Mercer

REGION 1 MERCER MUSTANGS

2018 RECORD 4-5 OVERALL, 0-3 REGION 1 HOME FIELD: MERCER STADIUM

COACH

JEFF LOCKARD 1ST SEASON

PLAYERS TO WATCH

p.j.

BOGGS

SR•RB/DL

Gabe Wiley Ian Taylor

2019SCHEDULE

Aug. 24 Cochranton Aug. 30 Northwestern Sept. 6 Eisenhower Sept. 13 at Reynolds* Sept. 20 at Union City Sept. 27 F arrell* Oc t. 4 at S aegertown Oc t. 11 at W est Middlesex* Oc t. 18 Lak eview Oc t. 25 B ye *Region 1 game 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

OUTLOOK

Mercer finished 2018 with a 4-5 record, but the Mustangs were a few plays away from a winning season. Mercer lost at Northwestern 10-7, and fell to Union City 44-33. The Mustangs will go in a new direction this season as Jeff Lockard takes over as head coach. Lockard inherits an experienced team that graduated only a few starters on both sides of the ball.

One of the big priorities will be to replace quarterback Dylan Hetrick, who threw for 578 yards and three touchdowns as a senior.

The Mustangs return P.J. Boggs and Aidan Bright in the backfield, Ian Taylor at tight end and Isaiah Phillips, Mike Ayers and Mason Hesselgesser on the offensive line. Bright had a breakout sophomore season with 468 yards and six touchdowns on 79 carries, and Boggs ran for 153 yards and five touchdowns. Bright also had 22 catches for 263 yards and two touchdowns.

The Mustang defense features six returning starters, including Noah Speer and Taylor on the line, Gabe Wiley, Hesselgesser and Boggs at linebacker and Bright in the secondary. Mercer will need to fill some big holes in the secondary that were left by graduation.

Mercer averaged just 17.7 points per game, which ranked in the lower half of District 10, but the Mustangs had the No. 12 defense with 21 points allowed per game.

Mercer needs someone to step up at quarterback and defensive back, but the Mustangs have a solid team back for Lockard to lead this fall.

One big factor for Mercer is opening the season with three home games against Cochranton, Northwestern and Eisenhower before three brutal games with road trips to Reynolds and Union City and a showdown with Farrell.

If the Mustangs grow in camp and the first three weeks, they could be an interesting team to watch in region play. 2018RESULTS REGULAR SEASON at Cochranton W, 21-6 at Northwestern L, 7-10 at Eisenhower W, 19-13 Reynolds* L, 7-20 Union City L, 33-44 at Farrell* L, 0-47 Saegertown W, 28-0 West Middlesex* L, 0-35 at Lakeview W, 44-14 *Region 1 game

2018LEADERS PASSING Com. Att. Yds. TD Int Dylan Hetrick 52 92 578 3 5

RUSHING

Aidan Bright Brian Shevitz Andrew Weinel P.J. Boggs Danny Foore Att. 79 85 83 34 11 Yds. 468 420 256 153 67 Avg. 5.9 4.9 3.1 4.5 6.1

RECEIVING

Aidan Bright Brian Shevitz Zack Previty

SCORING

Aidan Bright Brian Shevitz P.J. Boggs Andrew Weinel

R eturnees in bold

Rec. 22 16 14

TD 9 5 5 3 Yds. 263 94 223

PAT 0 11 0 0 Avg. 12.0 5.9 15.9

2-pt 0 0 0 1

Isaiah Phillips Michael Ayers 2018 UNDERCLASSMEN No. Name Pos. Yr. Ht. Wt. 37 Ethan Downing TE/DE Fr. 5-7 150 3 Ryan Winner WR/DB So. 5-9 150 44 Aidan Bright RB /DB So . 6-2 17 5 5 Logan Conner RB/DE Jr. 6-1 195 51 Owen Sagulla OL/DL So. 5-10 165 6 Zack Swartz RB/LB Fr. 5-7 160 52 Max Puskar OL/DL So. 5-9 160 7 Ross Hesselgesser RB/LB Fr. 5-6 145 55 Mason Hesselgesser OL/LB So. 5-8 190 8 Nate Slater RB/LB Jr. 5-8 150 56 Aaron Adams OL/DL So. 5-9 170 9 Gabe Wiley QB/LB Jr. 6-1 170 58 Michael A yers OL/DL Jr . 6-0 205 10 Ethan Wiley QB/LB Fr. 5-10 160 60 Isaiah Phillips OL/DL Jr. 5-10 225 11 Ryan Moore WR/DB Jr. 5-8 140 64 Dylan Dis que OL/DE So . 6- 1 180 17 Austin Smith WR/DB So. 5-9 155 72 Noah Speer OL/DL Jr. 5-9 190 18 Ian T aylor TE/DE Jr . 6-2 190 75 Robert Speer OL/DL Fr. 5-8 240 21 P.J. Boggs RB/DL Jr. 5-10 215 78 T riston Barr OL/DL F r. 5- 7 21 5 22 Jac ob Smith RB /LB So . 5-9 160 79 Kyle Kaster OL/DL Jr. 6-0 165 23 Alex Kirby RB/DB Jr. 6-0 195 80 Greg Flockerzi TE/DE So. 6-0 160 32 Anthony McCrea RB/DB Jr. 5-11 170 88 Chris Boots WR/DB So. 5-11 165 KICKOFF 2019 • 87