CHA’s Dziengelski, Ferry honored for athletics
by TOM UTESCHER
With the addition of new varsity teams and construction on new indoor sports facilities due to begin in the upcoming school year, Chestnut Hill Academy seems headed towards an athletic renaissance. If so, athletes such as Scott Dzeingelski and Andrew Ferry can be credited with helping point the school in the right direction.
Dziengelski, an Albright College football recruit who also played basketball and baseball at CHA, was honored at last month’s graduation ceremony with the Patterson Cup, which is presented to the outstanding all-round athlete in the graduating class. The school’s Lawrence Mallory Award, bestowed upon the senior who best exemplifies athletic and academic achievement, went to Ferry, who was a standout in soccer and track and will pursue the former sport at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I think they’re both prime examples of the kind of kids we want here at Chestnut Hill,” remarked CHA Athletic Director Mark Burke. “They’re scholar athletes, and major contributors to the school in other areas.”
Dzeingelski’s football coach at Chestnut Hill, Jack Plunkett, thinks the 6’5”, 225 lb. quarterback will do well at Albright.
He’s got the big body, he’s got a strong arm, and he’s smart,” Plunkett pointed out. “He was All-League in the Independence Football League the past two years, not only as a quarterback, but also as a placekicker. He did all our kick-offs and extra points, and he was also our punter.”
He led the Blue Devils to the IFL championship in 2003 and 2004, and in addition to performing as quarterback and kicker, he also saw some action on defense as a linebacker.
Ferry, a four-year varsity soccer player, was primarily a defensive midfielder throughout his CHA career, and he became more of an offensive threat in the last two seasons. After a slow 1-2 start in the Inter-Ac campaign last fall, Chestnut Hill rallied to finish a close second to league champ Haverford.
“Andrew had the ability to take over a game at any point,” said CHA soccer coach Bob DiBenedetto. “You could call him over to the side and tell him, right now we really need a goal or we really need a stop, and he seemed to come through with it.
“He’s a very good ballhandler and he sees the whole field very well,” DiBenedetto continued. “This year, we didn’t have as many goalscorers as in the past, so we asked him to step up and score, and he did it well.”
Ferry was also an important member of the Blue Devils’ track team, and at the 2005 Inter-Ac championships he won the 1600 meters and finished fifth in the 800.
Dziengelski was in action all three seasons for CHA, playing power forward for the school’s basketball squad, and first base for the baseball team. Arriving at CHA in the seventh grade, he was preceded by his brother Brian, three years his senior.
“He had a big effect, because he played three sports too,” the Patterson winner said. “He played soccer as a fall sport, and I actually played soccer up into eighth grade, and then I changed to football.”
Dziengelski also has a younger brother, Eric, who is going into 11th grade at CHA and was a member of the Devils’ Inter-Ac champion golf team this spring. As a member of Chestnut Hill’s football team, one of Scott’s influences was 2004 Patterson Cup winner Chris McInerney, who is now playing football and baseball at Dickinson College.
Dziengelski says that out of the three sports he played, football came to the forefront during his sophomore year.
“Our starting quarterback, Joe Watkins, was out for a game, and I stepped in for him,” he recalled. “I knew then that was what I wanted to do.”
His classroom favorites at CHA were math and physics, but he’s not yet sure what that will lead to in college. In selecting his next school, he considered Franklin & Marshall and Moravian College before deciding he’d be heading to Reading, Pa.
“I felt comfortable with Albright; I liked the school and the coaches,” he explained. “The coaches at Albright said I reminded them of the quarterback they have there now, who is going to be a senior. They also have a new stadium, which I think is supposed to be open by the time we get up there for camp.”
Albright’s football team went 6-3 in the Middle Atlantic Conference last fall and finished 8-3 overall, earning the most wins for a Lions team since 1997.
The roster includes Penn Charter and Haverford School grads, as well as players from suburban schools such as Cheltenham, Plymouth Whitemarsh, and Bishop McDevitt.
Jack Plunkett noted that elsewhere in the MAC there are Chestnut Hill alums playing for Dickinson, Gettysburg, and Ursinus.
“At Albright, they’ve mainly been running a one-back offense, and passing a lot out of the shotgun [formation], which is very similar to what we’ve been doing with Scott the last two years,” pointed out CHA’s mentor. “They feel he’ll fit right into their system. He’s also big enough and athletic enough that he could end up playing tight end or doing something else for them if quarterback doesn’t work out.”
The Mallory award winner, Ferry, joined Chestnut Hill’s Class of 2005 as a ninth grader. Like Dziengelski, he enjoyed math at CHA, and he found biology intriguing, as well. He also found time to work at the school’s Writing Center, where he helped other students revise papers they’d penned for various courses. In college, he plans to sample the liberal arts menu before settling on a major.
He had taken a hard look at Lafayette, but ultimately picked Penn for its urban campus, academic reputation, and overall atmosphere.
Ferry related that one of his soccer role models at CHA was 2003 Patterson Cup winner Gilly Lane, who also went on to Penn and is currently the number one player on the Quakers’ squash team. Coincidentally, one of Ferry’s future soccer teammates, John Elicker (from Henderson High School in West Chester), is the son of Julie Hull Elicker, who played alongside Lane’s mother on the 1982 U.S. Women’s Lacrosse World Cup Team.
Penn’s soccer squad won the Ivy League in 2002, and was ranked as high as 14th in the nation last fall.
“I think Andrew will do very well there,” CHA’s DiBenedetto stated. “He’s a very intelligent player, very technical; he does everything the right way. He’s coachable, he learns things quickly, and I think that league suits him perfectly.”
Ferry’s brother, Taylor, will enter Chestnut Hill Academy this fall as a tenth grader, and Andrew is glad that his younger sibling will benefit from a number of positive developments in the athletic program at CHA.
“I feel that, in this past year especially, they’ve been starting to focus more on sports, and that’s definitely a step in the right direction,” he commented. “Adding ice hockey and lacrosse this year brought out school pride and unity, because everybody went to the games.”
Dziengelski also foresees a bright future for his alma mater.
“The football program is really going places, and with Coach [Rick] Knox coming in, I think they could reach new heights,” he said. “I also think Mr. Burke was a good choice for the athletic director [Burke assumed the post a year ago]. He really takes an interest in what everybody’s doing, and he makes it to a lot of the games in all of the different sports.”
With the ink barely dry on his Chestnut Hill Academy diploma, the quarterback has already begun following the summer workout program that was sent to him by the Albright coaching staff. Ferry is busy playing for his highly-successful club soccer team, F.C. Coppa, which recently won its fourth state championship and moved on to the regional tournament.
Both feel that their experience at CHA has prepared them to face the challenges that lie ahead.
“I think the small class size really helps you to learn, and the teachers are always available to talk to if you need help,” Ferry said. “The kids are friendly, and everybody got along. In soccer, our coaches were great, and always made the season fun. This year, they helped all of the seniors to become positive leaders and role models for the team.”
“Everybody’s real close at CHA; you see each other in class and out on the field, and most of your coaches are also teachers,” noted Dziengelski. “The schoolwork was always challenging, but they always found a way to make it interesting, so it didn’t seem that hard. They encouraged me and pushed me to do my best in everything I did.”
