Hamlin native Paul Carella enters his first season as head coach of a Brockport Blue Devils varsity football program with which he is very familiar.
An assistant coach since 2004, Carella played at Brockport High in the late 90s before crossing the fence to play for SUNY Brockport from 1998 to 2001.
“I take tremendous pride in being a part of the Brockport football program,” Carella said via email. “I have been coaching both football and wrestling in the district since 2004. My goal is to build reliable, tough, and great student-athletes. We have great kids at Brockport, and I really enjoy coaching these guys. I always take the approach to be prepared, play tough and to be very competitive. If we can achieve those three things, we will have a successful season.”
The Blue Devils finished 2-6 last season and last qualified for the Section V playoffs in 2022 when they advanced to the second round. They won their only Sectional football championship in 2015.
In 2024, Brockport returns eight starters on offense and defense led by three-year senior starting quarterback Landon Scott, who suffered an ACL tear in week four last season.
Fellow seniors and three-year starters at wide receiver Tyler Judd and Azay Odey are joined by classmates Brayden Scaccia at running back and Jayden Taylor at wide receiver, with Dale Doty and Shayne Lessar on the offensive line.
They are joined by returning junior starters Ryan Miller in the backfield and Jordan Wickham on the line.
Scaccia (linebacker), Odey (strong safety), and Judd (cornerback and First Team All-County) anchor the defense with fellow seniors Lessar and Doty at defensive tackle, Jayden Taylor at free safety with juniors Wickham (defensive tackle), Ryan Miller (linebacker) and Dylan Fitzgerald (defensive end).
Top varsity newcomers include junior Parker White and sophomore Colin Vail on both lines, junior Ayden Matthews at wide receiver and cornerback, and freshman Wesley Childs at running back and defensive end.
“This upcoming season we return good talent on both offense and defense. Competition in Class A will be very difficult. There are 15 solid schools all battling to be Sectional Champions in 2024. We will rely heavily on our senior and three-year starter, Landon Scott, at quarterback. He will have three solid wide receiver targets: (seniors) Azay Odey, Tyler Judd, and Jayden Taylor. Judd was a First Team All-County performer last season in football for our team and possesses tremendous breakaway ability, ran a 4.4 forty-yard dash this preseason, and was AGR in Track and Field this past spring.
“We also have two solid running backs, senior Brayden Scaccia and junior Ryan Miller. Scaccia will be a two-way starter, team leader, and is looking to have a great senior season. We have good size up front and will look for seniors Dale Doty, Shayne Lessar, and junior Jordan Wickham to anchor both our offense and defense fronts.
“Wickham was our MIP Player last season for our football team and was a sectional runner-up at HWT as just a sophomore in wrestling last winter. He possesses great toughness and knows how to use his leverage.
“Defensively, we will look to play an always tough style of play. Many players are two-way starters mentioned above.”
Carella’s first game as varsity head coach is September 6 against cross-town rival Spencerport.
“We start our season against our cross-town rival, the Spencerport Rangers. This is our annual rivalry game that we phrase the ‘War for the OAR.’ Week two we face the always-talented Greece Athena Trojans. The next four weeks (middle of our season) we play four straight Rochester School District schools.”
