Yale opponent spotlight: Coach gets his wish for another Abare

Yale linebacker Bobby Abare, an All-Ivy first-teamer, is a singular menace on defense.

But coach Jack Siedlecki is the first to admit that a locker room can't be filled with players as impassioned as Abare - and Siedlecki probably wouldn't want one.

"The players sometimes laugh at his intensity, but he rubs off on people, no question," Siedlecki said at a media luncheon this week. "I mean, if we had 22 Bobbys we'd probably be all out of our minds. But you gotta have a couple."

The Bulldogs are in luck. They have just one Bobby, but they've got a couple of Abares.

Larry, Bobby's fraternal twin, is a strong safety almost as accomplished as his brother. He was an All-Ivy second-teamer last year, and looked to be on his way to another productive year before being lost for the season due to a knee injury.

While things have certainly changed a bit now that Larry has been forced to watch from the sidelines, the Abares have enjoyed bringing their brotherly camraderie to New Haven, Conn.

"It's been just awesome to play alongside Larry the past couple years," said Bobby, who is among the league leaders in no less than four defensive categories. "We both have such a deep love for the game and feed off one another."

Given what they've achieved together, it would be hard to deny that the Abares belong out on the field together.

They were both three-sport athletes at Acton-Boxborough High in Acton, Mass., and shared captain duties in all three. As freshmen, they shared the Yale Special Teams Player of the Year award, and tied for the team lead with 49 solo tackles.

"We both always wanted to go to the same school," said Larry, the younger twin by five minutes. "We enjoyed playing together in high school so much that I think it just made sense to us to continue doing it at the college level. It's been great so far."

The Abares, one of four sets of brothers on the Yale football team, helped the Bulldogs to a share of the Ivy title last year, and are looking to bring the preseason favorite sole possession of the crown for the first time since 1980.

Bobby has helped distance his team from Penn, the pre-season runner-up, and Quakers coach Al Bagnoli knows exactly what he'll be up against this Saturday at Franklin Field.

"He's the heart and soul of that team," Bagnoli said. "He's active as hell, he's enthusiastic, he's the emotional leader. . He's the guy you better account for."

And while Bobby would probably love to deflect some of that praise and talk about the two-Abare monster that roams the strong side, Larry's injury has changed the dynamic of the Yale defense and is something that his brother isn't exactly used to.

It's an unwelcome change on both counts, but Bobby is getting to see a side of Larry that he rarely gets the opportunity to.

"I mean we've been playing every sport together since I can remember. But he does a great job of staying positive and really makes sure that I'm ready to play every game," Bobby said. "I know if it were me I'd have a really tough time with it, but he seems to not get down and just help our football team win."

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