The 2025 season for Dryden football was one full of change. Not only did the Lions have a new head coach in former defensive coordinator Chris Nightingale, it was also their first-ever season of 8-man football. As the Lions gear up for a second year in 8-man under Nightingale, they will also enter a new era of sorts.
For the first time since 2019, there will not be a player with the last name Scott or Miles on the sidelines. The Scott brothers, Xavier (Class of 2023) and Xander (Class of 2026), towered over their opponents and were go-to targets in the receiving game. CJ Miles (Class of 2023) stood out on the line, and Jay and Melo Miles are the two most recent graduates having flourished in the run game and on defense.
Incidentally, all three Miles brothers are playing college football this fall. CJ is in his fourth year at Alfred State College, while Jay and Melo begin their careers at SUNY Cortland and Alfred University, respectively.
Throughout the offseason, the Lions were hard at work developing a new identity.
“Any time you have a group of players that are four-year starters in a small school program, not only do you have the production that they put on the field, but then there’s the leadership in the locker room behind the scenes,” Nightingale said. “They understand how to do things, when to do things. They’re very good at bringing the younger players along, and it’s really fun to watch that group of younger players now try and take that lead and reins.”
One of those leaders is Gavin Valenti. The senior returns as one of their team captains and will be a primary force on defense as their top tackler last year. Over on offense, he’s primed for a step up in production after putting up the third-most rushing yards behind the Miles brothers.
“He’s finally really starting to see the mature aspects of what his game is, understanding that he is not second nature anymore, and he needs to be a little bit more up front,” Nightingale said. “The kids look up to him. The kids look for him, especially on the defensive side of the ball. He’s confident in what he’s doing and understanding our concepts, and he’s trying to teach as much as he is trying to play.”
Another key returner is Wyatt Minarski. The junior took over as the starting quarterback last year, though there’s a chance Minarski could be utilized in other positions on offense.
“We are of the philosophy right now that we’re going to put the best eight on the field and how it fits in order to put us in position to score points,” Nightingale said. “Whether it’s Wyatt behind center, whether it’s somebody else when Wyatt’s out catching passes, he’s open to the idea. We’re open to the idea. We’re just trying to see where we’re going to land.”
The defense will also have a new look as most of their starters graduated. Andrew French will be the “quarterback” of that unit as a junior linebacker. Minarski and fellow juniors Liam Klaiborne and Izaah Perry all got bigger, stronger and more confident in the weight room throughout the offseason. The line is where the Lions boast the most experience, namely seniors Tice Cuykendall, Mason Ellis and Lucas VanSlyke.
All the aforementioned played a role in the Lions making the Section IV playoffs last year, where they fell to the eventual champions Unatego/Franklin in the semifinals. Now that the Lions have had the experience of how to play the 8-man game, they’ll be better off for it heading into this campaign.
“I didn’t think it was going to be easy at all, and it certainly wasn’t,” Nightingale said. “It was a learning curve as we were going… You got to play frontside pretty heavy, and there’s no more none of that backside protection sometimes, and then we were going to have to figure out how to stop that on defense, as well. It was an interesting transition. I’m happy that we’re in year two of it for certain. It’s still a learning curve, but here we are.”
It will be another battle to earn a spot in the postseason with Unatego/Franklin, Moravia and Thomas A. Edison all likely to punch their tickets once again. The keys to getting there are multi-faceted.
“We are going to have to be healthy,” Nightingale said. “We are going to have to come together. We’re going to have to get off the field at times and get some stops, and we’re going to have to be able to score in some track meet games.”
The Lions begin the season with two tough matchups: September 4 at home against Moravia, and September 11 on the road against the defending state regionals champions Morrisville-Eaton.
