Piscitelli comes to the rescue of Beaver secondary

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Oct 4, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Sabby Piscitelli’s frustration ran deep last week. As senior member of the Oregon State secondary, the strong safety felt the pain of his maligned cornerback brethren, but it seemed as if he could do little to help. Before last week’s game against Washington State, Piscitelli gave himself a pep talk.

“We have such a young secondary, (opposing offenses) were testing those guys,” he says. “I wasn’t getting as much action as I like. I just told myself, ‘I need to put a better performance out there. Fly around, do what I can do Ñ be all over the field and make some plays.’ ”

Piscitelli did just that, making eight tackles, a fumble recovery and one huge interception in a come-from-behind 44-33 victory. The 6-3, 225-pound junior stepped in front of a receiver on a sideline play and raced 23 yards with an interception that tied the score at 30-30 early in the fourth quarter.

“Maybe the biggest play of the game,” OSU coach Mike Riley says. “A momentum-changer.”

The development of redshirt freshmen Keenan Lewis and Brandon Hughes is a work in progress, but in the second half of the Cougar game, progress finally showed. “They competed. They made some big pass deflections,” Piscitelli says.

The secondary took hits after last season, first when junior Brandon Browner left for the NFL and then when prize junior college recruit Edorian McCullough failed to qualify academically. JC transfer Aaron Miller has improved and is the third corner behind Lewis and Hughes.

They’re fortunate to have Piscitelli alongside them. He runs 40 yards in 4.4 seconds, owns a body by Adonis and has a strong work ethic.

“A great guy to coach,” Riley says.

kerryeggers@portlandtribune.com

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit