound you. You know what's coming and they challenge you to stop them. With the offense and defense they run, they don't have to be overly fast. They just beat you up and wear you down. We were down 14-0 at the half and in the second half they physically manhandled us."
This year, Lye expects Morgan to improve because of added experience on both sides of the ball.
"We're capable of six wins," said Lye. "I don't know if we'll get there, but in the bigger picture...5-5 would be successful."
The 2007 Huskies will be led by senior captains Jimmy Kostek (running back/linebacker), who was a First Team All-Sassacus and Honorable Mention All-State choice last year, Jake Luchuk (linebacker/tackle), Mike Levenduski (center) and Joe Flynn (defensive end/guard).
"I've been telling Jake Luchuk during preseason that he had 110 tackles last year and that he needs to make 150 tackles this year," said Lye.
Morgan lost quarterback Mike Zumpano to graduation, but may have found a gem in 6-0, 215-pound sophomore Jeremy Finkeldey, who played safety and wide receiver as a freshman in 2006.
"Mike had a strong arm and could air the ball out," said Lye. "But Jeremy is a better runner and is a strong, physical quarterback."
Nick Campanaro (guard/linebacker) and Dan Lee (wide receiver/defensive end) also played as freshmen and will play key roles as sophomores. Chris Alfano (wide receiver/defensive back) and Jon Mizger (tackle/defensive end) also played quite a bit in 2006 as sophomores and will start in their junior year.
Senior Brian Beckerman will start at guard and defensive tackle. Senior wide receiver/defensive back Keith Dugan hurt a knee in a scrimmage and will be out for the first part of the season.
Offensively, Morgan will run a spread offense, but will use the ground game 65 percent of the time.
"It helps us with our offensive line," said Lye. "We're not overly big up front and it helps to get linebackers out of the box. We like to get teams to have to respect us throwing the ball in the spread offense."
Defensively, the Huskies will play a 4-3 with a cover 2 secondary.
"We have to cut down the points we gave up last year," said Lye. "We made some stupid mistakes and the secondary didn't play well at all, but we've remedied that."
Lye also said that Morgan must remain healthy this fall.
"If we get an injury to one of our better players, it would ruin our season," Lye explained. "We have just 25 kids playing and we're not getting out the number of kids we should."
