Adjustment to a new coaching staff easily can take some time, but Bethlehem Catholic senior lineman Sammy Ayache doesn’t believe it. He and his teammates have acclimated themselves to new head coach Ty Ward this summer.

“I think it has been really good so far,” beamed the 6-4, 275-pound Ayache. “Coach Ward and his staff have made it easy for us to adjust. It didn’t take long at all.

“We have high expectations this year, and we expect to be better.”

Last season, Beca finished with an overall 6-6 record. They beat Blue Mountain in the opening round of the Class 4A district playoffs and then fell to Allentown Central Catholic, 14-3, Beca beat Central Catholic, 14-13, in the final regular-season game to clinch a district spot. Former head coach Kyle Haas abruptly resigned after six weeks.

“Last year, we expected to do well,” offered Ayache. “We were probably a little complacent and need to be more focused. There was a lot going on last year, but we managed to get to districts.

“This year, we want to go further.”

In his final season, Ayache has worked on being more aggressive as well as his technique. He has strived to improve his pass blocking, although he allowed just one sack last season.

Ayache admittedly grew as a player last year after he described being “a little scared” his sophomore year. He has been lifting six days a week, three more than with the team. Ayache has raised his squats from 420 to 500, and his bench presses from 200 to 275.

“I feel a lot stronger, and have noticed the difference,” he stressed. “I wanted to get stronger this season. We have worked on speed drills, and I just feel better as an overall player.”

Ward expects Ayache to excel.

“Sammy is a stud offensive/defensive lineman,” boasted Ward. “He has the potential to play Division 1 football. He is an excellent student and leader on the team. He is the perfect senior to have in charge of leading the direction of a new program.”

Ayache was impressed with the team’s showing at a seven-on-seven competition at Rutgers University, even though he attended a camp.

“I watched film on it, and we looked good,” he said. “We played one of the better teams from New Jersey. We didn’t show much, but we were aggressive.”

Ayache has been influenced on the gridiron by his family and his father, Sam, was a 1991 Bethlehem Catholic graduate and played football. He has a pair of younger brothers, Emile, who is a sophomore, and Jonjon will be a freshman. Ayache also had an uncle and cousins who played high school football.

Ayache has played in the Bethlehem Catholic system since he was five. One of his fondest memories was in eighth grade when his team lost an opening game to Pohatcong, and then came back to beat them to claim a championship.

“In eighth grade, people thought we weren’t going to be good at all,” said Ayache. “We were underdogs in almost all of our games. During the first week, we lost to a team called Pohatcong and everyone thought our season was over. We went 9-0 to finish off the regular season and beat Pohatcong in the championship.”

Being in an underdog role this season suits Ayache well. He anticipates a solid season ahead.

“We definitely do,” he said. “We feel we can get to states this season. We’re confident and going to surprise plenty of people this season.”