A little less than four months since SCCC approved fielding New Jerseys first junior-college football program, Todd Poltersdorf, the Skylanders head coach and schools director of admissions, said there are just shy of 70 players committed to compete in its opening season.

If the season started tomorrow, the Sussex County Community College football program would have more than enough players to line up for kickoff.

A little less than four months since SCCC approved fielding New Jerseys first junior-college football program, Todd Poltersdorf, the Skylanders head coach and schools director of admissions, said there are just shy of 70 players committed to compete in its opening season.

The overwhelming support from the community has been awesome, Poltersdorf said. Everybody keeps saying the same message: Finally! Its finally here! I think its important. Obviously its the first one, thats historical, but the support, not only on our campus but in the county, has been great.

The jerseys and helmets are ordered and workout plans initiated for the Skylanders inaugural team. A staff of seven coaches is now in place.

Poltersdorf can begin holding practice for a limited time in mid-June with official camp due to begin on Aug. 3.

The Skylanders have 10 games scheduled and will play their home games on Saturday nights at Newton High School. They are set to open the season on Aug. 29 at Hocking Community College in Nelsonville, Ohio.

We are looking forward to the addition of football, as well as wrestling, to our athletic offerings, SCCC athletic director John Kuntz said. These two sports will help to generate more excitement about SCCC sports, and Im sure will add more success to our already successful sports team.

Poltersdorf has spent the last three months speaking to high school coaches across the state and attending clinics to get the word out about the new program. Some coaches learned the news and reached out to Poltersdorf themselves.

The team has recruited throughout the state of New Jersey, along with Pennsylvania, New York and as far as Washington, D.C.

We wanted to establish recruiting ties in the state of New Jersey where we could start building a relationship with high school coaches and being able to have kids transition to us, Poltersdorf said. Thats important. In anything you do in life, you need to have relationships.

Coaches need to trust you that youre taking care of their kids and youre going to help those kids move onto the next level. Thats the blessing of being able to say were the first program is we can establish those ties in some of the areas in New Jersey.

The creation of SCCCs football team will also allow area fans to watch some of Sussex Countys high school standouts for another two years.

Former Herald Player of the Year Jacob Mafaro of Kittatinny, along with 2019 Herald First Teamers Nick Molinari of Lenape Valley, Sussex Techs Brendan Hall, Hopatcongs Roger White and Wallkill Valleys Cole Weekley, are all committed to play for the Skylanders next fall.

Its really about trying to find the pieces to the puzzle that are going to fit your offense, fit your defense and trying to build, Poltersdorf said. When you build any team, you want kids that are going to fit your scheme and your system. It wasnt a question of, Hey, lets take this kid because hes a body.

From the beginning, it was about, What kids are going to fit us best at what were going to try to do from an offensive standpoint and from a defensive standpoint?

Poltersdorf, who spent the last six seasons coaching between Sussex Tech and Wallkill Valley, said he expects the Skylanders to deploy a power-running scheme on offense.

On defense, where Poltersdorf has spent most of his time coaching recently, SCCC hopes to fly to the ball and play physical.

Were going to be a team that tries to control the ball, the line of scrimmage and the possession time, Poltersdorf said. We want those things in our favor and we want to be able to keep some of the high-powered offense that were playing on the sideline as long as possible. To do that, it starts with having a physical mentality.

Around 50 of the committed players have already met with the staff to begin a lifting program.

Now, Poltersdorf has to make sure everything else is in place to start practicing less than three months from now.

And he will try to continue to build a strong foundation to sustain the SCCC football program for many years to come.

I hope we continue to get to our numbers, Poltersdorf said. Our goal has always been to get to that 70 or 75, which I definitely think well get to. I would really love to see us get to that 85 or 90 mark, thats where Im pushing to go now.

I have to thank the support of the community and the school and everybody who has been involved in this process. I think its going to be awesome.

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SCCC football on strong foundation to start - New Jersey Herald