SECTION IV FOOTBALL: MARTONE TAKES OVER SVEC PROGRAM (2025-08-14)
By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR/SPENCER — Gino Martone will bring a little local flavor to the Spencer-Van Etten/Candor sideline this fall. The Candor grad and former player takes over as the Eagles’ new head coach.
Martone has 11 years of coaching experience under his belt, dating back before the two programs merged.
“I started before the merge, so two years in Candor, and then since we've merged, I've been with them ever since,” he said.
Martone is very familiar with the coaching staff and has served in a variety of roles as well.
“When I was with Candor I was under coach (Craig) Bennett, who's still with us here,” he said. “He had me working with the quarterbacks and defensive backs and it's kind of carried through since we moved into the merge. I mostly work with quarterbacks and secondary, and have helped out in various other places, offensively and defensively. On game days, I've been in the booth, so I've had to know both sides of the ball, so I definitely have experience on both sides.
The players are also familiar with the rest of the Eagles' staff.
“We have our two modified coaches from last year moving up with us, coach (Chris) Teribury and coach Nick Thomas,” Martone added. “Nick Thomas played for us when we were 8-man. We had some success there and he’s familiar with the program as well. The kids all know him pretty well too, so he's a good addition. Coach Teribury was actually coaching in Candor when I started as well, so there's a good history there with him and everything's been great so far. Our coaching staff seems to gel right now.”
With the program seeking a new head coach and Martone’s connection with the program, the timing just seemed right for him to take the reins.
“I think it's just they were looking for a head coach and having been here with all these guys, I've kind of grown to know them and I felt like I could help them the best way I could,” he said. “When there's an opportunity to take over and help lead these guys, I saw a chance and just wanted to take it. We’ll see how it goes.
Martone is looking to build on the success the Eagles have had in the past.
SVEC was a postseason qualifier in 2016, the first year of the merger. The Eagles moved to 8-man in 2020 and went a combined 14-0 in the 2021 spring and fall seasons. They went back to 11-man in 2022 and made the playoffs. Last year brought a return to the postseason and they finished 5-5.
Martone said the team needs to build on last season’s effort.
“We made the playoffs last year,” he said. “I think we have the athletes here to build a program and for whatever reason, just haven't been able to do it. I'm gonna take my shot at it and see if we can keep that momentum going and try to bring back what it used to be before.
“When I was playing, you know, Candor and Spencer had a rivalry, obviously, but they were football towns. I feel like it's kind of disappeared a little bit, so if I can get that kind of energy back into this program here, I think we'll have success. I think that's my main goal, is to kind of bring kids back into loving the game of football and wanting to come out now.”
Being a local guy could help achieve that goal.
“I think so. Like I said, I've been with all of them,” Martone said. “Most of these guys, seniors, have been with them the whole time. So I think they know me. I think they trust me, so I think that'll definitely help. I don't know how much it’s going to help, honestly.
“I think whatever your energy is, whatever you bring to the table is what really is going to matter, but definitely they'll have some kind of level of comfort with me. Starting the season won't be something brand new. I know what they've been through. I know their experiences, and we can start not from scratch. We have a little bit of a base to start from, so it definitely should help.
Martone will combine some of the program’s previous gameplan with some new stuff.
“It's going to be a little bit of both,” he said. “Defensively, we'll make some tweaks. Like I said, we’ve got coach Bennett here, so defensively, he's running that. He's got it covered.
“Offensively is where we need to improve. I'm not starting from scratch with these guys. I'm going to take what we've learned, what we've gotten used to, and we're just going to tweak it. They'll know the terminology, but it's going to be different. It's going to go back to the stuff like what I used when I was playing high school, and some other things we picked up through the years with coach (Mike) Chaffee and even coach (Ron) Miller. So, definitely stuff I've learned, we're going to incorporate it and it'll be different, but it'll be simple and we should be able to hit the ground running, hopefully.”
Martone is hoping to give his players a positive experience and a winning season.
“I guess,for a personal goal is just that the kids get something out of it,” he said. “If they don't love football in the beginning, they love it at the end. I don't make kids want to get away from football.
“I think we’ve got talent, I think we’ve got a shot to win the section, hopefully, and then we'll go from there,” he added. “There's no point in not setting a goal at winning the section if you're not trying to do that, then you don’t know what goal you're trying to set. Everyone's got that same goal and we're no different.”
Class D is looking very competitive in 2025. Sidney drops down from Class C while Greene (merging with Oxford), Groton and regional semifinalist Trumansburg are moving up from the 8-man ranks to give the class 12 teams.
Bainbridge-Guilford, defending sectional champ Delhi, Deposit/Hancock, Harpursville/Afton, Sidney and Walton make up Division VI. Greene/Oxford, Groton, Newark Valley, SVEC, T-burg and Tioga are in Division VII.
“Section IV, Class D especially, has been real good in terms of statewide recognition in football so it’s definitely a challenge, but like I said, we've had success,” Martone said. “Last year we made the playoffs. We've been there, we've done it. Everyone's record is 0-0 right now, so every year's different. And a tough division just prepares you better, so I’m not really worried about it."
SVEC opens at home on Sept. 6 against Harpursville/Afton.
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