Times Union high school all-stars: Small school football, offense
Athlete of the Year: Joe Tortello, Holy Trinity
There may come a day in the not-too-distant future when no football player from Holy Trinity will wear No. 4 again. Tortello sure made that number famous during the short annals of Pride football history.
"His desire to want to be successful I could tell right away he had," Holy Trinity coach John Barber said. "We were able to go from there. To start as an eighth-grader on the JV team and show the leadership he had on varsity meant a lot for our program."
Tortello started four years at quarterback and amassed some spectacular passing numbers throughout his career, including 110 touchdown passes. This season, the senior signal-caller helped Holy Trinity transition from Class C to Class B — leading the Pride to the Super Bowl after knocking off No. 1 state-ranked Glens Falls 37-35 in the semifinals.
"It was definitely a great year," Tortello said. "We wanted to win the Super Bowl. It was a historic year for the program moving up to Class B. Getting to the Super Bowl and beating Glens Falls like we did made it memorable."
His accomplishments as a sophomore, when he guided Holy Trinity to the Class C state final, were many. Tortello tossed 39 touchdown passes this fall to match his Section II single-season record.
The senior did so after an offseason weight-lifting program and a diet helped him shed 33 pounds from his playing weight in 2018.
"I talked with him at the end of last year, and told him the things I wanted him to work on to better our offense," Barber said. "He went above and beyond what I asked, definitely.
"In our Glens Falls game, he was able to avoid the pass rush and when they sent the blitz. He extended plays and threw the ball down the field. He would not have been able to do that last year."
Tortello...