PREVIEW: Amherst and Clearview look to start the season off on the right foot Friday night

AMHERST– The Amherst Comets and Clearview Clippers are looking to rebound in 2017, after sub-.500 2016 seasons.

After a 3-7 season in the tough Southwestern Conference, Amherst is under new leadership with head coach Mike Passerrello.

In our preview of the Comets, Passerrello said he will rely on junior Khennedy Scagliozzo to get a majority of the carries for Amherst this season. The Comets will also look to get contributions from Matt Lee, Evan Shawver, Devin Holmes, Aaron Gonzalez, Joey Tomaro, Hunter Cassidy and Matt Fairchild on offense.

Defensively, the Comets will rely on Lee, Nathan Soto and Hunter Parker, as Passerrello looks to establish a family atmosphere.

“Because it’s our first year, Week 1 is so important to start off on the right foot to build that confidence,” Passerello said.

The Clippers are coming off of a 4-6 season in the Patriot Athletic Conference under 11th-year head coach Mike Collier. Clearview will have the benefit of a veteran quarterback, as Anthony Terry will once again be under center. He will have Jordan DeAlmeida and Jaylen Paschel as his primary targets.

A tough linebacker core also returns for the Clippers, in the form of David Renftle, Kahliel Fenderson and Julian Colbert.

Despite the fact that Amherst is a Division II school, Collier said he and the Clippers are up for the challenge in our team preview.

“It’s definitely a challenge, we know it’s going to be tough, but our kids are up for it,” Collier said. “If you want to prepare for the PAC Conference, we have some tough opponents in that league, so we have to face somebody in our non-conference game that’s going to get us ready.”

The Comets and Clippers will face off tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Amherst Steele High School.