NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
Each day since November, Gianni Marino thinks about how close Valley View came to winning a District 2 Class 4A championship.
It drives him.
A 21-18 loss to eventual PIAA Class 4A finalist Dallas pushed him on every extra repetition in the weight room and every wind sprint on the practice field.
Marino stood out in his team’s most important games at linebacker and is more determined to lead the Cougars to a championship level.
“I saw that a Class 4A team from our district can reach the state final and that we were four points away from beating that team,” Marino said. “We weren’t able to make any of our extra points after touchdowns, so that hurt us. I hit the weights really hard, and I worked hard on my footwork because I felt that I was lacking in that last season.”
As a junior, Marino emerged as a playmaker for a tenacious Valley View defense. He finished with nine games with double-digit tackles. Among those, he had 14 tackles in a loss to eventual Lackawanna Football Conference Division I champion Delaware Valley, 12-tackle games against Scranton Prep, the eventual District 2 Class 3A champion, and Berwick in the District 2 Class 4A semifinals.
Marino had 10 solo tackles and 13 tackles total In that emotional defeat in the District 2 championship game against Dallas.
Overall, the 6-foot-3, now 225-pounder, had 135 tackles and earned a selection to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class 4A all-state team.
Marino is the leader of the defense. This year’s team, however, must replace several key starters.
“We have to play smash-mouth football,” Marino said. “I have to help the guys and make sure everyone is in the right places. If we work hard to do what we are coached to do, our defense will be pretty good.”
Valley View returns some experienced players on both sides of the ball.
Patrick McIntyre, Zach Cwalinski, and Tyler…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gameface-2024-valley-view-cougars-000200544.html
Author : The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-08-19 00:02:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
