Athlete Spotlight: Austin Alibozek
Photos by Freddy Alvarez
Austin Alibozek |
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 Hoosac Valley seniorTailback/linebacker No. 21 |
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| When did you start playing football? Age 8 What was your first team? The Adams Bears in PeeWee Football Favorite professional athlete: Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos Favorite professional team: Broncos Best memory of playing football so far? 'There are a lot of good ones, but I really like the championship game that we just won.' |
Oh, how things have changed for Alibozek and the Hurricanes since then.
John Duval was named the new head coach of Hoosac Valley the following year, and Alibozek and the rest of the class of 2010 slowly started making their mark on the Hurricanes' football program. Hoosac rallied back to advance to consecutive Berkshire County championship games in Alibozek’s sophomore and junior years but really turned the corner in his senior season, going 10-0 and winning the county title with a 23-0 victory over Wahconah in the championship game last weekend.
"Coach Duval took over sophomore year and we just started doing better and better every year," Alibozek said. "We were more committed in the offseason, working out, running and getting into shape, and everyone started working harder in practice."
Alibozek, the Hurricanes' leading rusher and a valuable linebacker on defense, credits the success of this year's team to the experience the senior class started receiving by playing early on in their careers. Many of the key members of Hoosac's team this year started playing as sophomores and their talent and knowledge of the game all came together in Duval's third year coaching the team.
There is plenty of talent on Hoosac's roster this year, particularly in the backfield, where Alibozek joins fellow tailback Justin Pelczynski and fullback Travis Manning to give the 'Canes a formidable three-headed monster. But in the big games, in the crucial moments, the ball always seems to find itself in the hands of Alibozek.
Against the Warriors earlier in the year, Alibozek ran the ball 26 times for 189 yards and the game-winning score in Hoosac's 12-8 win. The victory ended a long losing streak against Wahconah and gave the Hurricanes an inside track at securing home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Alibozek was at again in Hoosac's 47-12 win over Drury. The senior running back gained 99 yards and scored a touchdown to give his team its first regular-season victory over the Blue Devils since 2003. For his efforts, Alibozek was chosen, along with Manning, as the 2009 Mike Rysz Award winner, given annually to the most outstanding senior in the Drury-Hoosac game.
"It was a really good feeling," Alibozek said. "It was one of our goals to beat Drury for the first time in my career in the regular season."
Next up for Alibozek came the rematch with Wahconah in the Berkshire County title game. In addition to posting 97 yards and two touchdowns, Alibozek helped lead a defense that shut out the Warriors for the first time all year.
 Alibozek with the county championship trophy won against Wahconah 23-0 on Nov. 21. |
Alibozek's first touchdown run, a six-yard scamper with 2:02 left in the first quarter, gave the Hurricanes all the points they would need. His second score, an 11-yard hook-and-ladder reception, started with quarterback Nick Bourdon, who passed to Manning, who then pitched a lateral back to Alibozek for the game-clinching score.
"We practiced that play all week," Alibozek said. "We figured we were on the goal line and got really excited when coach called it. We really wanted to execute it and get into the end zone."
As good as the 2009 season has been for Alibozek and the rest of his teammates, Hoosac still has some football left to play. The Hurricanes are the top-seeded team in the Western Massachusetts Division II football playoffs and have a date with No. 4 South Hadley at Westfield State College on Tuesday. If Hoosac wins that game, it will move on to play in the Super Bowl against winner of the other semifinal game featuring Wahconah and East Longmeadow.
"We don't know too much about South Hadley," Alibozek said. "But our coaches do and they're giving us good ideas on how to stop them."
