Offensive lineman Jason Watts, middle, puts a block on linebacker Jason Rodgers, left, as Keegan Phalen hits the hole during a drill at East Aurora’s football practice last Friday. Photo by John Normile Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com If the best way to test a team is to take on one of its most bitter and challenging rivals, then East Aurora opening up the 2010 football season against Lackawanna is going to be like taking the SATs, ACTs, and a handful of regents and AP finals all in one.

The Blue Devils, more often than not, use Lackawanna as their litmus test for their season since, up until last fall, East Aurora had never been able to defeat the Steelers on the football field. There won’t be much of a wait to see if it was a one-year fluke or a turning of the tide in the long-standing divisional rivalry, however, since the game was bumped up from its usual end of-the-regular-season status to the first game of the year.

“All this means is we know we’ve got to play our best game right off the bat,” coach Tim Wade said. “We ’ll definitely know more of where we stand after our first week.”

Fortunately for Wade, East Aurora has a good number of starters returning on both sides of the ball. Most importantly, both the offensive and defensive lines have a solid nucleus of returning players among their respective corps, including 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior co-captain Jaycen Watts. Wade bestowed plenty of confidence on his offensive/defensive tackle, saying that “if we’ve got to pick up a couple of yards, we’re just going to run behind” the Blue Devils’ stud, who is receiving some looks from NCAA Division I-A and I-AA schools.

Joining Watts among the ranks of returning divisional all-stars are fellow senior co-captain Keegan Phalen (wide receiver/safety), senior Shane Cotton (fullback/linebacker) and junior Calvin Nemec (guard/defensive tackle). Phalen was a menace to opposing quarterbacks last season, using his athleticism and 6-2 frame to pick off seven passes.”

Other returning players on this year’s squad include seniors Brad Rogers (co-captain; center/ linebacker), Whit Voos (tight end/defensive end), Tom DiFilippo (quarterback/cornerback), Nick Puntillo (offensive/defensive tackle) and Nate West (guard/defensive tackle), as well as junior Evan Horton (running back/safety). Senior Cody Kelso (running back/safety) also brings varsity experience to the program after transferring from St. Mary’s of Lancaster.

Newcomers hoping to have a chance to make an impact on a regular basis include juniors John Alston (fullback/linebacker), D.J. Miller (quarterback/linebacker) and Freddy Glosser (wide receiver/cornerback), as well as sophomores Manny Sadek (guard/linebacker) and D.J. Williams (guard/defensive line).

“Having most of our offensive line back makes a big difference,” Wade said. “They’re familiar with each other and with the things we need to succeed. They know where they’ve got to go and how to get there, and with two quality running backs, I think we should do well on the ground. We’ve got three defensive linemen back too, as well as a linebacker, cornerback and two safeties. They’re all going to be huge for us this year too.”

That familiarity was on display last Saturday when the Blue Devils participated in a scrimmage with Gowanda and Cattaraugus-Little Valley. Wade liked what he saw on both sides of the ball, but he also knows that, with the challenges the Blue Devils will face on any given week, there is plenty of room for improvement.

“The thing I liked most about the scrimmage is that we were efficient and we didn’t make too many mistakes,” Wade said. “We certainly hope that we can carry that effort in to the first week, but we also know that every week, our opponent is going to have a different type of offense. Lackawanna is able to run everything and they have lots of speed, and then Eden uses a lot of fakes and things like that. Then we take on the two-time state champs in Southwestern in the third week … we just have to come out and handle what each team throws at us.”

For now, the focus is posting a second win over Lackawanna when the Blue Devils host the Steelers at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Wade feels that so long as East Aurora can keep things respectable early on, the game can be the Blue Devils’ for the taking.

“Lackawanna is going to be fired up after they lost to us last year,” Wade said. “It’s going to be all about us weathering the storm early on, and being patient and not giving up any big plays. Hopefully we can get things going early offensively, but at the same time, I know there are always nerves with the first game and we’re going against the top team in the division right off the bat. We’ve been one of the top teams in the ‘B’ South for the last four or five years, so we know we’ve got to be ready to play every week. It’s a battle every week and anyone can win every week.”

e-mail: jnadolinski@beenews.com