Football preview

MIDSTATE FOOTBALL AUGUST 29, 2014

SEASON PREVIEW

CROSSING THE POND

Cedar Cliff excited for game in Ireland

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover Story 2-3 Big Spring 4-5 Boiling Springs 6-7 Camp Hill 8-9 Carlisle 10-11 Cedar Cliff 12-13 Cumberland Valley 14-15 East Pennsboro 16-17 Mechanicsburg 18-19 Northern 20-21 Red Land 22-23 Shippensburg 24-25 Susquenita 26-27 Trinity 28-29 West Perry 30-31 Mid-Penn Breakdown 32-33 Dickinson College 34-35 Shippensburg University 36-37 Penn State 38-43

Midstate Football

Friday, August 29, 2014

STUDYING ABROAD The Colts are hoping for a little luck o’ the Irish in their season opener

By Jake Adams The Sentinel Jordan Stiles called it a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

He didn’t know whether to believe the news when he first heard it. Who would honestly believe it right away? How long would it sink in before anyone would believe they’d be playing the game the love 3,316 miles from home?

University College Dublin is exactly that far away from Cedar Cliff High School, where the Colts are accustomed to playing their home games. Even when they travel, it’s only a bus ride away. But this will be different.

It’s different because by now they have already flown over 3,500 miles — on Tuesday, they flew from Harrisburg International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport before catching another flight to Dublin — and packed in some sightseeing around two practices.

It’s different because they’ll get to watch Penn State take on Central Florida in the Croke Park Classic on Saturday.

It’s different because they

The Associated Press

Members of the Cedar Cliff high school football team, line up Tuesday to board a plane from Toronto, on their way to Dublin, Ireland. get to play football in Ireland. Against Penn Manor.

To kick off the 2014 high school football season.

It doesn’t get much different than that.

“Ireland is going to be pretty intense,” senior lineman Dylan Farrow said during Mid-Penn Football Me-

dia Day earlier this month.

“I’m really excited for it.”

The Colts will get their crack at the Comets at 7 p.m. local time, 2 p.m. EST. Once in a lifetime pretty much sums up the six-day trip. The Colts flew out of Harrisburg Tuesday afternoon, but not before they

got out of school early for a mid-day practice. Then it was home to finish packing.

Since then it’s been anything unlike the kids have seen before in the week leading up to opening kickoff.

Having to balance school work — especially at the

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Carlisle

319 York Road

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start of the school year when everybody’s still getting back up to speed — and practices can be a tough task as is. Imagine adding to it a new country, a sightseeing packed schedule and adjusting to a five-hour See Ireland, D3

Friday, August 29, 2014

Midstate Football

The Sentinel • D3

Ireland Continued from D2 time difference.

The Colts held a team lunch just a few hours after touching down in Dublin, and as soon as they were done eating a few players fell right back to sleep on the tables they were seated at.

Farrow may be right. It’s intense.

“Stressful,” first-year coach Colin Gillen said to describe planning the trip.

“The logistics of the situation is really what gets you.

To the football team it’s really no different; we’re just preaching that it’s a business trip, handling it a lot like a college would bowl game.”

It’s hard to call it a business trip when the kids get to visit Causey Farm, Malahide Castle and the coast line and then watch the Nittany Lions in person. But that’s exactly the challenge Gillen and his charges face.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on, but whoever handles the distractions better is going to win, and I think we can handle that,” Farrow said.

“The hardest part about it is going to be the distractions, going over there and exploring the different culture and visiting different places,” Stiles said. “But I think we just have to stay focused on the fact we’re going over there to play a football game.”

“We’re gonna hopefully gel as a football team but also keeping in mind that it’s a business trip, that we’re going over there to win a football game,” Gillen said.

But if anything was going to help the Colts focus on their opponent rather than the new landscape — and let’s face it, they get out of school, so that’s a plus for any high schooler — it’s going up against the Comets.

It’s the same Penn Manor squad that ended the Colts’ season earlier than they would’ve liked the past two years.

Despite having Virginia Tech-bound Andrew Ford guiding the offense at quarterback, Cedar Cliff was bounced two years in a row in the District 3-AAAA first round by the Comets.

The first was a 43-10 thumping.

The second was a 35-34 heartbreaker. That one was sealed when Ford threw an ill-timed interception with just a few minutes remaining in the game.

Payback is on their minds.

And if karma has any say in the matter, Cedar Cliff is set. Third time’s the charm for the horseshoe-helmeted Colts playing in an a bustling Irish city they hope brings them plenty of luck, right?

“Once we got word that

we were actually going, we said we have to focus on going over there and beating Penn Manor,” Farrow said.

“They’re a good team and they beat us the last two years. So there’s a little bit of a revenge factor. It’ll be a big game.”

That makes Gillen’s job a little easier. He won’t have to worry about his team’s focus as much, which can only help any first-year coach who’s trying to get acclimated to being the guy in charge, much less orga-

nize a trip to play a game on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The coaches, parents and other organizers have worked tirelessly since the announcement back in the spring to have the team ready to go. It wasn’t just getting the kids from Point A to Point B, it’s about having everything you’ll need.

“It just ramps up the stress level for the support staff and for the coaches to make sure we have all our I’s dotted and our T’s crossed,”

Gillen said. “All the things that we just had there in our hip pocket, whether it be headsets, game plans, projectors, whatever we need to prepare for a football game, now we gotta make sure we got all of that packed.”

It’s not easy to run back to the athletic office to grab a forgotten headset right before kickoff when it’s more than 3,000 miles away.

Email Jake Adams at jadams@cumberlink.com or follow him on Twitter @jakeadams520

Photos by Hannah Byrne/John Curley Center

Above: Cedar Cliff’s Grant Breneman throws a pass during practice Thursday at the University College Dublin.

Left: Cedar Cliff head coach Colin Gillen pushes the team through practice Thursday at the University College Dublin.

Big Spring

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Big Spring Bulldogs

Q&A

Friday, August 29, 2014

Mike Berry, head coach

Head coach: Mike Berry 2013 record: 4-6 (1-6)

THE BIG QUESTION

Michael Bupp/The Sentinel

Big Spring coach Mike Berry.

Mike Berry’s first full season at the helm was a noticeable improvement on the 2012 season. A year after going 1-9, the Bulldogs went 4-6 under Berry’s tutelage, including a 3-0 start to the season. With a young core returning, Berry has his sights set on getting his team back to relevance in the MidPenn Colonial.

Q: You have the offense last year, but the defense struggled. What’s the plan going into this season?

A: We took an approach of “bend but don’t break.” Unfortunately, that worked for us during our non-conference games, but during our conference games people just slaughtered us because we were kind of small, kind of young and we were playing that “bend but don’t break.” So we’re hoping that this year we’re gonna try and be a little bit more on the at-

tack. We’re switching up schemes a little bit. We’re gonna only have three lineman on the field, and that’s some because of the amount of linemen that we have and some because we want to keep those guys a little bit fresher. We got plenty of linebackers coming back.

Due to injuries and things like that, those five guys that were out there last year in the 4-4 scheme all started at least one game, probably about two or three. When we’re talking about people coming back, our linebacker crew is pretty much the most experienced one Q : T h e j u n i o r c l a ss played well last season, so is it safe to say that you’re relying on the junior class once again?

A: The junior class is very talented, it’s very talented.

And it’s always a good thing, both the juniors and the seniors, to have your best play-

ers be your hardest workers.

That’s a blessing, ’cause I know that’s not the case everywhere. These guys have shown up pretty much since two or three weeks after the football season ended and were working out in some scenario. And we have a great group of sophomores, too, hard workers, and some of those guys are going to have to start into important special teams and backup roles.

Q: Have you noticed anything different about

2014 schedule

Can the pass-heavy spread work in run-heavy Colonial?

It could. Big Spring has a few things going for it in this regard that could equal some success in Mid-Penn Colonial. For starters, coach Mike Berry is now entering his second full season at the helm and the team has bought into what he sells. The other plus for the Bulldogs is the returning core of the junior class.

And that includes second-year starting quarterback Garrett Chestnut.

After catching a few teams off guard a season ago with the deep ball, “Gerty” and company have been working on quicker reads, shorter routes and getting the ball to his weapons so they can do the damage themselves.

They’ll be breaking in some new faces out wide, however, but there’s another impressive sophomore class already establishing itself.

Everything starts at the line for this team. Chestnut, Tristan Robb and the receivers can handle their tasks, but the line has to do theirs as well.

That being said, this team will be the curveball in the run-heavy Colonial. That could be an advantage for a young team. Expect them to do some damage and surprise a few teams this year.

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this team coming off an improved 4-6 season?

A: I don’t want to say losing’s a good thing, but the group of juniors, when they were freshman, they went 91, 8-1, something like that, only lost one game, for them to know difficulty, made them work harder. ... Again, for the second year in a row, we have a great sophomore class that’s pushing those guys, because if they don’t work harder they’re gonna take their jobs

vs. West Perry 7 p.m. vs. Dover 7 p.m. at Boiling Springs 7 p.m. at Greencastle-Antrim 7:30 p.m. vs. James Buchanan 7 p.m. at Northern 7 p.m. at Red Land 7 p.m. vs. Shippensburg 7 p.m. vs. East Pennsboro 7 p.m. at Waynesboro 7 p.m.

Big Spring

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A

Garrett Chestnut, junior, QB

They’re back. A big part of Big Spring’s 4-6 season was the performance of the upstart sophomore class, now juniors. Led by quarterback Garrett Chestnut, the Bulldogs showed signs of a potent offense. The core is back, including Chestnut’s top three weapons, and they’re ready for another crack at it.

Q: What’s it like to have another year together under your belts?

A: It’s great. You got trust. You can always rely on Tristan and Austin, both of them.

And you got Coyle. We definitely trust one another, I think that definitely helps.

Q: What’s been a focus for you guys and your wideouts during camp this summer?

A: Better routes, trying to read the defense better is definitely one thing and picking up different reads — what the cornerbacks, linebackers are doing, safety, all that. Trying to beat the defense.

Q: You’ve got quite a few

weapons coming back, what is it they bring to the table?

A: Cooper and Coyle, they’re both my slot backs.

They know what they’re doing and I can trust them, and we can communicate on what to do, reading the defense. We can talk to one another. And Robb, me and him, he’s a great guy, smash mouth. He’s fun to play with.

Michael Bupp/The Sentinel

Big Spring quarterback Garrett Chestnut.

Inside the huddle BIG SPRING BULLDOGS

Head coach: Mike Berry, 2nd season (4-6) Assistant coaches: Brandon Cook (Defensive coordinator/RB/LB); Dan Tigyer (OL/DL); Kyle Ebersole (WR/DB); Jim Miller (QB/DB); John Barnett Jr. (OL/DL); Matt Berry (OL/DL); Ken Garvin.

Stadium: Bulldog Stadium (grass) Colors: Maroon/Gold Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Colonial Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 3-5-3 2013 season: 4-6 (1-6) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Comp Att TD Garrett Chestnut 72 184 14 Rushing Att Yards Avg Tristan Robb 105 554 5.1 Receiving Rec Yards Avg Matt Coyle 18 353 19.6

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Yards 1198 TD 2 TD 3

Key players lost: Tyler Gantz (OL/DL); Micah Weaver (OL/DL); Levi Weidner (WR/LB); Jer-

emy Witter (WR/DB/P).

Returning offensive starters (7): Garrett Chestnut, jr., QB; Tristan Robb, jr., FB; Triston Cooper, jr., WR; Matt Coyle, jr., WR; Sam Tigyer, sr., OL; Brandon Owens, sr., OL; Toby Peck, jr., OL. Returning defensive starters (8): Matt Coyle, jr., DB; Tristan Robb, jr., LB; Austin Jumper, sr., LB; Damien Porter, sr., LB; Josh Fauyer, sr., LB; Ethan Gutshall, jr., LB; Sam Tigyer, sr., DL; Anthony Tressler, so., DL. Top newcomers: Brandon Mellott, sr., WR/DE; Taylor Farlling, jr., WR/DB; Thomas Miller, so., WR/DE; Austin Brownawell, so., WR/LB; Lucas Carey, so., OL/DL; Brock Jumper, so., FB/LB. Outlook: Unlike last season, the Bulldogs will look quite familiar. Coach Mike Berry returns for his second full season at the helm and returns a plethora of starting experience. It’s most notable at the skill positions, where starting quarterback Garrett Chestnut is back for round two, along with his top two targets in Triston Cooper and Matt Coyle, and lead rusher Tristan Robb. And the best part, if you’re a Big Spring fan, is that just six of the returning 15 starters are seniors. The continuity will only continue after 2014. And Berry’s excited about

the sophomore class as well. It’s a healthy blend of youth and veteran leadership, the kind every team would love to have.

And it’s not just on offense. Eight defenders return for another go-around, hoping to improve on a squad that allowed 33.5 points a game in 2013. The Bulldogs are making a switch to a 3-5-3 formation, hoping to keep opposing running backs at bay a little more in the ground-and-pound Colonial division. Offenses, especially within the division, teed off on Big Spring on the ground, amassing huge chucks of yards throughout the season. That’s something Berry hopes will improve in year two, foregoing a bend-but-don’t-break mentality for an aggressive approach. It’s a double-edged sword; it could lead to bigger stops yet also exposes them to gashing plays for huge yards.

Considering the passive defense didn’t work last year, it’s a good gamble to take.

Over on offense, Berry and company are hoping for an improved effort from the skill positions. Slot backs Cooper and Coyle return, bringing with them a combined 33 receptions, 772 yards and nine touchdowns. Considering signal caller Chestnut completed 72 passes a year ago, that’s a significant return. Robb and

his 554 yards — Cooper chipped in 324 as well — on the ground will be back as well. Berry and Chestnut have been working on shorter routes. They found success early last year with the bomb, but teams caught on fast after a 3-0 start that included the forfeit win over Boiling Springs. That should help cut down on Chestnut’s 13 interceptions last year. From an experience standpoint, they’ll be a little weak out wide, with no returning starters set to catch passes outside the numbers. But that shouldn’t really matter as Chestnut hit Coyle and Cooper inside the numbers all season, averaging 23.4 yards a completion to the duo.

If the lines can take a step up as well, this squad has a chance to improve on their 4-6 record. There’s a real chance this team averages in the mid-20s on offense, so if the defense can get down into that range that 1-6 division record may be a thing of the past. It all starts off with a date with West Perry, and the Bulldogs are not shy in stating that they want revenge for last year’s loss. If they can pull that off, this team could surprise people in the Colonial. They’re still a ways away from the top of the class, but there’s a good possibility this will be another year in the right direction.

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Big Spring Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Josh Paisley 11 5-6 130 WR-DB Gavin Stets 11 5-8 125 WR-DB Patrick Hockensmith 10 5-9 150 WR-LB JT Weldon 10 6-0 180 WR-LB Trey Piper 11 5-11 155 WR-DB Nick Black 9 5-11 155 QB-DB Anthony Tressler 10 6-2 180 WR-DL Josh Fauver 12 5-4 130 WR-LB Garrett Chestnut 11 5-8 135 QB-DB Nick Alampiev 10 5-9 150 WR-LB Chris Nelson 10 5-8 145 WR-LB Ethan Gutshall 11 5-11 180 RB-LB Austin Singleton 12 6-0 170 RB-LB Tim Bowers 10 5-6 135 WR-DB Matt Coyle 11 5-9 170 WR-DB Triston Cooper 11 6-0 170 WR-DB Brock Jumper 10 5-11 170 RB-LB Noah Keiter 10 5-11 165 WR-LB Taylor Farlling 11 5-7 140 WR-DB Koltin Tidd 10 5-9 145 WR-LB Austin Brownawell 10 5-8 130 RB-LB Damien Porter 12 5-9 150 WR-LB Brandon Mellott 12 6-4 220 WR-DL Tristan Robb 11 6-0 210 RB-LB Lucas Carey 10 5-11 235 OL-DL Zach Gantz 10 6-1 150 OL-LB Lars Stoner 11 5-11 190 OL-DL Brandon Burry 12 5-9 160 OL-DL Jake Paris 12 6-1 165 OL-LB Mat Ulsh 11 5-9 215 OL-LB Seth Keiter 10 5-11 215 OL-LB Sam Tigyer 12 6-0 270 OL-DL Colby Martin 11 5-10 270 OL-DL Toby Peck 11 5-11 245 OL-DL Hunter Adams 10 6-3 290 OL-DL Grant Wright 10 5-11 230 OL-DL Lars Weyant 10 6-2 215 OL-DL Josh Header 10 6-4 210 OL-DL Matt Lawrence 12 6-0 240 OL-DL Brandon Owens 12 6-1 260 OL-DL Thomas Miller 10 6-0 180 WR-DL

Boiling Springs Bubblers Head coach: Nate Freier 2013 record: 2-8 (2-5)

THE BIG QUESTION Can the young offensive line do its part?

They’re going to have to if Boiling Springs is to improve on last season’s record.

Coach Nate Freier likes some of the weapons he has back this season, including returning starting running back Dylan Romig. Romig ran for 822 yards on 4.8 a touch a season ago. That kind of production will be needed once again. And if John Vaughn returns to the form Freier expects, they’ll have a nice one-two punch in the backfield to pound opponents. Add that with a cast of other runners that are expected to be nice tertiary weapons — including Nate Gouhin and his 5.9 yards a carry — and this has the potential to be a very strong offense.

But it all falls back on the line. Led by stalwart senior guard and team captain Justin Weibley, the Bubblers have a few pieces up front that could do plenty of damage. There are some inexperienced pieces mixed in, but Freier’s been impressed with how much tutoring Weibley has provided for his line mates.

Of course, they’ll have to stay healthy.

If they can do that, yes, this unit will be able to do its part. It may take a little time for them to gel, though.

Boiling Springs

Q&A As long as Nate Freier is around, this is always going to be a power-run Bubblers squad. And he’s back at it for another year. The Boiling Springs coach is tasked with trying to make the next step with his team, which has plenty of experience coming back, but several question marks as well. Just don’t tell him we called them questions marks.

Q : W h a t’s go i n g to be the story of Boiling Springs this year?

A: We’re going to win.

That’s the No. 1 story. I think we’ve had a great offseason.

We were just discussing how well things have gone in the offseason. We’re stronger, better conditioned, the system is now in place, I think the players are very comfortable with system. Essentially, we’ll always be a powerrunning based team with an aggressive, multi-linebacker defense that tries to cause problems for the opposition.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Nate Freier, head coach So I think based on those two factors and having a great deal of experience coming back at all our skill positions, I think we’re in great shape.

Q: What have you learned from the last few years to turn this team into a winner?

A: I think the two things I would actually point to from last year that helped team come along was we learned how to win in really tough games. We went into Camp Hill and kind of ran up on them and got way ahead of them and let it slip away at the end of the game — the game got tied up and end of the day we went in well-prepared for an overtime, we knew exactly what we wanted to call, we had the situation down and we (were just confident). Big Spring was the one that was a turning point for a program… We went in, got shocked, hadn’t seen an offense like that, got shocked, went down 14

points, then got in a seesaw battle all the way until the third quarter where they’d go ahead, we’d go ahead, et cetera and then at the end ran away with it. And we literally ran away with it. We buckled our chin straps, told the guys up front to get ready to roll and ate the clock up and finished it off. I think that was a program changing game.

Q: What do you have back?

A: We have basically the whole backfield back. Two out of three key receivers from last year are back on offense. The offensive

2014 schedule

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line is probably the area — I wouldn’t call it a question mark or a weakness — but I would call it the area that is largely turned over. But I tell these guys this story — I’ve been a Boiling Springs for a long time — several years ago we went 10-0… the previous year we went 3-7 and we turned the entire offensive line over. I’m an old offensive line coach, so I’m not daunted by building a nice offensive line with guys that didn’t play a great deal. So it’s not a question mark, the way I put it is we just have to generate more game IQ.

at Littlestown 7 p.m. at Bermudian Springs 7 p.m. vs. Big Spring 7 p.m. at Middletown 7 p.m. vs. Trinity 7 p.m. at Palmyra 7 p.m. at Milton Hershey 7 p.m. vs. Camp Hill 7 p.m. vs. West Perry 7 p.m. at Steel-High 7 p.m.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Boiling Springs head coach Nate Freier.

Boiling Springs

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A

Justin Weibley, senior, OL/DL

Freier called him the big man on campus after one of the team’s summer practices. We don’t know about the entire school, but Justin Weibley is certainly a big man with big responsibilities on both sides of the ball for the Bubblers. If things go according to plan, the captain will be anchoring the offense and causing havoc as the nose on defense.

Q: You guys are always a power-running team, how’s it shaping up this season?

A: A little bit of inexperience on the offensive line, but I think once we get together with the guys who need to be there in the right position I think we’ll do OK. Just eeryone needs to know what they’re doing, just get your head where you need to be and just run your feet and keep going.

Q: Is the offensive line going to be able to gel quickly?

A: I believe so. Yeah we just need to hit hard and just keep running your feet and we should be fine. Just do what you’re supposed to and do it hard.

Q: Defensive changes you like?

A: I think we’ll do well. (I’ll be the) nose guard, probably going to pick up two offensive linemen, which will open up (holes) for our linebackers to get through. Having more of them will benefit us.

Q: Where are you compared to previous years?

A: I definitely believe we’re better off than what we were last year and the previous year before. We’ve done more offseason camps, more 10-on-10’s, more 7on-7s, where everyone’s flying around, doing what they need to do.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Boiling Springs’ Justin Weibley.

Inside the huddle BOILING SPRINGS BUBBLERS

Head coach: Nate Freier, 3rd season (3-17) Assistant coaches: Austin Weibley (Offensive coordinator/QB); Matt Morris (Defensive coordinator/RB/S); Jeff Giselman (Special teams coordinator/RB/DB); Matt Merle (WR/DB); Mike Miller (OL/OLB); Bryan Rohm (OL/ILB); Ryan Bailey (OL/DL); Joe Metka (JH); Ron Elliot (JH).

Stadium: Ecker Field (turf) Colors: Purple/Gold Classification: AA Division: Mid-Penn Capital Offensive formation: Pro-I/Pistol Defensive formation: 3-4 2013 season: 2-8 (2-5) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Comp Att TD Dalton Showaker 39 101 7 Rushing Att Yards Avg Dylan Romig 173 882 4.8

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Yards 436 TD 7

Receiving Rec Yards TD Tyler Kauffman 4 47 1 Key players lost: Tyler Wise (WR/DB); Ian Garman (DB); Noah Davis (OL; Ben Picard (OL); Kyle Taylor (DL) Returning offensive starters (6): Dalton Showaker, sr., QB; Tyler Kauffman, WR; Justin Weibley, OL; Dylan Romig, sr., RB; Nate Gouhin, RB; Chase Edwards, WR. Returning defensive starters (4): Tyler Kauffman, DB; Justin Weibley, DL; Nate Gouhin, LB; Dylan McCoy, LB. Top newcomers: John Vaughn, sr., RB/LB; Bryan Malone, so., RB/DB; Jack Foreman, so., RB/LB; Matt Ly, jr., K. Outlook: Once again the Bubblers enter the season hovering right around 40 players on their roster. It’s basically in coach Nate Freier’s job description, to get the best he can out of a limited roster. They can’t afford to get banged up early.

But never fear, this is still very much a capable power-run offense. Bubbletown only lost a

handful of key contributed on the offensive side of things. Connor Murphy’s 337 yards and 5.1 yards per carry are gone, but can be replaced. The biggest blow may be pass catcher Tyler Wise. Wise caught 25 balls a season ago, going for 331 yards and four touchdowns. He accounted for 56 percent of the team’s receptions, 66 percent of their receiving yards, and half their receiving touchdowns. For comparison, no other receiver had more than six grabs or 53 yards, and nobody hauled in multiple scores.

But outside of that, starters galore return at the skill positions, and running back may be the most loaded position of them all. Dylan Romig returns to carry the rock, a season after averaging 4.8 a touch. And Freier is high on senior John Vaughn, who showed promise before a season-ending injury last year at the start of the season. There’s slashers and bruisers all over the backfield — Nate Gouhin took a handoff 40 times and averaged 5.9 yards a tote and Chase Edwards ran for a 5.2-yard clip, albeit on just six touches — and if the Bubblers can

find the right mix of thunder and lightning the offense has the potential to be dangerous It’ll be interesting to see the growth in Dalton Showaker. The signal caller only completed 39 percent of his passes, but this team doesn’t rely on the aerial attack as much as some other Capital division programs do. But if he can bring the completion percentage up a notch for a few more yards, and improve on his 7-to-7 TD to interception ratio, it could make a world of difference. They have to replace two starters along the line, but Justin Weibley was a force a season ago and Kelton Mowe and Valentino Arena should step up in 2014.

Defensively, Weibley is the anchor as well. The big man will be asked to clog up lanes to allow LBs Vaughn, Nate Gouhin and Dylan McCoy to make plays. Allowing 27 points per game isn’t an option this season if they are to make the postseason. Freier has been saying since media day he expects to win and so far he’s been pleased with the effort of his charges.

A revenge matchup with Big Spring, who they lost to on a forfeit, looms large in week three.

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Boiling Springs Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Bryan Malone 10 5-9 162 RB-DB Dylan Romig 12 5-8 142 RB-LB Tyler Kauffman 12 6-2 153 WR-DB Tristan Enck 11 6-0 204 WR-DL Cooper Romig 10 5-6 149 WR-LB Dalton Showaker 12 5-7 157 QB-DB Dakota Hershey 11 5-10 143 WR-DB Chase Edwards 11 5-6 157 WR-DB Zach Ruby 11 5-11 138 WR-DB Logan Devan 11 5-9 148 WR-DB Corey Calaman 11 5-6 155 WR-LB Ben Caldwell 10 6-2 179 WR-DB Parker Wirl 10 5-9 125 WR-DB Matt Ly 11 5-9 140 K-P Sean Cadigan 12 6-3 180 K-P Wesley Wirl 10 5-9 132 WR-DB Anthony Cox 12 5-8 173 WR-LB Dylan McCoy 11 6-1 170 WR-LB Adam Morrow 11 5-9 160 RB-DB John Vaughn 12 5-7 170 RB-LB Caleb Holley 10 5-4 120 RB-DB Jack Foreman 10 5-11 162 RB-LB Nate Gouhin 12 5-8 202 RB-LB Michael Nieves 11 5-6 175 OL-DL Kelton Mowe 11 6-0 238 OL-DL Valentino Arena 11 5-9 182 OL-DL Connor Blauch 10 5-9 185 OL-DL Zach Rowe 11 5-11 199 OL-DL Hoot Malinish 11 5-8 243 OL-DL Casey Brenneman 11 6-0 194 OL-DL Jacob Otto 10 5-9 206 OL-DL Robbie Bowers 11 5-8 173 OL-DL Ricky Ott 10 5-9 217 OL-DL Andre Smith 11 5-8 328 OL-DL Cordell Hair 12 5-6 214 OL-LB Nick Trent 11 5-10 248 OL-DL Justin Weibley 12 6-3 330 OL-DL Alex Myers 10 5-9 164 WR-LB Kushal Patel 12 5-10 171 WR-LB Dalton Turner 11 5-9 181 TWR-DL

Camp Hill Lions Head coach: Frank Gay 2013 record: 3-7 (2-5)

THE BIG QUESTION Can a surge in depth push them to the next level?

For a small school, numbers are such a big deal. If a Class AAAA school loses 10 or 15 guys from its roster, it’s looking at still fielding 50 players. If Camp Hill’s number drops by that much, it suddenly doesn’t have enough players to fill out a two-deep depth chart, and that can make a difference quickly.

That shouldn’t be a problem for Frank Gay’s side this year. Right around 40 names dot the roster, or somewhere around 20 percent of the boys enrolled at Camp Hill High School. And that means competition, which Gay is excited for. It also means comfort, as players always knew they were one serious injury from having their season take a turn for the worse.

The added depth will also help out with replacing departed seniors this year and in the future. Both lines are a concern entering this year, but with 15 or so linemen, there’s a lot more to choose from, and they’re all going to push a little harder to get past the next guy on the list.

It’s not the only thing that’s been keeping the Lions out of the postseason the last couple years, but when they’re not giving up beaucoup points in the second half, depth is making a difference.

Camp Hill

Q&A Camp Hill has weapons coming back. That’s huge for a small school, and coach Frank Gay knows it. There are still hurdles to overcome, but if the Lions can clear a couple of them, they look like they’re ready to take a step forward in the footballplaying world.

Q: What’s different at Camp Hill this year?

A: Attitude. I think that the kids, the chemistry is much, much different. The number of kids we have, too. We’re over 40 kids, so that’s huge.

There’s a lot of different per-

Friday, August 29, 2014

Frank Gay, head coach sonalities, and the way they work — and that’s not dissing other classes — but the chemistry in this group from the freshmen to the seniors is pretty unique.

Q: As a small school, you need everyone healthy, does that change things?

A: Sure, sure. With the numbers now, we’re competitive. We’re going to compete at practice. I think at times, some guys got complacent because, ‘Oh well, there’s not really anyone pushing me.’ So we’re going

to compete every day.

Q: Defense wasn’t quite a strong suit last year.

Will that be different?

A: Defensively, we have to get better. We haven’t been great defensively the last few years, but we’re going to be much better. We’re going to have kids that get af-

2014 schedule

D8 • The Sentinel

ter it. These guys want to get physical right away, and I’m like, ‘Hey, we’re still Camp Hill. We can’t lose you guys.’

So we’re going to find out what our kids can do. We know what the older guys can do obviously, and we’ll fill in holes from there. We’ll be competitive on defense.

Aug. 29 at Upper Dauphin 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 vs. Halifax 7 p.m. * Sept. 12 at James Buchanan 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 vs. West Perry 7 p.m. * Sept. 26 at Milton Hershey 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 at Steel-High 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 vs. Palmyra 7 p.m.

Oct. 17 at Boiling Springs 7 p.m.

Oct. 24 at Trinity 7 p.m.

Oct. 31 vs. Middletown 7 p.m. * at Memorial Park, Mechanicsburg

Samuel Getty/For The Sentinel

Camp Hill head coach Frank Gay.

Camp Hill

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A

Michael Hope, senior, TE/DB

Everything will be pretty familiar to Michael Hope when he lines up for Camp Hill this season. The Lions’ leading receiver will have the same quarterback throwing to him as the past two years, but those linemen he’ll be lining up next to? Not as many familiar faces there.

Q: What is different this year vs. last year?

A: The amount of players is a big difference. We probably have 20 more players than last year. And being able to compete (in practice) is huge, not having to be worried about injuries because as soon as one person gets hurt it drops down to a second or third string, if we even had a second or third string. Last year, as soon as someone got hurt, we’d have to fill the position with someone who probably didn’t play there.

Q: You bring back some weapons on offense, how comfortable does that make you?

A: It’s really nice. (Michael) Shuster is a great quarterback, and we also have Bill Williams. He’s a threat in both the passing game and running game. He’s great to have.

Q: Bringing along a

mostly young offensive line, will you have to lean on the skill guys a bit more?

A: We have a couple returning lineman, and we just have to fill in the younger guys. Some guys haven’t played line, but are getting moved there. If they fill in and learn what they can and what they have to do, we can be really good.

CAMP HILL LIONS

Head coach: Frank Gay, 4th season (14-18) Assistants: Tim Bigelow (offensive coordinator/QB); Bruce Belskey (OL/DL); Luke Cox (RB/LB); Matt Cox (RB/DL); Michael Dixon (RB/DB); Jason Lynch (OL/DL); Kristian Walker (WR/DB).

Stadium: Seibert Park (turf) Colors: Blue/White Classification: A Division: Mid-Penn Capital Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: Multiple 40 Front 2013 season: 3-7 (2-5) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

TD 18 Avg 6.9 Avg.

Yards 1,794 TD 10 TD

Michael Hope 29

471

16.2 4

Key players lost: Jared Kronicz (OL/DL); Marshall Durham (TE/DL); Paul Fetrow (WR/DB).

Returning offensive starters (6): Michael Shuster, jr., QB; Austin Simpson, sr., OL; Michael Hope, sr., TE; Bill Williams, so., RB; Kyle Remig, sr., FB; Logan Vallati, jr., WR. Returning defensive starters (7): Michael Hope, sr., DB; Kyle Remig, sr., LB; Logan Vallati, jr., DB; John Paul Kimport, sr., DB; Austin Simpson, sr., DL; Corey Becker, jr., LB; Bill Williams, so., LB. Top newcomers: Deshawn Franklin, sr., WR/ RB/LB (transfer from Harrisburg).

Outlook: It will be no surprise when Camp Hill comes out and lights up the scoreboards this season. That’s because they did it last year as well, scoring better than 28 points a game, and they have just about every skill weapon back that they leaned on in 2013. That’s just one reason to be excited about the Lions’ program.

THE ROSTER Camp Hill Football 2014 Roster

Samuel Getty/For The Sentinel

Camp Hill’s Michael Hope stands behind Bill Williams, left, and Michael Shuster.

No. Name

Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos.

2

Quinn Buffington

9

3

John Paul Kimport

12 5-10 180 WR-DB

5

William Williams

10 5-5 185 RB-LB

7

Benjamin Guyer

10 5-10 145 WR-DB

8

Noel Oliverio

12 5-5 160 WR-DB

10 Luke Newman

Inside the huddle

Passing Comp Att Michael Shuster 108 230 Rushing Att Yards Bill Williams 154 1,062 Receiving Rec Yards

The Sentinel • D9

The other big one is the numbers that coach Frank Gay has gotten out, both to offseason workouts and on the final roster. Camp Hill will suit up roughly 40 guys, which will play a big role in improving the team, both in depth and creating competition in practice. Where they’ll need a little bit of both of those things is on the defensive side of the ball. As good as the offense was last year, opposing offenses outshined them more often than not, which is something that can’t happen if the Lions want to get back into the postseason picture.

The offense starts with Michael Shuster, the quarterback who seems like he’s been there for four years already but still has two more to go. He can toss it around, and can make enough plays with his feet to keep defenses honest. Around him, he’ll see all kinds of guys that can help his team roll up the yards. Bill Williams returns after a tremendous freshman season that showcased his explosive ability, and the versatile Michael Hope is back after

leading the team in receptions and yards last season. In addition, Logan Vallati, Dave Fetrow and John Paul Kimport have experience hauling in bullets from Shuster as well. Where the Lions will have to put the work in is across the front. Austin Simpson is a heck of a leader, but the four-year starter is the only offensive lineman coming back with starting experience.

Gay and Simpson are happy with what they have in the cupboard, but those replacements will have to show up to keep the offense rolling.

That trend continues on the other side of the ball, with Simpson the only returner on the defensive front as well. The rest of the defense has plenty back that felt the experience of giving up plenty of points. Whether it comes from motivation from that, or just being another year older, the defense should be better. It doesn’t have to turn all-world, but holding opponents in the mid-20s would help add some wins.

9

5-10 150 QB-DB

6-0 150 WR-DB

11 Logan Vallati

11 5-9 145

12 Michael Shuster

11 6-3 190 QB-DB

20 Deshawn Franklin

12 5-10 180 RB-WR-LB

21 Zackary Kuntz

9

25 Michael Hope

12 6-1 205 WR-DB

31 Connor England

9

5-7 150 RB-WR-LB

33 Nicholas Perry

9

5-7 160 RB-LB

35 Sam Williamson

9

5-3 125 WR-DB

41 Alexander Gallaher

12 5-10 160 WR-K-P

6-7 195 WR-DL

45 Kyle Remig

12 6-0 225 RB-LB

50 Luca Colestock

9

51 John Williamson

10 5-9 200 RB-LB

53 Corey Becker

11 6-0 180 OL-LB

5-10 160 OL-LB

54 Charles Laporta

9

55 George Massie

10 6-10 175 OL-LB

6-1 210 OL-DL

56 Matthew Beddow

9

58 David Marino

12 5-8 205

6-1 165 WR-LB

63 Dylan Meloy

10 5-8 205 OL-DL

64 Nathaniel Teeter

9

65 Jacob Weigle

10 5-9 205 OL-DL

66 Sean Eboch

9

68 Austin Simpwon

12 6-2 205 OL-DL

70 Jonathan Shuster

9

71 Sire Young

11 6-1 280 OL-DL

74 Brady Chambers

12 6-0 250 OL-DL

76 Matt Benkovich

10 5-9 185 OL-DL

77 Brandon Tomeo

10 6-1 225 OL-DL

5-10 175 5-9 190 OL-DL 5-8 150 OL-LB

79 Christopher Polkinghorn 10 6-2 265 OL-DL 80 Noah Foster

9

6-3 165 WR-DL

81 Connor Nestler

10 5-10 165

83 Matthew Lowe

11 6-2 180 WR-DL

85 Nathan Becker

9

88 Peter Tawadros

10 5-9 150 WR-DB

5-7 125 WR-DB

Carlisle Thundering Herd Head coach: Josh Oswalt 2013 record: 1-9 (1-6)

THE BIG QUESTION Can they carry over last year’s late momentum when they snapped their losing streak in Week 10?

Yes, Carlisle has lost 20 of its last 21 games. It’s been a rough two seasons for the Thundering Herd, but they want the focus in those numbers to be on that 21st game, when they snapped a 20-game skid with a win in Week 10 over Harrisburg.

It was a huge step forward for the Herd, who looked much better last year than they did in 2012. Carlisle was able to carry a winning streak for nearly 10 months during the offseason. That run will be in jeopardy immediately Friday night, but the momentum it took with it was real.

It led to big numbers in the weight room over the winter and spring, and an entirely different mentality in the players that came out. Nearly everyone who was a part of that win last year is back, and the simple fact that they got a win changed everything.

The Thundering Herd will still be suiting up in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth, which is as deep as ever this year, and doesn’t have a walkthrough for a nonconference slate either. But there’s room for improvement, and here’s guessing that they win a couple of those close ones this year.

Carlisle

Q&A It hasn’t been perfect for Josh Oswalt since taking over duties at Carlisle. But after a few years of work, he sees things out of this group of Thundering Herd players that he hasn’t seen the previous two seasons. Now the CV grad is waiting to see if that dedication pans out on the field.

Q: What’s different with this year’s group vs. the last two years?

A: The kids are really starting to buy into what we’re doing. There’s a lot of leadership in the group, and they understand the importance of being there all summer long. And, they really got after the underclassmen and the numbers have been up all summer, so we’re anxious to get after it.

Q: Numbers are a big thing for your program, but how important is the cohesion of this group?

A: Just getting them to understand, you don’t win games just starting in Au-

Friday, August 29, 2014

Josh Oswalt, head coach gust and September. It’s got to start, and we had a solid group in here, starting in December. Once June started, we had about 50, 60 kids throughout the day.

Q: How much did getting the win over Harrisburg in Week 10 help?

A: There was momentum.

The morale. The reality was there were a lot of seniors that weren’t playing in that game last year. We had a lot of key players out. We had to rely on six freshmen to play substantial minutes, and those freshmen really carried us to a victory. Those guys got bigger, and now they’re sophomores and they’re listening to their upperclassmen, which is what we were hoping for.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Carlisle head coach Josh Oswalt

2014 schedule

D10 • The Sentinel

Aug. 29 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

at Mechanicsburg at Red Land vs. South Western at State College vs. Mifflin County at Cumberland Valley vs. Central Dauphin vs. Chambersburg at CD East vs. Harrisburg

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

Carlisle

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Carlisle’s Billy Burger will line up under center one last time for the Thundering Herd this season. Now a three-year starter, his first two didn’t go exactly as planned, but like much of his team, he feels like the third time can be a charm.

Q: What does it feel like coming into a third year starting as quarterback?

A: Definitely confidence is the key. I know my sophomore year when I came out, I was very hesitant, nervous.

Billy Burger, senior, QB/DB It’s a big step to take, you’re leading the team. But the third year, I’m in charge. It’s all me out there, controlling the offense, and that’s big to have. We’re looking good.

Q: What’s the biggest change from last year to this year?

A: Probably the morale of the team. Last year, a lot of guys would hang their head if something bad happens. This y e a r, w e have a big

senior class, a lot of leaders. We pick each other up.

We have a good bond. I think that’s really going to help us this year.

Q: What changes on your offense this year?

A: Honestly, we’re just going to go after people.

That’s it. We’re just going to start winning games. That last game really helped us.

We’re on a one-game winning streak, that’s the way I look at it at least. This is a big year. I think

we’re totally going to change things around, and people are going to have to notice us.

Q: Did last year feel different than the year before in terms of competitiveness?

A: It did. Last year we were in a lot of close games. It’s not like we were a bad team.

We were in every game. Last year was definitely a major turn from the year before.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Carlisle quarterback Billy Burger talks with Oswalt.

Inside the huddle CARLISLE THUNDERING HERD Head coach: Josh Oswalt, 5th season (8-32) Assistants: Bill Owens (Asst. head coach); Brad Nailor (Defensive coordinator); Chance Powell (Offensive coordinator); Jesse Killinger (OL/DL); Chuck Hickes (RB/LB); Brett Ickes (JV); Jeff Denlinger (OL/DL); Augie Taliani (RB/LB).

Stadium: Ken Millen Stadium (grass) Colors: Green/White Classification: AAAA Division: Mid-Penn Commonwealth Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-4 2013 season: 1-9 (1-6) Postseason: Did not qualify RETURNING LEADERS Passing Comp Att TD Yards Billy Burger 81 153 4 1,012 Rushing Att Yards Avg TD Tyler Greene 118 360 3.1 1 Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD

The Sentinel • D11

Deonte Ramsey 20

261 13.1 0

Key players lost: Max Breschi (TE/LB); Bamasa Bailor (RB/DB); Jon Mundell (RB/LB).

Returning offensive starters (9): Billy Burger, sr., QB; Deonte Ramsey, sr., WR; John Christopher, jr., WR; Mike Wuestner, sr., TE; Tyler Greene, jr., RB; Gary Pariseau, sr., OL; Colton Denlinger, jr., OL; Grant Shughart, jr., OL; DeQuan Lacy-Brown, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (9): DeQuan Lacy-Brown, Sr., DL; Tim Roesler, sr., DL; Brett Ickes, sr., DL; Chris McCullough, sr., DL; Tyler Greene, jr., LB; Glenn Jackson, sr., LB; Nate Thomas, so., LB, Jimmy Steele, sr., LB; DeShawn Millington, so., DB. Top newcomers: Gavyn Barnes, fr., WR/DB; Zion Patterson, so., WR/DB; Isaiah Banks, sr., RB/DB (transfer from Alaska); Marshall Powell, sr., OL/DL. Outlook: Going from 0-10 to 1-9 may not seem like a huge improvement, but ask any-

one involved with this Carlisle program, and they’ll tell you how much the team grew last season. That will happen when you go from lopsided scores to being competitive in just about every game, and that’s what the Thundering Herd did, culminating with a victory over playoff-bound Harrisburg on the final Friday of the regular season. Now comes the tough part: keeping that momentum going. But coach Josh Oswalt likes what he’s seen from his team, which dealt with plenty of adversity last season but saw huge numbers still show up for offseason workouts. That’s the kind of effort he’s been asking for since taking over, and while it’s been there in spurts before, this year showed the type of consistency that’s needed to get over the hump. That motivation, which should lead to confidence, comes from a large senior class, who don’t want to go out with a season that puts them in the basement of the Commonwealth Division once again.

Of course, all the motivation in the world can’t

fully overcome lack of talent. Good thing the Herd has a fair bit of that as well. Nine starters return on each side of the ball, and no one position group is lacking in experience. Billy Burger is back for his third year under center for Carlisle, and he’ll deal with just about the biggest change an offense can go through in football as the Herd changes up from a Wing-T to a spread look. One can see what the reasoning behind that is. Burger has grown as a passer, and in addition to leading receiver Deonte Ramsey, he has a stable of young pass catchers at his disposal. Of course, still expect the CV-bred Oswalt to run the ball a bit, especially with an experienced offensive line.

While defense was the better of the two units last year, there’s still room for improvement.

Guys like DeQuan Lacy-Brown and Brett Ickes are back up front, and while the linebacking corps will shift around a bit, there’s still a good amount of experience there.

THE ROSTER Carlisle Football 2014 Roster No. Name

Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos.

1

Deonte Ramsey

12 5-11 160 RB-DB-K

2

Zion Patterson

10 6-0 150 WR-DB

3

Gavyn Barnes

9

4

Eric Harris

10 5-8 170 QB-LB

5

Billy Burger

12 6-1 170 QB-DB

6

John Christopher

11 5-7 130 WR-DB

9

Timmy Roesler

12 6-1 180 OL-DL

10 Dashawn Millingston 10 6-1 150 WR-DB 12 Mike Wuestner

12 6-6 180 WR-DL

20 Junior Gaie

10 5-6 140 RB-DB

21 Luciano Budd

10

22 Isaiah Banks

12

25 James Schwartz

12

26 Nate Barnes

10 5-9 160 RB-LB

27 Zach Daron

10

28 Prince Gaye

10

30 James Steele

12 5-8 150 OL-LB

32 Tyler Greene

11 5-7 170 RB-LB

34 Glenn Jackson

12 5-9 180 RB-LB

35 Jacob Clegg

12 5-6 140 RB-LB

40 Armel Cleary

10

48 Payton Phillips

10 5-11 190 WR-LB

50 Trevor Wright

10

52 Chris McCullough

12 5-10 200 OL-LB

53 Justin Trolinger

10 5-11 170 OL-LB

54 Brit Ickes

12 5-8 230 OL-DL

55 Grant Shughart

11 5-9 150 OL-LB

56 Maliek Taylor

58 Gary Pariseau

12 6-1 220 OL-DL

10

61 Marshall Powell

12

63 Colton Denlinger

11 6-1 210 OL-DL

66 Austin Hess

12 6-2 205 OL-DL

68 Josiah Reisinger

11

71 Connor Hamilton 11 6-3 210 OL-DL 74 DeQuan Lacy-Brown 12 6-5 320 OL-DL 75 Brian Martin

10

83 Chuckie Nist

11 6-2 220 WR-DL

88 Chase Brock

11 6-0 180 WR-DL

Cedar Cliff Colts Head coach: Colin Gillen 2013 record: 9-2 (6-1)

THE BIG QUESTION How much of a drop-off will there be in the post-Andrew Ford era?

There’s a reason this question isn’t “Will there be a drop-off?”, because of course there will. When an all-stater moves on to a big-time Division I college, the production just won’t be the same, even if the replacement has the same potential.

Lucky for Cedar Cliff its drop-off will be minimal thanks to who will be taking snaps during the Colts’ first drive in Dublin. Sophomore Grant Breneman is ready for the challenge.

No, he doesn’t have the arm of Ford, and likely doesn’t quite have the same grasp of breaking down a defense. But first-year coach Colin Gillen takes every opportunity he can to praise the hard work that Breneman puts in.

The brother of current Penn Stater Adam has some sporting experience under his belt already as a starter on the Colts’ District 3 championship baseball team and a reserve on the varsity basketball team. Gillen said this is still a passing offense, but it certainly won’t be as complicated as last year.

What Breneman will do is use his legs a bit more, which could bring a whole new dimension to an offense that should still be pretty good even with a quarterback transition.

Cedar Cliff

Q&A Taking the reins from a program on the upswing is the way to go for a first-time head coach. That’s what Colin Gillen gets as he takes over at Cedar Cliff, where the Colts have reached the playoffs in each of the past five years and won a division title and nine games a season ago.

Q: What’s it like being a first-year head coach?

A: It’s great. We have a bunch of kids. They have

Friday, August 29, 2014

Colin Gillen, head coach really been grinding over the summer doing everything we asked them to do. We’re looking forward to all those deposits we made in the offseason to hopefully lead to a good year.

Q: With no Andrew Ford, how does the offense change?

A: There’s no doubt that we lost a lot of output. We lost our starting quar-

terback, a Division I football player. We also lost our starting running back, a Division II player, and our top receiver. That’s a lot of output we have to make up for. But with that said, we’re really excited about the team we have. A batch of young kids coming in, they’ve been working really hard. We’re very athletic at a lot of different positions, it’s just a matter of getting them under the lights.

Q: What is changing un-

2014 schedule

D12 • The Sentinel

der your command?

A: It’s mostly the same.

We’re going to do the same type of stuff. I’ve been blessed to be under coach (Jim) Cantafio the last six years, and in that offense, basically the terminology is the same. That’s really helped the transition with the kids. They haven’t had to learn a new system, so we could just run with it.

Aug. 29 vs. Penn Manor 2 p.m. * Sept. 5 vs. South Western 7 p.m.

Sept. 11 vs. Cocalico 7 p.m.

Sept. 19 vs. Waynesboro 7 p.m.

Sept. 26 at Lower Dauphin 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 vs. Mechanicsburg 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 at Bishop McDevitt 7 p.m.

Oct. 17 vs. Susquehanna Twp. 7 p.m.

Oct. 24 at Hershey 7 p.m.

Oct. 31 at Red Land 7 p.m. * at University College Dublin, Ireland

Nancy Zimmerman/For The Sentinel

Cedar Cliff head coach Colin Gillen.

Cedar Cliff

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A

Dylan Farrow, senior, OL/DL

Dylan Farrow won’t be making headlines the same way that Andrew Ford did for Cedar Cliff the past few years, but then again, linemen usually don’t. What he will do is help a team that took a big leap last season, and is trying to do the same thing this year.

Q: What is a Cedar Cliff

football team going to look like without Andrew Ford?

A: Well, we’re definitely not going to be as much of an air team anymore. We’re going to focus on running the ball better. And also, without Andrew we lose leadership, but we have guys coming up that can lead this

team really well.

Q: How much will the offensive line have to step up to get a new quarterback ready?

A: We have a great quarterback coming up in Grant Breneman. We definitely feel confident in him, so we’re not scared up front at all.

We’re just ready to come out

and do our thing. And we’re big this year, so that always helps.

Q: How is the running game continuing to improve?

A: We’re going to focus on it even more this year than last year. We want to be able to run the ball effectively.

Q : T h e d e fe n se i m proved tremendously last year. What was that like and how can you keep it going?

A: Oh absolutely. It was awesome last year being able to go out there and rely on our defense sometimes. And this year, I think we’ll be able to do that even more. We’re even better on defense this year.

Nancy Zimmerman/ For The Sentinel

Cedar Cliff lineman Dylan Farrow.

Inside the huddle CEDAR CLIFF COLTS Head coach: Colin Gillen, 1st season Assistants: Tim Froelich (Offensive coordinator); Mike Spagnuolo (Passing game coordinator); Kevin Yarnevich (OL/DL); Randy Yeager (DB); Zach Pitteiger (WR); Tom Sacoman (DL); Ken Sheaffer (OL); Bob Schnarrs (LB); Ted Zindren (Strength and conditioning).

Stadium: West Shore Stadium (Turf) Colors: Blue/Gold/White Classification: AAAA Division: Mid-Penn Keystone Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-4 2013 season: 9-2 (6-1) Postseason: Lost to Penn Manor, 35-34, in District 3-AAAA first round.

RETURNING LEADERS Passing Comp Att TD Grant Breneman 21 29 2

The Sentinel • D13

Yards 212

Rushing Jayden Demmy Receiving Noah Malone

Att 70 Rec 35

Yards Avg 446 6.4 Yards Avg 619 17.7

TD 5 TD 7

Key players lost: Andrew Ford (QB); Jake Scott (WR/DB); Kyler Smith (RB/LB); Nick Barowski (TE/DL); Sidney Tep (OL/DL); Nate Orris (TE/ LB).

Returning offensive starters (5): Dylan Farrow, sr., OL; Garrett Villar, sr., OL; Noah Malone, sr., WR; Mike Viti, jr., WR; Jayden Demmy, jr., RB. Returning defensive starters (5): Dylan Farrow, sr., DL; Garrett Villar, sr., DL; Jordan Stiles, sr., LB; Noah Malone, sr., DB; Mike Viti, jr., DB. Top newcomers: Grant Breneman, so., QB. Outlook: A spectacular first 10 games can quickly be overshadowed by a rough 11th.

That’s what happened to Cedar Cliff last year, when a 9-1 regular season and Keystone Division co-championship were all but forgotten for a few weeks after a demoralizing loss to Penn

Manor in the first round of the District 3-AAAA playoffs. It was the second year in a row the Colts fell to the Comets in the first round, leaving similar feelings both times. But what a year it was for Jim Cantafio’s last — for now — jaunt as a head coach. An offense that put up 39 points a game, and a defense that improved like crazy to avoid shootouts that were tough to win. Add to that a super exciting victory over Bishop McDevitt and that division title, and that’s not a bad way to go out.

Taking over for the Colts is a familiar face in offensive line coach Colin Gillen, who’s been pacing the West Shore Stadium sideline for the past six seasons. He doesn’t get the luxury of Andrew Ford — which would be the perfect housewarming gift — but he does inherit a team that is far from a rebuilding project. Grant Breneman is wise, and skilled, beyond his years for a sophomore, and will do a fine job replacing Ford. He doesn’t have all the receivers the Colts boasted last year, but he does

return Noah Malone and his 619 yards, as well as experienced guys like Mike Viti. Jayden Demmy got his fair share of touches at running back, and will be leaned on a little bit more in Gillen’s offense, which will look awful similar to Cantafio’s, if not a bit less pass-happy.

That defense that showed such rapid improvement, and possibly had the biggest role to play in adding four wins to the Cedar Cliff record, will be tasked with not slipping off. Linemen Dylan Farrow and Garrett Villar will be the rocks up front, while Jordan Stiles could be awfully exciting to watch at his linebacker position. The defensive backfield returns plenty of experience as well, with Malone and Viti looking to make it tough on opposing passers in the wild Keystone. Just keeping it under 200 points allowed like last year — in 11 games, no less — should do plenty to keeping this team in contention for the postseason yet again.

THE ROSTER No. 1 2 3 4 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 22 23 24 26 27 28 30 32 33 34 36 39 40 43 45 50 51 52 54 55 58 59 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 88

Cedar Cliff Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Harry Lowber 12 5-8 140 WR-DB Jayden Demmy 11 5-9 190 RB-LB Brian Neal 10 6-0 192 WR-DB Justin Holmes 11 6-2 170 WR-DB Mike Viti 11 6-1 175 WR-DB Ryan Schoppert 11 5-8 190 RB-LB Trysten McDonald 10 6-1 187 WR-DB Manny De Los Santos 11 6-1 215 WR-DL Collin Kilpatrick 12 6-0 165 WR-DB John McGee 12 5-9 166 WR-DB Noah Malone 12 6-0 172 WR-DB Jared Meise 10 5-11 165 WR-DB Chandler Heiple 10 5-9 155 QB-DB Harsh Shah 11 5-11 175 WR-DL Grant Breneman 10 6-0 185 QB-DB Jordan Stiles 12 5-8 185 RB-LB Patrick Duggan 9 5-11 160 RB-DB Henry Velazquez 10 5-6 120 WR-DB Khalil Taylor 10 5-4 120 WR-DB Michael Boyer 11 5-10 160 WR-DB Dewayne Crumlich 10 5-10 184 WR-DB Kevin Borne 10 6-0 176 WR-LB Cole Whalen 11 5-10 185 RB-LB Steve Borys 12 5-7 170 RB-LB Sergio Acala 10 5-10 201 RB-LB Christopher Boyer 12 5-9 223 RB-LB Scott Zeigler 10 5-8 140 WR-DB Logan Duras 11 5-11 195 RB-LB Roudly LoLo 12 5-10 190 RB-LB Josh Lazeration 12 6-0 192 WR-DL Evan Levitsky 10 5-9 197 OL-LB Colin Quigley 10 5-7 175 OL-LB Zach Bloor 12 6-0 161 WR-DL Matt Yohe 12 6-2 186 OL-DL Patrick Dudzinski 10 5-7 195 OL-DL Brandon Robinson 11 5-10 195 OL-DL Ryan Kambic 11 5-10 155 OL-DL Ryan Walker 10 5-9 180 OL-DL Cade Hambright 10 5-9 190 OL-DL Tyler Lackey 10 5-9 209 OL-DL Erik Musselman 10 5-11 190 OL-DL Craig Godineaux 12 6-3 277 OL-DL Nick Labecki 12 5-10 225 OL-DL Edvin Dulas 12 6-1 272 OL-DL Seth Shiley 11 5-9 210 OL-DL Cesar Jaen 11 6-1 280 OL-DL Garrett Villar 12 6-2 262 OL-DL Shaun Hastings 10 6-1 212 OL-LB AJ McDermott 12 6-3 250 OL-DL Dylan Farrow 12 6-0 278 OL-DL Nate Walker 11 6-1 310 OL-DL Ali Mohammed 12 6-0 256 OL-DL Kordell Dorsey 10 5-7 235 OL-DL Vincent Lucenta 10 5-8 160 OL-DL Evan Shiley 12 6-3 295 OL-DL Cole Perlick 10 6-3 300 OL-DL Chris Thompson 10 5-8 175 RB-LB Noah Lazeration 10 6-0 180 WR-DL Jordan Claypool 12 5-9 155 WR-DB Zach Campbell 12 5-0 175 WR-LB Dimitri Nelson 10 6-0 167 WR-DB Charles Ghazza 11 6-2 230 WR-DL Nate Markley 12 6-3 202 WR-DL Charles Matthew 12 5-11 130 WR-DB

Cumberland Valley Eagles Head coach: Michael Whitehead 2013 record: 11-3 (6-1)

THE BIG QUESTION Will they get a chance for redemption?

There’s so many factors involved in this one. For starters, Cumberland Valley needs to overcome massive turnaround. But that typically isn’t a problem for a team used to returning only about five starters a year.

For another, they have to go through a brutally tough Mid-Penn Commonwealth division. Harrisburg might be the favorite — right now — but there’s so many teams capable of making a run at the division crown that nothing’s a guarantee. Any team is capable of knocking off another this year, and the Eagles will have to avoid as many pitfalls as possible.

And if they do that, seeding will play a huge factor. Getting into the District 3-AAAA playoffs will be the easy part.

Mark a run will not.

But this team is smarting from the way they lost to Lower Dauphin, 24-21, in the district championship game. The players are chomping at the bit to make another, longer, run.

And it starts up front. Both the lines have more size and depth, which will be huge after spending 2013 piecing together an offensive line decimated by injuries. If the lines can dominate, they can make a run, but it’ll be tough.

Cumberland Valley

Q&A It’s Year 2 under Michael Whitehead. His first crack as the head man went swimmingly, as Cumberland Valley likely surprised a few with a deep playoff run that ended with a bad break in the district final. As always, the Eagles have a ton of turnover on both sides of the ball. But Whitehead has been around the block with this team before and knows the drill.

Q: How’s it feel in your second season at the helm?

A: Yeah, things are going well. The second year is a little easier than the first

Friday, August 29, 2014

Michael Whitehead, head coach but we’ll have a good group of kids again… My assistants know what needs to be done and it’s working pretty smooth.

Q: You surprised a few people last year, can it be done again?

A: We lost a lot 26 seniors and we only have one official starter on offense back that started in the district final.

We have three on defense that started. We have to replace again; it’s what we’re used to every year. It’s the seniors’ opportunity to put their stamp on the pro-

gram. It should be interesting.

Q: Do you have the guys to fill in?

A: I think we do. Some positions are stronger than others. I think we have a real good amount of depth on the offensive line and defensive lines. We just have to get the right guys in the right spots, that’s going to be the key here in the first weeks of practice.

There’s concerns with some of the skill positions, just in terms of quality of depth.

We have guys we just have to make sure we get the right guys in the right spots.

2014 schedule

D14 • The Sentinel

Aug. 29 Sept. 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

Q: You had some rare continuity in the backfield the last couple years, but not now.

A: We had some guys that played, but even last year Tyler (Heisey), it was sort of like his first year and he had a great year. (Tyler) Updegraff was there, we had a new quarterback and we had the linemen last year. It’s a little bit easier when you have the line. But I think we had some linemen that experienced last year that are going to make our backs look good, I hope.

vs. Spring Grove at Central York at Bishop McDevitt vs. Harrisburg at CD East vs. Carlisle at Mifflin County vs. Central Dauphin vs. State College at Chambersburg

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Cumberland Valley head coach Michael Whitehead.

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Cumberland Valley

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A

The Sentinel • D15

Tim Spinelli, senior, RB/LB

Tim Spinelli is one of just four returning starters for the Eagles. The senior was a key cog in the linebacker core that gave opposing offenses fits and came away with key stops in big moments throughout the season. Now it’s his time to be a lead guy in the backfield as well, after spending 2013 spelling the duo of Tyler Heisey and Tyler Updegraff.

Q: Defensively, who do you have returning?

A: Three guys in total, linebacker, defensive tackle and corner.

Q: What’s that like having so much turnover?

A: Some of the guys, they have game experience, but I’m not worried with linebackers. We should be fine there. Corners is another issue, everyone was seniors besides one coming back.

Up front we have one DT returning, he’s going to be good, Brad Hanshaw. But besides that there’s gaps to be fill and we need somebody to step up.

Inside the huddle

Q: You guys had an ability to make some big plays at critical moments last year, where did that come from?

A: Because that defense was just the same one from the year before and our previous playoff run ended badly losing to Harrisburg, we did not want to end up giving up 48 points.

Q: Where’s the motivation coming from this year?

A: This year, get that district title this time.

Q: What was that playoff run like last year?

A: It was very emotional, we were going for No. 13 and we were right there.

CUMBERLAND VALLEY EAGLES

Head coach: Michael Whitehead, 2nd season (11-3) Stadium: Harry Chapman Field (grass) Colors: Red/White Classification: AAAA Division: Mid-Penn Commonwealth Offensive formation: Multiple Wing-T Defensive formation: 4-4 2013 season: 11-3 (6-1) Postseason: Lost to Lower Dauphin in the District 3-AAAA championship, 24-21

RETURNING LEADERS

Rushing Tim Spinelli Receiving Connor Long

Att 36 Rec 10

Yards Avg 187 5.2 Yards Avg 131 13.1

TD 2 TD 0

Key players lost: Tyler Updegraff, RB; Tyler Heisey, RB; CHris Galbraith, QB; Brent Wagner, C; Zach Rohland.

Returning offensive starters (1): Connor Williams, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (3): Tim Spinelli, sr., LB; Brad Hanshaw, sr., DL; Connor Long, jr., DB/K/P. Top newcomers: Jake Hunt, sr., QB; Josh Ferguson, jr., QB/LB; Nick Rhodes, jr., RB/LB; Logan Chetaitis, sr., LB; Cole Kline, jr., LB/ RB; Deshaun Thompson sr., OL/DL; Hunter Shreffler, sr., WR/DL. Outlook: Lock and reload. That’s what Cumberland Valley does every year. And 2014 is no different.

Well, except for this unit is trying to get the bitter taste out of their mouths from last season’s heart-breaking loss in the district finals. A late uncharacteristic fumble halted a drive that may have led to a tying score (or better) in the closing seconds. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be and Lower Dauphin

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Cumberland Valley’s Tim Spinelli.

walked away with the 24-21 triumph. Michael Whitehead’s squad is chomping at the bit to get what they feel should be there’s, another district title. And the four that started last year — Tim Spinelli, Connor Long, Brad Hanshaw and Connor Williams — are the quartet to watch lead that charge.

Spinelli finally gets a shot to be a workhorse in the backfield, after spending last season as the primary backup behind Tyler Heisey, the thunder of that Tyler duo. He showed some big-play potential with a yards-per-carry average of 5.19, behind only Tyler Updegraff among rushers with 35-plus touches. Primarily a fullback, Spinelli will be joined by a host of rushers that should compliment him well. And if that offensive line can stay healthy this season — the Tyler Show did its damage behind a patchwork line all season — the sky’s the limit. Spinelli feels the running game can be even more dangerous than in 2013, despite nearly 2,600 combined yards that walked on a stage to “Pomp and Circumstance” just a few months ago. Size has been one word thrown around to describe the line.

There’s some big boys in the trenches this year, and that makes CV even more dangerous.

The same is true on the other side of the ball.

Brad Hanshaw is back to anchor a front four that has plenty of big nasties. Hanshaw was a force a season ago, and if he takes another step Spinelli — who’s started to years at linebacker already — and his cohorts could have gaping holes to make plays in the backfield.

If things play out the way the Eagles hope, this team could be dangerous. If the lines play up to the expectations, it won’t matter who lines up elsewhere on the field. Heck, maybe we’ll suit up and get out of the office for a few carries.

THE ROSTER No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Name Yr. Austin Bush 12 Jeffry Sams 12 Robby Schweitzer 11 Will Thompson 10 Ylli Jusufi 12 Wyatt Williams 11 Josh Ferguson 11 Ridge Bachman 10 Dylan Rich 11 Chase Tillman 11 Logan Thorne 10 Jake Hunt 12 Kier Miner 11 Steve Legore 11 Jarrod Palmer 11 Adlynn Lay 10 John Tartline 12 River Young 11 Sam Horning 12 Nicholas Rhodes 11 Connor Long 11 Tanner Orner 10

Ht. Wt. Pos. 5-8 150 WR-DB 6-3 165 5-10 165 WR-DB 5-9 165 WR-LB

150 LB-QB 5-10 140 QB-DB 5-9 WR 5-11 180 QB-LB 5-11 160 RB-DB 5-9 140 5-8 145 WR-K

No. 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 49

Name Andrew Davis Ryan Wolf Darien Brutko Michael Nichols Nolan Wandling Alex Hetzel Daniel Paz Sam Chaudhari Joey Heikel Francis Duggan Cole Homovich Josiah Quigley Michael Sundy Cole Kline Tyler Sunday Tim Spinelli Hunter Shreffler A.J. Kuhn Logan Chetaitis Colby Thompson Dan Weiner Noah Hamilton

Yr. 11 12 12 11 12 10 12 11 11 09 10 10 10 11 10 12 12 11 12 11 12 11

Cumberland Valley Football 2014 Roster

Ht. Wt. Pos.

5-7 130 WR-DB 5-9 150 WR-DB 5-7 135 WR-DB 5-8 135 WR-DB

5-11 170 LB-RB 5-10 165 LB-DB 6-0 220 DB-LB 6-0 170 WR-LB 6-1 175 WR-LB 5-8 162 5-5 157 WR

No. 50 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 65 66 67 68

Name Aleberto Davis Phillip Belga Max McKenzie Ryan McEwen Jack Govern Harry Claypool Aaron Wagner Franki Cutri Jose Rodriquez Kryztoff Kovacs Eric Gerow Chris Armburst Ian Petrillo Devin Houser Shannon Dolan Bobby Webb Brad Hanshaw Brett Davis Matt McCann Chris Peters Peter Swartz Suave Carter

Yr. 12 10 12 10 12 10 10 12 12 11 10 10 11 12 11 11 12 11 12 11 11 12

Ht. Wt. Pos. 5-7 160 RB-LB 5-8 170 5-10 185 5-9 175 5-10 175

OL-DL OL-DL OL-DL OL-DL

5-7 170 RB-LB 5-11 206 5-9 180 OL-DL 5-7 208 5-8 170 OL-DL 6-0 5-10 175 OL-DL 6-0 245 OL-DL

No. 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 89 90

Name Yr. Chad Morris 11 Connor Williams 12 Ben McEldowney 10 Shane DiPietro 12 Dylan Gilbert 12 Brock Ragni 10 Cody Noss 10 Deshaun Thompson James Kodlick 11 Sam O’Connor 12 Samuel Greak 10 Kyle Toohey 12 Jayson Nevin 11 Michael Zimmerman 12 Mac Warren 11 Robert Goodrich 10 Cliff Jones 12 Dylan Davis 11 Evan Callahan 12 Isaiah Shaddock 12 Dan Althouse 11

Ht. Wt. Pos. 6-1 240 OL-DL 5-11 288 OL-DL 5-10 215 OL-DL 12 6-3 262 DL 6-3 175 Ol-DL 6-2 5-11 155 WR-DL 6-3 225 WR-DL 6-2 170 WR-DL 5-9 150 WR-DL 5-11 165 WR-DL

D16 • The Sentinel

East Pennsboro

Friday, August 29, 2014

East Pennsboro Panthers Head coach: Todd Stuter 2013 record: 7-3 (5-2)

THE BIG QUESTION Can they make up for all the seniors they lost from last year?

Last year they had 20 returning seniors. Last year they had 15 returning starters. This is not last year.

Just three starters return and all three play on both sides of the ball — Amir Mundy, Tanner Snedeker and Carter Johnson. Whereas last year Snedeker was a bookend on an offensive line that featured four starting seniors, this year he’ll be the one doing the mentoring. He’ll have to do it quickly, because that line helped departed tailback Garrett Stuter and company ground out 5.91 yards a carry. Without a for-sure bell cow behind them it’ll be up to that line to create time and space for Connor Yoder, who brings back the most experience at RB, and Tyler Stahlman, who will likely be the starter under center.

Defensively, it’ll be tough to live up to the 14 points per game the Panthers allowed last season. But if they can come close, and those returning seniors can bring everyone up to speed quickly, they can keep the drop-off to a minimum.

That’s the key, keep the drop-off to a minimum. If they can do that, this team could get back right around 7-3 for a third straight season.

Samuel Getty/For The Sentinel

Above: The East Pennsboro football team cheers on the girl’s cross country team as they pass by the pracatice field.

Bottom right: Wide receiver Amir Mundy.

Bottom left: East Pennsboro football players work on tackling drills.

Left: Running back Bryton Fegley.

Above left: Quarterback Tyler Stahlman.

East Pennsboro

Friday, August 29, 2014

The Sentinel • D17

THE ROSTER

Samuel Getty/For The Sentinel

Above from left: Quarterback Tyler Stahlman, wide receiver Amir Mundy, running back Bryton Fegley.

Right: East Pennsboro coach Todd Stuter during preseason football pracatice.

Inside the huddle EAST PENNSBORO PANTHERS

Head coach: Todd Stuter, 18th season (9470) Assistants: Dave Borrell (Offensive coordinator); Joe Shermeyer (Defensive coordinator); Tom Couch (OL); Ted Matter (DL); Greg Campbell (DE).

Stadium: George Saxon Field (grass) Colors: Black/Orange Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Capital Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-3 2013 season: 7-3 (5-2) Postseason: Did not qualify Passing

RETURNING LEADERS Comp Att TD

Yards

Tyler Stahlman 6 Rushing Att Connor Yoder 31 Receiving Rec Amir Mundy 18

9 2 Yards Avg 169 5.5 Yards Avg 256 14.2

99 TD 3 TD 3

Key players lost: John Linnehan (OL); Garrett Stuter (RB/LB); Nick Guida (WR); Ryan Turpin (WR/DB); Ben Bischof (OL/LB).

Returning offensive starters (3): Amir Mundy, sr., WR; Tanner Snedecker, sr., OL; Carter Johnson, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (3): Amir Mundy, sr., DB; Tanner Snedecker, sr., DL; Carter Johnson, sr., LB. Outlook: Is this season a rebuilding or a retooling season? We’ll find out soon enough. East Pennsboro doesn’t have the fortune of returning nearly 75 percent of its starters like it did

entering 2013. Instead they’ll have to do it with just 14 percent. That would be three — technically six if you count Amir Mundy, Tanner Snedecker and Carter Johnson as two starters apiece for playing both sides of the ball.

This may be one of the most intriguing teams in the Mid-Penn heading into Friday’s season opener. They’re coming off back-to-back 73 campaigns that left them a hair out of the postseason both times. And that isn’t typical Panthers fashion. They want back in but their work will be cut out for them.

Not that they can’t do it, mind you. Connor Yoder is the lead rusher coming back, having blown by defenses for a brisk 5.45 yards a touch on just 31 carries. He won’t have the same experienced line his departed backfield mate, Garrett Stuter, had, but he’s shown promise. Amir Mundy was third on the team

in receptions, receiving yards and receiving scores, so that’s a good weapon to have back as well. And that’ll help senior quarterback, and likely starter, Tyler Stahlman. Stahlman lost a training camp battle last summer to Josh Stambaugh. And Stambaugh tossed for 1,311 yards and 16 TDs with a completion percentage of 56.3 percent. So he lost to good competition. Can he match that? We’ll see.

Defensively there’s plenty of questions. Can they replace the departed starters? Can they do it quickly? Can they perform close to the 140 points they allowed a season ago? If they accomplish the first two quickly, that third question may be more attainable. That was a solid defense in 2013, so there’s some big shoes to fill.

No. 1 2 5 7 10 11 12 13 15 17 20 21 22 24 27 29 30 31 32 34 35 36 40 42 44 50 51 53 54 55 56 60 61 62 63 64 65 67 70 71 72 73 74 75 77 80 81 82 83 84 85 88

East Pennsboro Football 2014 Roster Name Yr Ht. Wt. Pos. Amir Mundy 12 6-2 185 WR-DB Erik Trostle 12 5-9 140 WR-DB David Stepanyan 12 6-1 170 WR-DB Kyron Dennis 11 6-1 205 WR-DL Jacob Stevens 10 5-7 130 WR-DB Dillon Stuter 10 5-8 185 WR-LB Adam Orr 10 5-11 130 QB-DB Kyle Purnell 11 5-10 150 QB-DB Tyler Stahlman 12 5-11 175 QB-DB Thomas Bonebrake 11 5-11 160 WR-DB Michael Franklin 10 5-7 175 RB-LB Dylan Doan 11 5-5 155 WR-DB Bryton Fegley 12 5-9 205 RB-LB Dylan Pentz 10 5-8 125 WR-DB Jake DeCinti 11 5-10 160 RB-DB Michael Neiman 10 5-9 135 WR-DB Hunter Sundy 10 5-8 145 WR-DB Dakota Snedeker 12 5-9 145 WR-DB Matthew Danner 10 5-9 165 RB-LB Owassa McDaniel 12 5-8 140 WR-DB Erik Thorton 11 5-5 185 RB-LB Zachary Mong 11 5-9 160 RB-LB Tavin Kuykendall 10 5-9 140 WR-DB Logan Poticher 11 5-7 175 RB-LB Stian Olsen 12 6-0 190 WR-DL Shay Stuter 12 5-9 185 OL-DL Eddie Mack 12 5-9 210 OL-DL Mikko Filio 11 5-8 200 OL-LB Carter Johnson 12 6-0 240 OL-LB John Killeen 12 6-2 260 OL-DL Nathan Putt 11 5-11 180 OL-LB Connor Killeen 10 6-0 225 OL-DL Wesley Purdue-Hogben 12 5-10 220 OL-DL Collin Fink 10 5-8 220 OL-DL Zack Hagelston 10 5-9 135 OL-DL Hunter Reynolds 10 5-11 190 OL-DL Austin Reynolds 10 5-10 165 OL-DL Owen Urigire 10 5-9 220 OL-DL Derek Alvarado 10 6-1 280 OL-DL Zachary Umholtz 10 6-0 210 OL-DL Trevor Strayer 11 5-9 180 OL-DL Seth Radabaugh 10 5-8 175 OL-DL Tanner Snedeker 12 6-3 235 OL-DL Trent Fries 9 6-1 190 OL-LB Christian Bogans 12 6-0 230 OL-DL Tyler Mason 10 6-0 180 WR-DB Justin Gieseler 11 6-2 155 WR-DB Matthew Dunkelberger 11 6-1 190 WR-DL Zachary Wertz 11 5-11 180 WR-LB James Mitchell 12 6-1 185 WR-DL William Spicher 11 5-11 170 WR-DL Robert Copp 10 6-1 165 WR-DL

Mechanicsburg Wildcats Head coach: Chris Hakel 2013 record: 5-5 (2-5)

THE BIG QUESTION Can the defense do enough?

Coach Chris Hakel wouldn’t pin all of the defense’s struggles — they allowed 30.5 points per game in 2013 — on the defense alone when he spoke after a practice, citing some poor field position when his electric offense didn’t find the endzone. But that doesn’t mean that the defense didn’t have problems.

Thankfully for Mechanicsburg, they return six starters from that defense, including some studs at linebacker in Adam Trump and Takeno Scales in the 4-4. That experience could go a long way this season. It’s a do-or-die year for a Wildcats squad that finished fractions of a point out of the District 3-AAAA tournament last year and makes its debut in 3-AAA, with 13 starters returning overall.

The offense will do its part. Quarterback Tyler Schubert, running back Shyheim Brown, Coke and others will score points in bunches. So it’ll be up to this defense to give them some breathing room, not keep pace with the offense.

The coaching staff has been preaching intensity this summer, and defenders run to the ball at the end of every play. Brown should be one of a few DBs who go after the ball. Turnovers and intensity are the mantras. And this year, it’ll work.

Expect a much improved unit.

expect

more Only 20 minutes frOm Carlisle

Mechanicsburg

Q&A A former Mechanicsburg quarterback, coach Chris Hakel knows a thing or two about tossing the pigskin.

Clearly he’s passed on a few good traits, as current signal caller Tyler Schubert returns with a loaded receiving core ready to throw darts past the opposition once again.

Q : T h e o f fe n s e c a n score, but what about the defense this year?

A: There’s things that we need to do to get better, and I think that we have the personnel to be able to do certain things this year. We made

Friday, August 29, 2014

Chris Hakel, head coach some improvements, I think, on our defense. But collectively, I think we just have to play as a team, play responsibility football, know what our jobs are, do our assignments and take care of adversity when it strikes. But I wouldn’t say that the defense didn’t have our back, because playing defense is as much about the offense and where you leave the ball for the defense.

Q: What do you expect from the guys that now have to replace Swahneek Brown?

A: It’s the next person up.

He got hurt a little bit last year and he needed a spell on offense and there were other guys that had an opportunity. We got plenty of skill guys that are pushing each other to fight for that one spot. So I’m not concerned about filling that hole, because like I said, there’s somebody there to step up. But, again, we just have to continue to build on what we did last year and continue to improve. I thought we did pretty well offensively, but there was still a lot of plays that we left on the field, a lot of mistakes.

2014 schedule

D18 • The Sentinel

Q: You’re dropping down to AAA but that doesn’t mean any easier time getting to the playoffs.

A: You can’t get worried about that, I don’t worry about that stuff. You have a certain schedule that you have to play and you have to take care of the things on that schedule… (Carlisle) is a good first test for us. But like I said, you can’t look down the road. You have to take care of each week as it presents itself, because if you get to busy looking forward you wind up getting bit.

Aug. 29 Sept. 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

vs. Carlisle 7 p.m. at Spring Grove 7 p.m. vs. Northern 7 p.m. vs. Bishop McDevitt 7 p.m. at Shippensburg 7 p.m. at Cedar Cliff 7 p.m. vs. Lower Dauphin 7 p.m. vs. Red Land 7 p.m. at Susquehanna Twp. 7 p.m. at Hershey 7 p.m.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Mechanicsburg head coach Chris Hakel.

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Mechanicsburg

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A

Tyler Schubert, senior, QB/DB

It feels like it’s been four years, doesn’t it? Well, it has.

For Tyler Schubert and most of the skill players in the Wildcats’ high-octane offense, it’s been a fun run thus far. Now, in his senior year and last behind center in the maroon and white, Schubert wants that elusive playoff berth.

Q: You’ve been doing this quarterback thing a little bit. Feeling comfortable?

A: I kind of love it because you can control the game, you don’t have to worry, ‘Am I going in this series or next series?’ So it just felt good to have complete control over it and just go with the flow.

Q: You had some weapons you could use last year.

A: Swahneek’s going to IUP but we return everyone else.

He’s the only skill guy on offense we lose, so we have Jeray Anderson who is a guy to look for, Takeno Scales, Breon Coke, Shyheim obviously.

Q: How’s it feel having so many options at your disposal?

A: It’s awesome. You just throw the ball anywhere and they’ll go get it. We’ve looked really good at 7-on7’s with those guys. They have great hands so it’s a lot of fun playing quarterback

with those guys.

Been right on the fringe of playoffs, what about this year?

A: Obviously you want to do the playoffs, but honestly this year it’s really focusing on one game at a time.

One of our coaches at team camp said every game is a big game, and that’s how we’re going to treat it this year.

Q: You’ve been in quite a few close games. What goes into the mindset to deal with that?

A: I think it’s starting the game strong and coming out fast, but we have a tendency the last two years: we’ll start really strong then second and third quarter are off and then fourth quarter well come back. I think a lot of it has to do with being focused the whole game and I think were already doing a lot better with that this year already.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

Mechanicsburg’s Tyler Schubert.

Inside the huddle MECHANICSBURG WILDCATS

Head coach: Chris Hakel, 7th season (32-33) Stadium: John H. Frederick Field at Memorial Park (turf) Colors: Maroon/Silver Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Keystone Offensive formation: Multiple Defensive formation: 4-4 2013 season: 5-5 (2-5) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Tyler Schubert Rushing Shyheim Brown

Comp Att TD 134 256 20 Att Yards Avg 168 968 5.8

The Sentinel • D19

Yards 2,001 TD 9

Receiving Rec Yards Avg. TD Shyheim Brown 23 275 12.0 3 Key players lost: Swahneek Brown (WR).

Returning offensive starters (7): Tyler Schubert, sr., QB; Shyheim Brown, jr., RB; Breon Coke, sr., TE; Jeray Anderson, TE; Takeno Scales, sr., WR; Kysheem Johnson, sr., OL; Jeremy Kirk, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (6): Shyheim Brown, jr., DB; Adam Trump, sr., LB; Breon Coke, sr., OLB; Takeno Scales, sr., DB; Kysheem Johnson, sr., LB; Jeremy Kirk, sr., DL. Top newcomers: n/a Outlook: Everyone knows about the offense.

Tyler Schubert and his 2,001 yards and 20 touchdowns returns for one last run, looking to

make the postseason again after missing out by a hair a season ago. It won’t be easy; the Wildcats have dropped down to AAA and will have to finish much better than 5-5 to sniff the district playoffs.

The road will be a little rougher for Schubert, however. Gone is Swahneek Brown, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania-bound wideout had 44 receptions, 808 yards and 15 TDs a season ago. But back are Jeray Anderson, Takeno Scales, little brother Shyheim Brown and Breon Coke, who hauled in a combined 85 passes for 1,183 yards and five scores.

Shyheim should eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau after coming up 32 yards short a season ago. This offense is loaded and will be plenty of fun to watch.

The defense, however, will have to keep up.

While Schubert and company averaged 27.9 points a game, the defense allowed 30.5. That didn’t help in the win column. Adam Trump and Kysheem Johnson are back in the heart of the defense to do what they do best: swallow up ball carriers. The coaching staff is emphasizing finishing every play, and TE/LB Breon Coke said he expects more turnovers in 2014.

That would certainly help.

Perennial power Bishop McDevitt awaits on Sept. 19. It could be a huge barometer for Mechanicsburg, especially at home. Barring injury, the offense will be right back where it left off a season ago, but that game could be a statement game on both sides of the ball.

THE ROSTER No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 27 28 30 32 33 35 40 42 43 44 49 50 51 53 55 58 60 62 63 64 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 84 85 87 88 89 90 91 92 94 96 99

Mechanicsburg Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Rhashan Scales 11 5-7 140 WR-DB Shyheim Brown 11 5-8 160 RB-DB Breon Coke 12 6-1 215 WR-LB Takeno Scales 12 6-1 185 WR-DB Seth Oriel 12 5-9 150 WR-DB Tyshawn Barnes 11 6-0 175 WR-DB Jeray Anderson 11 5-8 140 WR-DB Rhashad Scales 11 5-7 140 WR-DB Tyler Schubert 12 6-2 200 QB-DB Matthew Barber 12 6-0 195 K Zach Brougher 12 5-11 185 WR-LB Daquan Edmundson

5-7 145 RB-LB Michael Beatty 11 5-10 145 WR-DB Tommy Marlin 12 6-2 185 WR-DB Jaryn Ruth 11 5-10 140 QB-DB Keenan Huss 12 6-0 170 QB-LB Sam MacDonald 10 5-10 150 WR-DB Zak Huth 10 5-6 155 RB-LB Nick Magaro 12 5-9 165 WR-DB Uriah Waters

5-8 135 WR-DB Adam Trump

6-0 205 RB-LB Brendan Wewer 11 5-9 190 RB-LB Colton Lame 9 5-3 110 WR-DB Jonathan Vega 12 5-8 165 RB-LB Austin Jones 11 5-7 150 RB-LB Elijah Strawbridge 11 5-8 155 RB-LB Michael Humes 10 5-11 180 RB-LB Jordan Cruz 9 5-5 110 RB-DB Gaige Zettlemoyer 11 6-3 240 WR-DL Montana Dunn 12 6-1 185 RB-LB Ahmed Usman

5-11 165 WR-LB Syncere Jackson

5-11 160 WR-LB Isaiah Strawbridge

5-8 130 RB-LB Kysheem Johnson 12 6-0 210 OL-DL Hudson Onkst 9 5-7 180 OL-LB Logan Spiewak 10 5-11 180 OL-DL Salah Salah 12

5-11 165 OL-LB Kenyatta Henry 10 6-0 210 OL-DL Matt Stare 10 5-6 235 OL-DL Holden Malone 10 5-10 240 OL-DL Jackson Druck 11 6-0 195 OL-LB Maurice Pearson 11 5-7 265 OL-LB Steven Warner 9 5-7 195 OL-DL Chris Torres 10 5-8 210 OL-DL Akira Bastiany 11 6-1 230 OL-DL Tyler Hay 11 5-11 195 OL-DL Thomas Heenan 12 6-1 250 OL-DL Jack Wilgus 9 5-6 200 OL-DL Caden Alexander-Gray 9 6-1 255 OL-DL Jack Sheaffer 10 6-0 330 OL-DL Sean Fox 11 6-5 310 Ol-DL Andrew Smith 10 5-10 210 OL-DL Adam Casper 9 6-3 180 OL-LB Ben Wasson 12 6-0 235 OL-DL Jeremy Kirk 12 6-1 240 OL-DL Eugene Rodgers 11 5-11 185 OL-DL Emmaunel Blakemore 11 5-10 185 WR-LB Jalen Johnson 11 5-6 135 WR-DB Octavius Langston 11 6-0 185 WR-LB James Shyrock 9 5-9 140 WR-DB Jimmmy Karagiannis 10 5-7 125 WR-DB Dawson Moyer 9 5-9 180 WR-LB Kasean Edmundson

6-1 145 WR-LB Daiquan Green

5-11 130 WR-LB Arif Adulwahab 10 6-0 175 WR-DB Andrew Zeigler 10 6-0 175 WR-DB Cain Fullerton 9 6-2 190 WR-LB Jermaine Hull 9 6-1 155 WR-DB Justin Stine 9 5-7 155 QB-LB Dustin Rodriquezz 9 5-6 140 WR-LB Dylan Smith 9 5-11 140 QB-DB David Thomson

5-11 175 WR-LB

Northern

D20 • The Sentinel

Northern Polar Bears Head coach: Garrett Mowery 2013 record: 3-7 (2-5)

THE BIG QUESTION

Q&A

Friday, August 29, 2014

Garrett Mowery, head coach

I n h i s se co n d yea r i n charge, Garrett Mowery has a much more stable program at Northern. He still needs to do some coaching though, as the Polar Bears once again lost a good amount of experience to graduation, but after last year, that should be business as usual.

Q: How does it feel to be in Year 2?

A: Good. A lot more comfortable, both me and the

kids. They kind of know what to expect and we have our routine down. We kind of have our format for practices and everything. So it’s been a lot easier.

Q: What’s different about this year’s team vs. last year?

A: What’s different this year is, last year, we played a lot of young guys,

experience-wise. They were seniors, but they were starting for the first time. This year, we’re playing a lot of young players that are truly sophomores and juniors.

We think we have some good depth and we have good numbers in those classes, but they’re young.

Q: Is this year shap-

ing up to be a building year more than a polishing year?

A: I think we still have to get into games and get the experience, but I do expect us to have a better year than we did last year. Even with the young guys, I just think it’s a pretty talented young group. We’re not going to be the cream of the crop, but I think we’re going to be better than 3-7.

A year ago, it was up to a huge group of inexperienced players to step up and be the guy at their individual positions for Northern. That’s what happens when you lose a huge class of seniors. Unfortunately for the Polar Bears, seniors graduate every year, and most of those replacements from last season were again seniors, leaving them in the same tough spot again.

Luckily for coach Garrett Mowery, this year’s senior class isn’t as big, meaning there will be returning starters taking to the turf at Bostic Field the next few years. But right now that means that underclassmen with limited experience have to take over. The junior and sophomore classes are both large, and reportedly have some talent buried in there as well. Just how quickly that talent starts showing up will determine how much improvement the Polar Bears make in Mowery’s second season.

Game action makes a player grow up much faster than the time spent in practice, and these youngsters will see a bunch of it, so don’t be surprised if Northern becomes a much better team in the second half of the season.

2014 schedule

How quickly can the underclassmen grow?

Aug. 29 Sept. 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

vs. Susquehannock 7 p.m. vs. Middletown 7 p.m. at Mechanicsburg 7 p.m. at James Buchanan 7 p.m. vs. Waynesboro 7 p.m. vs. Big Spring 7 p.m. at Shippensburg 7 p.m. vs. Greencastle-Antrim 7 p.m. vs. Lower Dauphin 7 p.m. at East Pennsboro 7 p.m.

Curt Werner/For The Sentinel

Cedar Cliff head coach Garrett Mowery.

We are proud to support our local athletes!

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Northern

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Like many of his teammates, Mike Kearney didn’t get the bulk of playing time in 2013. Also like most of his teammates, he will be counted on to step up this year to fill the void left by the graduating class. That’s a tall task, but one that the junior is prepared to tackle head-on.

Q: How is this year shaping up so far?

A: Things are going good.

We have a lot of new guys.

We have a lot of sophomores, a lot of good sophomores and juniors that are really stepping up in a lot of places for us. I think we’re really showing a lot of chemistry and everything. We’re looking good.

Q: What is your outlook for this season?

A: We definitely have a lot of depth, a lot of really good sophomores and stuff. We’re fast too. I think we look pretty good. I think we’ll be good, as long as we keep working, getting better at the little stuff.

Q: How is everyone reacting to the second year of a spread offense?

Mike Kearney, junior, RB/DB A: We’re running more now. We do a little more twoback, because we realized we needed that. But we’re still definitely a spread offense, throwing the ball around. We like it. We feel like we have the speed to do it.

Q: How will the defense match up in the smashmouth Colonial?

A: We just need to be physical. Make our tackles, know your spot and get the leverage on the player.

Curt Werner/For The Sentinel

Northern’s Mike Kearney.

Inside the huddle NORTHERN POLAR BEARS

Head coach: Garrett Mowery, 2nd season (3-7) Assistants: Bill Miller (defensive coordinator); Corey Poulson (OL/DL); Pat Hicks (RB/LB); Craig Moose (Special teams)); Marty Green (OL/DL).

Stadium: Bostic Field (Grass) Colors: Purple/White Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Colonial Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-3 2013 season: 3-7 (2-5) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Justin Markle Rushing Sam Geiser Receiving Robert Shelly

Comp Att TD 29 68 2 Att Yards Avg 129 659 5.1 Rec Yards Avg 10 143 14.3

Yards 373 TD 3 TD 1

The Sentinel • D21

Key players lost: Richard Settle (RB/LB); Colton Baxter (WR/DB); Matt Bellan (OL/DL); Zech Ingram (RB/DB; transfer); Luke Lynes (QB); Terelle Hicks (RB/DB).

Returning offensive starters (3): Sam Geiser, sr., RB; Bobby Shelly, jr., RB; Tyler Craig, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (2): Hayden Miller, sr., DL; Bobby Shelly, jr., LB/DL. Top newcomers: Mike Kearney, jr., RB/WR/ DB; Curtis Robison, so., QB/DB; Isaiah Horning, jr., WR/DL; Owen Bloschok, jr., OL/DL; Cale Walker, jr., OL; LB. Outlook: There were some growing pains in Dillsburg a year ago, but that’s bound to happen when a team loses all but two starters to graduation, as well as a longtime coach. Northern was competitive at points under first-year coach Garrett Mowery, but that competitiveness wasn’t as consistent as it needed to be, as the Polar Bears fell to 3-7 on the year. With the squad losing so much from its 2012 team, it meant that replacements — even seniors

— weren’t rugged veterans. For this year, that means many of those replacements aren’t even here anymore. With only a few starters back on each side of the ball, Northern finds itself in a familiar predicament of getting fresh faces ready to tackle the brutal Colonial Division.

What Mowery likes in his second year is that everyone is much more comfortable. That in itself should lead to an improvement, as even though there are plenty of kids getting ready to hit the field for meaningful snaps for the first time, they won’t also be dealing with the intricacies of a new coach at the same time. The Polar Bears are also excited about the kind of talent and depth they’ll have on this year’s team, and the fact that a lot of that comes from the junior and sophomore classes has the program confident in the future.

But that’s still the future. This year, you might see Northern get back to its roots of running the ball a bit. Leading rusher Sam Geiser returns, as does Bobby Shelly, who promises to run the ball more than 16 times this season

after moving into a more permanent role in the backfield. Mowery will keep the ideals of his spread offense intact, and many on the team feel they have the speed and quickness to take advantage of the “get the ball in space” theory. The quarterback position has been a battle since the spring between Justin Markle — who was the backup a year ago and tossed up 68 passes — and sophomore Curtis Robison. Both passers got equal reps, and Mowery seemed positive either could run the offense.

Whoever wins that battle will have to find some new targets though. With Shelly moving to a full-time running back, those that are back outside bring with them fewer than 10 catches from a year ago.

The loss of all-Mid-Penn linebacker Richard Settle will be tough on the defense, but threeyear starter Hayden Miller will provide the bulk up front, and Shelly will be leaned on to help lead the linebacking corps. Elsewhere, those sophomores and juniors will have to step up to fill the gaps.

THE ROSTER No. 2 5 6 7 8 10 11 14 17 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 32 38 40 43 44 45 46 47 48 50 52 53 54 55 56 57 59 62 64 65 66 68 70 72 75 78 79 81 83 84 86 88 89 93

Northern Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Josh Fekete 10 5-10 150 WR-DB Hunter Hrinda 10 5-9 145 RB-LB Ryan Evans 10 5-10 155 RB-DB Ray Avila 11 5-9 150 WR-DB Isaiah Horning 11 6-4 215 WR-DB Josh Barrett 10 5-11 150 QB-DB Aiden Alves 10 5-10 157 K Justin Markle 11 5-10 160 QB-DB Curtis Robinson 10 6-0 180 QB-DB Mike Kearney 11 5-9 160 WR-DB Jordyn Rider 12 5-10 175 RB-LB Andrew Swaisgood 11 5-10 150 WR-DB Sam Geiser 12 5-9 175 RB-LB John Kearney 10 5-7 125 WR-DB Etahn Bell 12 5-10 160 WR-DB Jake Cromer 11 5-8 155 WR-DB Alex Van Horn 10 5-10 175 WR-DB Dylan Baxter 10 6-0 155 WR-DB Bobby Shelly 11 6-0 190 RB-LB Ryan Reichert 12 5-7 130 RB-DB Bruce Naylor 11 5-8 170 WR-LB Hayden Miller 12 5-1 250 OL-DL Jack Kennedy 10 5-8 155 RB-LB Gunnar Renninger 11 5-9 170 RB-LB Austin Myers 10 5-6 180 OL-DL Jordan Eutzy 11 5-9 175 RB-DL Alex Hobson 10 5-10 180 OL-DL Jordan Brown 12 6-2 220 OL-DL Tyler Sedor 10 5-6 250 OL-DL Austin Miller 11 6-2 210 OL-DL Kyle Goss 10 5-8 220 OL-DL Devin Reed 11 5-8 190 OL-LB Cale Walker 11 5-9 200 OL-LB Dylan Spanier 10 5-8 160 OL-LB Austin Wenger 10 6-0 170 OL-LB Aaron Deitrich 10 6-0 180 OL-DL Jake Myers 12 6-1 270 OL-DL Ryen Smentkowski 11 5-10 205 OL-DL Owen Blaschak 11 5-9 230 OL-DL Caleb Smith 10 5-9 180 OL-DL Martin Olivares 11 6-1 240 OL-DL Tyler Cashamn 10 5-8 205 OL-DL Sean Donaldson 11 5-8 210 OL-DL Trevor Morris 11 5-10 240 OL-DL Michael Ellifritz 12 5-10 250 OL-DL Dominik Topper 10 6-2 165 WR-LB Jared Sutch 10 5-11 175 WR-LB Devin PRessel 10 5-6 130 WR-DB Zach Shanahan 12 5-10 160 WR-DB Marquez Zech 11 5-10 170 WR-DL Joey Razzano 10 6-2 170 WR-DL Thomas Salada Jr. 10 5-9 245 OL-DL

Red Land Patriots Head coach: Chad Weaver 2013 record: 4-6 (2-5)

THE BIG QUESTION How will Garrett Scott handle being THE guy?

Back in 2011, it didn’t take many games to realize that sophomore John Ford was going to be a star. Even then, he had the ability to take over a game with his legs. Eventually Red Land’s opponents caught up, and for the next two-plus years, keyed on Ford.

For the first time since his talents were first discovered, Patriots opponent will have to prep for someone else. Maybe an underclassman steps up to fill the void right away, but at this point, it looks like quarterback Garrett Scott will be the guy as Red Land moves to more of a spread attack. The senior has a full year starting under his belt, and considerable time from his sophomore year as well.

With a group of receivers that have a combination of veteran experience and youthful talent, Scott will have weapons at his disposal. He’ll be putting the ball up a fair bit more than he has in the past, and a lot of the pressure of carrying the offense will be on his shoulders. He doesn’t have to end up a league all-star, but he could lead his team back to the postseason. With his experience and progression as a passer and a leader, though, the Patriots’ offense should end up being fine.

Red Land

Q&A Stuck in what seems like an ever-improving Keystone Division, Red Land has been a bit stagnant. Coach Chad Weaver’s team also has to deal with the loss of John Ford, but he feels like they have the experience, and have been putting in the work, to start moving upward.

Q: What’s it going to be like to see Red Land with-

Friday, August 29, 2014

Chad Weaver, head coach out John Ford?

A: That seems to be everyone’s question. Obviously, John had some talent that he could make some plays out of nothing, but we have some kids that can certainly do just as much, and I think will do just as well, so I’m kind of excited to see what they can do. We have to turn the page on a new year and go from there.

Q: Will we see some more balance out of the offense?

A: Yeah. We’ll still probably be more of a run-dominant team. Up front, we have some guys who are returning, so I think we’re more geared toward that, but we certainly have some guys that can throw the ball and can catch the ball, so if we can keep more of a balance, it

2014 schedule

D22 • The Sentinel

Aug. 29 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

will be advantageous for us.

Q: How have the last few years helped grow the program?

A: That’s what we’re trying to get to, the upper part of our division, and stay there. We certainly started this year, putting in the time.

A lot of little things that will hopefully transfer onto the field, and hopefully that happens.

at York Suburban 7 p.m. vs. Carlisle 7 p.m. at Dover 7 p.m. at Hershey 7 p.m. vs. Susquehanna Twp. 7 p.m. at Lower Dauphin 7 p.m. vs. Big Spring 7 p.m. at Mechanicsburg 7 p.m. vs. Bishop McDevitt 7 p.m. vs. Cedar Cliff 7 p.m.

Nancy Zimmerman/For The Sentinel

Red Land head coach Chad Weaver.

Red Land

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Zach Rollman, senior, OL/DL Zach Rollman is one of a number of offensive linemen coming back with experience for Red Land. That’s a good thing, since the running backs behind them will be green.

On defense, he’s the only one back up front. On both sides of the ball, the senior will be tasked with bringing along the youngsters so the Patriots can get back to contention.

Q: The offensive line is supposed to be one of your team’s strengths

this year. How does it feel to have that pressure?

A: I have confidence in our guys. We have three players on the offensive line who have a lot of experience coming back. The other two spots, there’s a lot of kids who are out that can fill in and do a good job for us.

They’re all competing.

Q: With fresh running backs behind you, the offensive line will have to step up. Can that happen?

A: We have a lot of good athletes that are going out for running back right now, so we should be fine.

Q: Defensively, what have you seen that gives you confidence for the season?

A: There isn’t as much experience coming back on defense like we have coming back on offense, but we still have a lot of athletes out there who can fill in for us in those spots. So we feel pretty good about it.

Nancy Zimmerman/For The Sentinel

Red Land players go through agility drills during practice.

Inside the huddle RED LAND PATRIOTS

Head coach: Chad Weaver, 4th season (1717) Assistants: Tom Peifer (offensive coordinator); David Payne (OL/DL); John Weaver (WR/ DL); Scott Acri (RB/LB); Chris Ott (WR/DB); Brendan Brown (RB/LB); Spencer Gay (WR/ DB); Scott Cawthern (OL/DL); Tyler Hubbard (OL/DL).

Stadium: West Shore Stadium (Turf) Colors: Red/Blue Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Keystone Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-3 2013 season: 4-6 (2-5) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Comp Att TD Garrett Scott 52 87 10 Rushing Att Yards Avg Justin Johnson 18 115 6.4 Receiving Rec Yards Avg Phil Overton 20 340 17.0

Yards 729 TD 1 TD 4

Key players lost: John Ford (RB/DB); Connor Parson (RB/LB); Nate Payne (TE/DL); Matt Shope (WR/DB); RJ Fisher (OL/DL); Logan Auxer (OL/DL).

Returning offensive starters (6): Garrett Scott, sr., QB; Phil Overton, sr., WR; Zach Rollman, sr., OL; Tyler Hodges, sr., TE; Drew Speicher, sr., OL; Brandon Seitz, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (5): Zach Rollman, sr., DL; Tyler Hodges, sr., LB; Jeremy Fisher, sr., LB, Phil Overton, sr., DB; Kyle Mowery, sr., DB. Top newcomers: Hunter Briner, so., WR/QB/ DB; Brayden Coe, so., OL/DL; Derek Cline, jr., RB/LB; Kyle Campbell, jr., WR/DB; Wes Brantner, jr., OL/DL. Outlook: You might have had to do a doubletake, just like we did. Yes, that says “Spread” next to the offensive formation header up there. And yes, that says “Red Land Patriots” at the top of the page. Like anything else in high school football, the Patriots are undergoing change. A big part of that is the loss of John Ford, the powerhouse running back that rumbled for nearly 1,500 yards a year ago — just about the same he did in the two years before that. But the shift to the trendy spread offense is more about what coach Chad Weaver has rather than what he doesn’t have anymore.

He assured everyone that Red Land will still run the ball, and with names like Phil Overton, Justin Johnson and Derek Cline toting the rock, they’re sure to roll up some numbers.

What Weaver is doing is putting the ball in the hands of Garrett Scott, who enters his senior campaign with plenty of experience. The signal caller got plenty of time as a sophomore, and ran the whole thing by himself a year ago.

The numbers he put up, while not incredibly impressive, were a solid improvement over 2012, and not too shabby for a team that ran the ball nearly 35 times a game. The Patriots will need to find a player that has the scoring touch of Ford, who scored just about half of his team’s 232 points, including four touchdowns on special teams. That player probably won’t be an offensive lineman, but that unit has plenty of experience coming back. Zach Rollman, Drew Speicher and Brandon Seitz all started a year ago, and the other two spots will be filled by qualified players.

The defense, while not terrible overall against an explosive division, gave up at least 20 points in nine of their 10 games. Sure, the Patriots might have to win a shootout a few times, but making stops regularly will be huge.

That starts up front, where Rollman is the only returner. Who steps up there — and how well they do — will go a long way in helping a veteran group that makes up the back seven.

Tyler Hodges will be a big piece in the middle of the defense, as he and Jeremy Fisher are back to lead the linebackers.

The Sentinel • D23

THE ROSTER No. Name Yr. 1 DIllin Wright 10 2 Tyler Hodges 12 3 Kyle Mowery 12 4 Spencer Mulhearn 10 5 Jaelyn Gaither 10 6 Justin Johnson 10 7 Steve Wherley 12 8 Cole Souders 10 9 Tristan Lauk 12 10 Hunter Briner 10 11 Garrett Scott 12 12 Neith Brennan 9 13 Josiah 10 14 Zach Silvio 9 15 Jake Radic 10 16 Jack Hertzog 9 17 Cory Donley 9 18 Phil Overton 12 19 Hunter Mixell 10 20 Jeremy Fisher 12 20 Kyle Ziegelmeier 9 21 Kyle Campbell 11 22 Nathan Stahl 10 23 Nic Greer 9 24 DeJohn Fernandez 10 25 Zac Semoff 12 26 Paul Fry 11 27 Tagir Rakhmatullin 11 28 Dakota Umphred 11 29 Tyler Freeman 10 30 Kyle Cline 9 31 Jordan Weldon 9 32 Derek Cline 11 33 Jake Rollman 11 34 Noah Parsons 10 35 Danny Tare 10 36 Bryce Strine 10 37 Dakota MacLean 9 38 Danny Bloor 9 39 Shaun Kline 9 40 David O’Brien 12 41 Bryce Smee 9 42 Palmer Rodenhaber 10 43 Armando Williamson 9

Red Land Football 2014 Roster Ht. Wt. Pos. 44 Artie Archambeault 9 5-9 135 WR-DB 45 Joe Crocenzi 9 6-2 200 WR-LB 50 Adam Kemler 9 6 170 WR-DB 51 Josh Porlier 11 5-9 150 WR-DB 52 Drew Speicher 12 5-9 165 WR-DB 53 Trenton Freeman 9 5-7 190 RB-DB 54 Luke Gardner 10 6-0 170 RB-LB 55 Rickard Tamanosky 11 5-8 140 WR-DB 56 Dylan Schroll 10 5-8 170 WR-DB 57 Jesse Hollerbush 11 6-1 175 WR-DB 57 Jacob Fox 9 6-0 180 QB-DB 58 Tristin Sowers 12 5-7 155 RB-LB 59 Mitchell Hoak 9 5-8 140 WR-DB 60 Santos De La Cruz 10 5-9 150 QB-DB 61 Gavin Fourneier 9 6-1 170 QB-DB 62 Josh Maugans 10 5-6 145 QB-DB 63 Keith Pate 9 5-6 120 WR-DB 64 Brandon Seitz 12 5-11 185 RB-DB 65 Billy Swartz 12 5-10 155 WR-DB 66 Josh McClucas 9 6-1 175 WR-LB 67 Cole Chapman 10 5-2 115 RB-DB 68 Josh Stover 10 5-10 165 WR-DB 69 Tyler Crider 9 5-11 180 RB-LB 70 Cameron Reed 9 5-3 145 RB-LB 71 Tyler Lewis 10 5-6 120 WR-DB 72 Brayden Coe 10 5-7 135 WR-DB 73 Wes Brantner 11 5-9 160 WR-DB 74 Zach Rollman 12 6-0 190 WR-LB 11 6-0 170 WR-LB 75 Ian Kline 76 Austin Brown 11 5-6 135 RB-DB 6-0 165 WR-DB 77 Mitchell Levens 11 78 Chad Stout 10 5-8 160 RB-LB 79 Andrew Foster 11 5-10 210 RB-LB 9 6-0 170 WR-DB 80 Troy Kraynak 81 Justin Bugey 11 5-9 180 RB-LB 9 5-10 150 WR-DB 82 Carter Halley 83 Zach Winski 12 5-8 145 WR-DB 83 Quavion Logan 10 5-7 140 RB-LB 11 5-9 140 WR-DB 84 Jake Yentzer 85 Sam Yentzer 9 5-9 135 RB-LB 86 Chris Bigger 12 5-8 145 RB-DB 11 5-6 125 WR-DB 87 Nate Butler 88 Jarrett DeHart 9 5-9 165 RB-LB 6-1 180 WR-DL 89 Nick Lukic 10

5-2 120 WR-DB 5-11 185 WR-LB 5-8 170 OL-DL 5-11 195 OL-DL 5-9 205 OL-DL 5-2 195 OL-DL 5-8 185 OL-DL 5-9 235 OL-LB 6-1 290 OL-DL 6-0 210 OL-DL 5-7 162 OL-DL 6-2 240 OL-DL 5-9 180 OL-DL 5-7 150 OL-DL 5-9 200 OL-DL 6-0 205 OL-DL 5-8 180 OL-DL 6-0 285 OL-DL 5-10 275 OL-DL 5-9 200 OL-DL 5-9 155 OL-DL 5-7 170 OL-DL 5-9 230 OL-DL 5-8 195 RB-LB 5-10 190 OL-DL 6-0 260 OL-DL 6-1 215 OL-DL 6-3 240 OL-DL 6-4 295 OL-DL 5-10 220 OL-DL 6-1 200 OL-DL 5-11 160 K 6-1 235 OL-DL 5-9 160 WR-DB 6-0 170 WR-DB 6-0 165 WR-DL 5-10 160 WR-DB 5-8 115 WR-DB 5-8 160 WR-DB 5-8 165 RB-LB 5-10 160 WR-LB 6-2 175 WR-DL 5-7 125 WR-DB 5-9 180 WR-LB

Shippensburg Greyhounds Head coach: Eric Foust 2013 record: 8-3 (7-0)

THE BIG QUESTION Can the new-look running game handle the load?

For what felt like a decade, William Burt had his way with the opposition.

The workhorse back was a virtual lock for 1,000 yards every year he started, and injuries and loaded boxes couldn’t slow him down.

Coach Eric Foust loves his WingT attack and Burt was the perfect smash-mouth runner for the system.

But Burt is gone and there isn’t another one on the way. But it isn’t doom and gloom. Foust likes what he sees from the group of guys vying for that bell-cow position. But who knows if anyone will actually separate from the field. This may very well be a runningback-by-committee.

And that should work just fine.

There’s a lot more speed in that committee — a few bruises sprinkled in for good measure —so Foust expects to attack the edges a little bit more.

So yes, they’re still going to be the ground-and-pound Greyhounds of old. They just might be a little quicker to the endzone this year. The Colonial knows what’s coming with this offense, but they haven’t stopped it for a while. That trend is set to continue. It’s not “will they?” but “how will they.”

Shippensburg

Q&A How do you replace all the skill position players on offense you lost from last year?

We lost a lot of skill players, yes. And we have a lot of skill that’s ready to take over. It’s gonna be an interesting year if we can pull it all together.

We have talented running backs, talented receivers and we have a quarterback that’s pretty good, but they aren’t varsity-game tested yet. And we just have to figure out how they respond being varsity-game tested.

How about defensively, replacing lost starters?

Defensively we’ll be fine.

We have enough pieces that didn’t necessarily start games last year but played enough in games last year where defensively we’re gonna be great, we’re gonna be good. I’m not worried about us defensively, I haven’t worried about us defensively for a number of years. Our system seems to work well for us and the kids buy into it. Defense is easy.

Offensively, these kids just need to get polished…

Friday, August 29, 2014

Eric Foust, head coach Offensively, are you going to tweak your attack at all?

We’ll be more of a speed offense than we’ve ever been.

With the (William) Burt kid and the (Dylan) Herb kid last year we were able to do a lot more power stuff. This year we have Emmit, who is a good power back, but we have to wings that can really run well in Nadir and Victor.

So we’ll use them a little bit more and attack the flanks probably a little bit more than we have in the past.

Other than that, it’s still the Wing-T system. We aren’t changing our system, we’re changing where we attack people, that’s all.

2014 schedule

D24 • The Sentinel

Aug. 29 Sept. 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

vs. Dover 7 p.m. at Chambersburg 7 p.m. at Bermudian Springs 7 p.m. vs. East Pennsboro 7 p.m. vs. Mechanicsburg 7 p.m. at Waynesboro 7 p.m. vs. Northern 7 p.m. at Big Spring 7 p.m. at James Buchanan 7 p.m. vs. Greencastle-Antrim 7 p.m.

Michael Bupp/The Sentinel

Shippensburg head coach Eric Foust.

Shippensburg

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Michael McCleary is confident. Even with a plethora of new weapons on offense that may make the team more reliant on the

The Sentinel • D25

Michael McCleary, senior, RB/LB defense — and that defense in his fellow Greyhounds. is vet-laden, either — and a Q: Last year it was about division that may be on the William Burt, but what rebound, the senior backer about you guys this year?

A: We usually lead the has the utmost confidence

Michael Bupp/The Sentinel

Shippensburg’s Zion Ware.

THE ROSTER

conference in defense, and we expect to do that this year. We have a lot of backers that work their tails off, our secondary’s extremely athletic and our front three is really tough.

Q: Do you feel any extra pressure with the newlook offense?

A: No pressure.

Q: None? How about in the division?

A: It’s just something we’re used to. We haven’t lost a division game in two years. I think we’ve won 15 straight, my class has. So I’m not too worried.

Q: How does it feel being the division target?

A: It feels good that everybody wants to beat Shippensburg. We’ve worked a long time to make that happen. It just wasn’t overnight, we’ve worked for years.

Inside the huddle SHIPPENSBURG GREYHOUNDS

Head coach: Eric Foust, 13th season (61-56) Stadium: Memorial Park (grass) Colors: Gray/Maroon Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Colonial Offensive formation: Wing-T Defensive formation: 3-4 2013 season: 8-3 (7-0) Postseason: Lost to Muhlenberg, 49-19, in the District 3-AAA first round

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Comp Att TD Yards Tyler Gustafson 1 2 1 21 Rushing Att Yards Avg TD

Emmit Geiger Receiving Ryan Ingram

6 16 2.7 0 Rec Yards Avg. TD 4 51 12.8 0

Key players lost: Seth Frey (QB): William Burt (FB); Spencer Van Scyoc (OL); Dylan Herb (RB/ LB); Tommy LaRue (LB); Storm Fridinger (LB).

Returning offensive starters (3): Tim Hart, sr., OL; Jared Heberlig, sr., OT; Ryan Ingrim, sr., TE. Returning defensive starters (3): Tim Hart, sr., DL; Mike McCleary, sr., LB; Ryan Ingrim, sr., LB. Top newcomers: n/a Outlook: Gone is fullback William Burt and his 1,256 yards and 11 touchdowns. Gone is quarterback Seth Frey and his 995 yards

through the air, 368 on the ground and 17 total scores. And gone is pass catcher Storm Fridinger and his 421 receiving yards and six TD grabs.

In fact, gone is 3,691 total yards of offense from the 2013 season. That’s 99 percent. A measley one percent returns for 2014.

The offense returns three starters, all on the line. And the defense is in similar shape, with just three returning defenders, all in the front seven. But coach Eric Foust and company aren’t talking rebuild, they’re talking a Colonial three-peat and a playoff run. Senior backer Mike McCleary was adamant that the team is determined to wipe away the sting of the firstround loss to Muhlenberg last season.

The defense is ready to do its job. On offense it’ll start with junior QB Tyler Gustafson and senior FB Emmit Geiger, behind a trio of senior linemen. It’s the dilemma so may teams seem to have, experienced weapons and none on the line, or an experience line and no skill position vets. In this case its the later for Foust, which may not be a bad thing in the Greyhounds’ tried-and-true offense. The biggest change for this attack? Some extra speed and agility will mean a more spread out Wing-T that wants to attack the edges more and sprinkle in the up-the-gut stuff, nothing more. It’s simply the oppsoite formula from the Burt days. Foust has found his formula on both sides of the ball, nothing’s going to change here.

No. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 38 39 43 44 45 48 52 53 54 56 58 59 64 68 70 72 73 75 76 77 78 79 81 84 85 87

Shippensburg Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Sheldon Frostscher 12 5-9 155 Nadir Jones 11 5-7 145 Cole Friese 11 5-8 140 Victor Fermin 12 5-8 160 Cameron Tinner 10 6-0 185 Tyler Gustafson 11 6-2 175 Colin Eichelberger 11 5-6 145 Josue Jean-Pierre 12 6-0 180 Aaron Coyle 12 5-8 155 Andrew Norman 12 6-0 160 Dylan Jumper 10 5-7 140 Ethan Risser 11 5-10 155 Christopher Webber 12 5-10 165 Cody Gustafson 10 6-1 155 Carter VanScyoc 9 6-1 175 Tyler McSherry 10 6-0 150 Wade Mills 11 6-6 175 Emmitt Geiger 12 6-0 195 Daniel Lauffer 10 6-1 180 Dante Nighbert 12 6-3 220 Nathan Holt 10 6-0 160 Michael McCleary 12 5-8 200 Zion Ware 10 5-10 175 Grant Commerer 10 5-8 125 Shane Nenninger 10 5-9 130 David Messinger 10 5-7 145 Cody Yohe 10 5-7 150 Zach Mowers 12 5-7 135 Colby Holtry 10 6-0 140 Ian King 10 5-10 170 Jackson VanHorne 10 5-7 150 Mason HArris 10 5-4 135 Jonathan Wonsley 10 5-10 145 Nathaniel Sheffield 11 6-2 190 Dezmond Cordero 12 5-8 280 Collin Dolbin 10 6-0 150 Dylan Rotz 11 5-10 210 Stephan Manders 12 5-9 195 Jorge Diaz 10 5-6 210 Denny Santana 10 5-8 200 Elijah Hoffert 10 5-8 170 Tyson Hathcock 10 5-7 250 Jacob Gilbert 12 5-8 240 Rodney Brannen 10 5-8 235 Timothy Hart 12 6-3 240 Jared Heberlig 12 6-5 320 Anthony Keefer 11 5-10 300 Nicholas Kubala 10 5-10 245 Caleb Ryder 10 6-0 160 Ethan Davidson 10 5-10 260 Mike Ullman 10 5-8 195 Kyle Yost 10 6-0 210 Ryan Ingram 12 6-2 180 Colin Small 10 5-1 125 Brandon Wheeler 10 5-6 125 Clayton Stine 10 6-1 160

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D26 • The Sentinel

Susquenita Blackhawks Head coach: Mark Kirk 2013 record: 1-10 (1-6)

THE BIG QUESTION

Susquenita

Q&A With apologies to Johnny Cash, Mark Kirk has been everywhere. The first-year Susquenita coach has seen his career take him all over the country, but in recent years, he’s been creeping closer to home. A Cedar Cliff grad, it doesn’t get too much closer than with the Blackhawks.

Q: What is the story of Susquenita going to be this year?

Friday, August 29, 2014

Mark Kirk, head coach A: I think we’re going to be two things: disciplined and physical. I really think we’re going to those two things, and those two things are going to help us win games.

Plus, we have really good football kids. They’re knowledgeable, and we’re trying to create more of a knowledge base with them now.

Q: You coached in the TriValley (at Halifax). How does Susquenita fit in?

A: I think it will bring consistent competition back to the school. Trying to play some of the schools we played in the league before year-in, year-out was kind of tough. You get ebbs and flows with AA schools, but in the Tri Valley, it will kind of be a constant level of competition.

Q: How has the transition to you in charge been coming?

When Susquenita made the decision to take its athletic programs out of the Mid-Penn Conference and head to the Tri-Valley League, it happened quickly.

Susquenita was one of the charter members of the Mid-Penn when it was founded in 1982. They helped start a league that is one of the largest in Pennsylvania and sprawls from the Maryland line to Happy Valley to Lebanon County.

But then there’s the question of how competitive the Blackhawk teams will be. In football, the Tri-Valley is one of the toughest small-school leagues around. It spreads over four districts — 3, 4, 6 and 11 — and has had years of multiple district champions. With no Class AAA or larger teams in the field, Susquenita will be one of the bigger schools, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. The key to being successful in the TVL, and something new coach and TVL veteran Mark Kirk knows, is being physical.

He’s already working on that, which is the first big step. Rolling into Line Mountain and Pine Grove instead of Trinity and Steel-High will be different, but it’s an adjustment that can certainly be made.

Michael Bupp/The Sentinel

Susquenita head coach Mark Kirk.

2014 schedule

Will the Tri Valley League end up being a good fit?

Aug. 29 Sept. 5 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

A: I have a tremendous staff. They have that connection with the kids from last year with some of the guys, and we brought on some newer guys. I’ve been here, even though I was out (at Everett), I was here. The kids have been responsive to what we’ve been telling them. As I told our coaches, these kids don’t take themselves too seriously, and that’s a good thing for us.

at Schuylkill Valley vs. Line Mountain vs. East Pennsboro vs. Pine Grove at Halifax at Newport vs. East Juniata at Williams Valley at Juniata vs. Upper Dauphin

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

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7 p.m.

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Susquenita

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Shane Smith has been through some changes during his time at Susquenita.

His sophomore year saw the Blackhawks win seven games and reach the postseason, followed by a down junior season. In his final go-around, he’ll have a new coach and new league to get used to.

Q: A new coach and new league all in the same year, how does that feel?

A: We’re just ready to compete. Come into the new league strong and aggressive.

We’ve heard a lot about the league because (coach Mark Kirk) coached there before.

So we know what we’re getting into, and we’re ready.

Q: What’s your first impression of Kirk?

A: He’s really energetic. He likes it fast-paced, and it’s really helping us a lot with discipline and staying in shape. It’s something we’re not used to, but we’re getting used to it pretty quick.

Q: What’s the biggest difference from last year to this year?

A: Probably the tempo of practices. Last year, it was a lot of sitting around explaining what to do and people on

Shane Smith, senior, QB/LB

SUSQUENITA BLACKHAWKS

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Shane Smith Rushing Taevon Miller Receiving Marc Rivera

Comp Att TD 32 57 3 Att Yards Avg 8 44 5.5 Rec Yards Avg 9 156 17.3

Yards 359 TD 1 TD 1

THE ROSTER Susquenita Football 2014 Roster

the sideline watching, not getting to play a lot. And this year, everyone is rotating.

You’re always running. If you’re not running, you have to suffer the consequences.

It’s a lot more fast-paced, but I think it’s good for the team.

Q: How do you replace the numerous influential starters you lost from last year?

A: People just have to step up, and I think we’re doing a good job of that.

No. Name

Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos.

2

Brandon Smith

10 5-9 163 WR-DB

4

Angel Lugo

10 6-0 170 WR-DB

5

Nate Deibler

12 5-11 175 WR-DB

6

Adonijah Williams

9

7

Trenton Sanchez

10 5-6 138 RB-DB

8

Nathan Kessler

9

5-6 127 RB-DB 5-8 145 QB-DB

10 Jacob Stine

10 5-9 145 WR-DB

12 Taevon Miller

10 5-9 167 WR-DB

14 Jeremy Sultzaberger 12 6-1 205 WR-LB

Michael Bupp/The Sentinel

Susquenita’s Jeremy Sultzaberger.

15 Scott Crist

12 6-3 195 QB-DB

22 Tyler Thumma

9

24 Marc Rivera

12 6-2 182 WR-DB

28 Joey Hestor

10 5-9 153 RB-LB

35 Hunter Hemperly

10 5-11 192 WR-DL

38 Shane Smith

12 6-0 227 QB-RB-LB

40 Dakota Smith

10 5-11 197 RB-LB

44 Kevin Kenny

11 5-10 165 RB-LB

5-9 180 RB-LB

45 Michael Neumayer 11 6-1 185 WR-LB

Inside the huddle Head coach: Mark Kirk, 1st season Assistants: Russ Feeney (OL/DL); Terry Shepler (Scout team coordinator); Bryon Wilson (WR/DB); Jesse Snyder (RB/DB).

Stadium: Blackhawk Stadium (Grass) Colors: Black/Orange Classification: AA Division: Tri Valley League Offensive formation: Spread T Defensive formation: 4-4 2013 season: 1-10 (1-6) Postseason: Did not qualify

The Sentinel • D27

Key players lost: Dalton Jones (RB/DB); Kyle Kenny (RB/WR/LB); Evan Miller (WR/DB); Brett Morrison (QB/DB); Evan Allison (WR/DB); Kyle Blose (OL/DL); Chase Hare (OL/DL).

Returning offensive starters (5): Shane Smith, sr., QB; Jeremy Sulztaberger, sr., TE; Marc Rivera, sr., WR; Hunter McGuire, jr., OL; Vinnie Werner, jr., OL. Returning defensive starters (7): Hunter McGuire, jr., DL; Vinnie Werner, jr., DL; Jeremy Sultzaberger, sr., LB; Kevin Kenny, jr., LB: Shane Smith, sr., LB; Ryan Baker, jr., DL; Taevon Miller, so., DB. Top newcomers: Scott Crist, sr., QB. Outlook: Things are certainly different in Duncannon this year. After 32 football-playing seasons in the Mid-Penn Conference, Susquenita — one of the original members of the sprawling league — is making the move to the Tri Valley League — another circuit, at least in football, that covers some miles. The reasons are numerous, including size and

competitiveness of the schools, and the rural school from Perry County fits nicely with county school Newport and the other schools north of the mountain. Of course, if they’re making that big of a change, why not make a change in leadership as well? And if they have to bring in a new coach, why not one with experience in the Tri Valley? That’s what Mark Kirk brings, after spending a chunk of time at Halifax in the 90s. So, change is the name of the game for the Blackhawks, but the big ones all seem to be the right ones as well.

Even though the adjustment to a new coach and new league isn’t easy, Kirk hopes the biggest change his team will see is in discipline, and he’s very happy with what he’s seen out of his new troops in the time that he’s been there. The players spoke to how different practices are under the new coach, especially tempo out of the offensive mind that learned from Chip Kelly while coaching at a high school in Oregon. He’ll also be putting in an offense

he calls a Spread T, which will still feature a lot of running out of Taevon Miller and Kevin Kenny. Quarterback Shane Smith got some experience last year, but is getting pushed by Scott Crist, who is one of a number of players Kirk got to come back out for football after spending some years away. The key for the Blackhawks will still be the guys up front, as the linemen a year ago were young and green.

Many of them are still a bit young, but are starting to ripen, and the weightlifting program has been doing its job, adding size and strength for them.

Kirk said those linemen will be a strength for the team, as will the defensive line for a group that gave up too many points a year ago. Hunger McGuire, Vinnie Werner and Ryan Baker will plug up some holes for guys like Smith and Jeremy Sultzaberger, while the defensive backfield has some athletes who will be able to swat some passes.

50 Hunter McGuire

11 6-2 217 OL-DL

52 Austin Kopp

9

54 Zackary Hoerner

11 5-11 207 OL-DL

55 Vinney Verner

11 6-2 242 OL-DL

56 Dackota Brown

9

6-0 210 OL-DL

60 John Provenza

9

5-10 190 OL-DL

65 Brandon Blose

9

5-9 165 OL-DL

66 Tony Strong

10 5-10 157 OL-DL

70 Joel Etter

10 5-11 179 OL-LB

72 Ryan Baker

10 6-1 252 OL-DL

74 Koby Baker

11 6-1 185 OL-DL

75 Justin Fuller

10 5-10 187 OL-DL

76 David Cornelious

9

5-9 170 OL-DL

77 Austin McPherson

9

6-0 232 OL-DL

78 Cody Mullen

10 5-11 211 OL-DL

80 Trent McGuire

9

82 Tyler Yoder

11 6-1 168 WR-DB

5-7 176 OL-DL

6-0 232 OL-DL

Trinity

D28 • The Sentinel

Trinity Shamrocks Head coach: Bill Ragni 2013 record: 2-8 (1-6)

THE BIG QUESTION

Q&A Trinity has seen its share of success under Bill Ragni.

Now it’s time for the veteran coach to do a rebuild job after a less-than-successful season. The work that it takes to bounce back has already started, now it’s up to the Shamrocks to make it all pay off.

Q: How do you bounce back from a year that’s not as successful as the norm?

Friday, August 29, 2014

Bill Ragni, head coach A: It certainly wasn’t what we’re used to. We’ve had a lot of success through the years, and I think we were all a little bit angry about it. It started early this year. We got right back in the weight room. We worked on improving leadership in our upperclassmen.

Q: How much can that motivation help a team be successful?

A: I think it’s motivated them a lot. When you’re get-

ting in that weight room at six in the morning, that’s the earliest we’ve been in there in a long time. They were hungry right from the beginning. I think it’s carried through the summer as well.

Our numbers are similar to last year, but the guys that actually showed up in the offseason was more.

Q: What do you have to replace in the spread offense?

A: The biggest thing we have to replace is Brandon Kuntz, obviously. You’re not going to replace him skillwise. We’re also going to replace Mike Boguski, our quarterback. I think that can be a little bit easier, because Hunter Geisel, a sophomore last year, actually had some real game experience. He realized what he has to do and has a good grasp of the offense already.

Do they get back on track?

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Nancy Zimmerman/For The Sentinel

Trinity head coach Bill Ragni.

2014 schedule

Last year, we were convinced that Trinity was going to show that it was one of those teams that reload instead of rebuild. After a fourth-straight division championship, the Shamrocks lost a ton of big players to graduation, and while a slight step backward from 9-2 could certainly happen, not many would have figured on a first-to-worst slide for one of the Mid-Penn’s more successful small schools.

That’s what happened, though, as Bill Ragni’s crew dropped to 2-8 and couldn’t find their footing from the first game on. They gave up way too many points and didn’t have many ways to score their own. In other words, it was very uncharacteristic of a Trinity team.

What it did do was light a fire under the Shamrocks that were returning. When they started getting big numbers in the weight room for 6 a.m. workouts, the team knew something was different. Ragni instituted leadership classes for his seniors, and the entire team seems much more driven than it was a year ago, which is something that can slip away after continual success. That doesn’t necessarily mean Trinity will be going after a district title in November, but something tells us that this group won’t settle for a repeat of last season and right the ship.

Aug. 29 Sept. 6 Sept. 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 17 Oct. 24 Oct. 31

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Trinity

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Trinity didn’t have a Trinity season last year. A big challenge in turning that around and getting the Shamrocks back to where they normally are falls on the seniors like Joe Martin, who are eager to turn the corner.

Q: What did it feel like last year, and how are you guys working to bounce back from it?

A: We’re all really hungry.

Obviously we were disappointed in last year. We had a sour taste in our mouths all offseason, so we’ve been working hard to get it back to where we should be.

Q: How is the team improving on both sides of the ball?

A: On defense, up front definitely is going to be a strength, and our linebackers too I think are a lot tougher this year. On offense, definitely our offensive line will be strong. Overall I just think we’re a better team this year than we were last year.

Q: When did you start feeling the chemistry that everyone has been talking about?

A: In the spring. Working out together every week and

Joe Martin, senior OL/LB just getting together more.

We’re all friends on this team.

Q: What kind of confidence can it bring to have an offensive line that’s played together before?

A: We all we can count on each other. I can lean on any one of those guys. It’s comforting.

Q: How do you deal with the young guys that will be filling spots?

A: Just tell them to keep their heads up.

We all make mistakes, we just have to have the patience to deal with them.

Nancy Zimmerman/ For The Sentinel

Trinity’s Hunter Geisel.

Inside the huddle TRINITY SHAMROCKS

Head coach: Bill Ragni, 6th season (39-19) Assistants: Bob Dill (offensive coordinator); Tim Walde (QB); Cory Rowe (defensive coordinator); Mike Connelly (LB); Jeff Geisel (OL); Tim Perry (special teams coordinator); Rich Gagliano (DB); Dominic Bornman (WR); Tim Miller (LB).

Stadium: COBO Field (grass) Colors: Green/White Classification: AA Division: Mid-Penn Capital Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-4 2013 season: 2-8 (1-6) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Hunter Geisel Rushing John Miller Receiving

Comp Att TD 52 108 7 Att Yards Avg 66 239 3.6 Rec Yards Avg

Yards 789 TD 4 TD

The Sentinel • D29

Kyree Calli

21

242 11.5 0

Key players lost: Mike Boguski (QB); Brandon Kuntz (WR/DB); Patrick Kline (WR/ DL); Logan McNally (RB/DB); Jake Ragni (OL/DL); Nick Centurione (injury, OL/LB).

Returning offensive starters (6): John Kline, sr., OL; Zeke Kaminski, sr., RB/WR; Dom DiCinti, sr., OL; John Miller, sr., RB; Zac Slonac, sr., WR; Miles Nixon, sr., OL. Returning defensive starters (7): Colton Brewer, sr., DL; Joe Martin, sr., LB; John Kline, sr., DL; John Miller, sr., DB; Zac Slonac, sr., DB; Austin Rairdan, sr., LB; Zeke Kaminski, sr., DB. Top newcomers: Alex Schlager, so., WR/LB; Drew DiBastiani, jr. RB/DB; Caleb Cash, jr., OL/DL; Steve Rigg OL/DL; Hunter Kruger, sr., K/P. Outlook: That just didn’t seem right. Trinity and basement of its division just doesn’t fit, but that’s where the Shamrocks found themselves after a rebuilding year went wrong last season. There was a visible difference in Bill Ragni’s squad in the last few games of the

season, though, and that left them with a bit of momentum heading into the offseason. That’s where the difference will hopefully be made, as the team was in the weight room early and often in the months between seasons. Two wins left a bad taste in their mouths, and they put in the work to get rid of it.

The biggest issue on both sides of the ball was in the trenches. Injuries and overall inexperience led the Trinity linemen to underperform in comparison to what the program is used to.

On offense, that meant no holes for the running backs to get through, and not much time for the quarterbacks to get passes off to a talented receiving corp. On defense, it led to gaping holes for opposing backs to slam through, which wore out the Shamrock defense that didn’t have a lot of reserves anyway. That’s the key to giving up 38 points a game, which is a shocking number for just about any team.

This year, that problem should be no more.

Experience returns in spades up front, starting with names like John Kline and Joe Martin, who will form a formidable base. Others picked

up plenty of time last year, which is the only good way to develop for a lineman, and a senior-laden offensive line is something that intrigues Ragni. As far as the skill positions go, getting Hunter Geisel back under center is like returning half a starter, as he attempted about a third of the team’s passes a year ago.

John Miller and Zeke Kaminski will again run the ball — while hoping for a bit more success in doing so — and Kyree Calli and Zac Slonac will do their best to fill the shoes of Brandon Kuntz, who is catching passes as a walk-on at Penn State.

Once again, experience will help the defensive front as well. Pushing 400 points allowed in just 10 games can’t happen if a team wants to be competitive. That number might not suddenly drop to 150, but it should go down with the big uglies plugging gaps up front. Shifting from a 4-3 to a 4-4 should help as well, a transition they started at the end of last season.

Miller, one of the team’s leading tacklers at linebacker, will play the lone safety in the new setup, and should help contain big plays.

THE ROSTER No.

1 2 2 3 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 13 14 15 20 21 22 22 23 25 26 28 42 50 51 53 55 56 57 60 60 62 63 65 65 67 71 72 73 75 76 85 86 88

Trinity Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Jack Patten 9 Dustin Rodgers 9

WR-DB Jordan Moore 10 5-8 140 QB-DB Kyree Calli 11

WR-DB Drew Debastiani 11 5-7 130 RB-DB John Miller 12 5-9 175 Zac Slonac 12 6-1 175 DB Adam Rhoad 9

DB Alexander Schlager 10 6-2 187 WR-LB Ty Knopp 9 5-9 WR-DB Thomas Turner 9

WR-DB Jack Mchale 9

WR-LB Michael Dubas 9 Sean Scott 10 5-5 125 QB-DB Tommy Kirchoff 9

WR-LB Hunter Geisel 11 5-10 185 QB-LB Zeke Kaminski 12 5-8 170 RB-DB Dominick Mantta 10 5-6 145 RB-DB Andrew Wert 9

WR-LB Joey Stoak 9

WR-LB Dante Manetta 9

RB-DB Brendan Tribeck 10 5-4 106 WR-DB David Carney 10 5-8 160 WR-DB Tre Moody 9

RB-LB Hunter Kruger 12

WR-K Bill Schiffer 9

OL-DL John Kline 12 6-3 215 OL-DL Austin Rardain 12 6-0 195 OL-LB Joe Martin 12 6-0 182 OL-LB Josh Miller 9

OL-LB Colton Brewer 12 5-6 205 OL-DL Patrick Connolly 9

OL-DL Samuel Miller 10 5-9 185 OL-LB Jamison Romage 10 5-10 170 OL-DL Nick Centurione 12 5-10 145 OL-LB Chase DeShong 10 6-2 230 OL-DL Dominic Walker 10 6-0 185 OL-DL Dominic Decinti 12 5-11 185 OL-DL Nicholas DePasquale 10 5-10 216 RB-LB Fred Klinginsmith 9

OL-DL Alexander Mangus 12 5-8 187 OL-DL Stephen Rigg 11 Miles Nixon 12 6-4 305 OL-DL Isaac Somerville 10 6-1 180 WR-DL Max O’brien 10 Caleb Cash 11 6-2 170 WR-DL

West Perry Mustangs Head coach: Bob Boden 2013 record: 6-5 (5-2)

THE BIG QUESTION How will the defense handle their transition to Cover 2?

It’s going to be a slow process, that much seems certain. For a lot of these Mustangs, all they’ve ever known is the Cover 3 scheme employed by the previous regime.

But Bob Boden is putting his first schematic stamp on the West Perry program by switching to a defensive arrangement he believes will help against some of the pass-heavy programs in the Mid-Penn Capital.

They’ll still have run-first offenses like Boiling Springs to contend with, but Boden’s hope is that the Cover 2 provides a better matchup week-toweek.

So far he’s kept it simple. The coaching staff has installed base principles and hasn’t thrown the whole book at their players. Boden’s philosophy is that he’d rather his charges be great at a few things than average at a bunch of things. Previous experience has taught him that much.

But there will still be growing pains.

Expect the defense to take a few games to find its identity and some sort of rhythm. If they don’t get blown over the first few weeks — Big Spring is a great first test — the confidence should snowball the rest of the season.

West Perry

Q&A It’s a year of change, from coaching to division to even some philosophies. Don’t worry, West Perry will still be recognizable to the Mustang faithful, but coach Bob Boden is about to put his stamp on a program looking to make a name for itself in its first year back in the MidPenn Colonial.

Q: How are things going as the head man?

A: Things are going really well. The kids have responded. We have 45 kids that got equipment the other day. Kids have been coming to things, they’ve been lifting, they’ve been running,

Friday, August 29, 2014

Bob Boden, head coach they’ve been coming to 7on-7s. We had a camp. I think they’re excited. Al (Hobby) was a great coach, but sometimes change brings excitement. Not that Al didn’t have excitement… but it’s just something different.

Q: What are you changing?

A: We’re going to keep the offense the same, still going to run the veer. Changing our defense up because we’re switching divisions. That’s the other big change, we’re changing everything. Honestly just little hitting, we’re changing up the way we practice, it’s gonna be a lot faster

2014 schedule

D30 • The Sentinel

paced than they’re used to.

Q: You’re changing the defense because of what you see out of Capital teams?

A: Yes. We were in the smash-mouth division, the Wing-T teams that they just pack it in and got huge guys and then push you off the ball. And now were going to see what I feel is a little more speed, a little more spread stuff, so we’re going to switch around to try can combat that as best we can.

Q: How does it feel moving away from Colonial?

A: It’s exciting because it’s new. Sometimes you get into

Aug. 29 at Big Spring 7 p.m.

Sept. 5 at East Pennsboro 7 p.m.

Sept. 12 vs. Greencastle-Antrim 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 at Camp Hill 7 p.m. * Sept. 26 vs. Middletown 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 at Trinity 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 vs. Steel-High 7 p.m.

Oct. 17 vs. Milton Hershey 7 p.m.

Oct. 24 at Boiling Springs 7 p.m.

Oct. 31 vs. Palmyra 7 p.m.

Nov. 7 at Susquenita 7 p.m. * at Memorial Field, Mechanicsburg

you know people so well in the other division you get kind of complacent. I hate to say that but you do. It’s just, ‘Oh, we’re playing Greencastle again, they’re running the Wing-T.’ But it’s new and exciting and I think it will be new and exciting for these guys to play the new teams.

What’s kind of cool is these are teams — I went to West Perry — and a lot of these teams are teams we played back when I played, Camp Hill and Trinity. We’re getting back into those, they were big rivals back in the day. So it’s exciting to get those things back, too.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

West Perry head coach Bob Boden.

West Perry

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Thrown into the fire last year, Chris Lehman had to learn on the fly. It didn’t hurt that he had a stud split wide in Chase May to heave passes to, making the adjustment a bit easier. But now there’s no May — well, younger brother Cameron is around and eager to produce — and this seems to be Lehman’s team now. Now it’s his turn to teach, though, with new weapons everywhere.

Q: You were kind of thrown into QB last year, what did you learn?

A: I learned to be patient as I’m playing, ‘cause during practices and stuff this year it’s pretty much all about patience. And if you can wait patiently, get your footsteps right, everything will go good.

Q: How’s it feel to come in and know you’re the starter?

A: It feels good. Last year I had some experience, which I think helps me a lot for this year, so I’m excited for this year.

Q: How’s life with-

Chris Lehman, senior, QB/LB out wideout Chase May? A: Kind of sucks, but we still have some pretty good receivers coming up this year so they should do pretty good. I’m kind of excited

about that, get some new guys in and see how we do.

Q: New coach?

A: It’s alright to me, ‘cause last year I played outside linebacker and he was the

outside linebacker coach, so I’m used to him coaching.

Q: New division?

A: It’s exciting. I’m ready to get some new teams, playing in different competition.

Jason Malmont/The Sentinel

West Perry’s Chris Lehman hands off to a running back during practice.

Inside the huddle WEST PERRY MUSTANGS

Head coach: Bob Boden, 1st season Assistant coaches: TJ Quaker (Offensive coordinator/WR/DB); Derek Puchalsky (Defensive coordinator/RB/DT); Craig May (Special Teams coordinator/QB/LB); Nick Dillman (QB/WR/DB).

Stadium: West Perry Athletic Field (turf) Colors: Kelly Green/White Classification: AAA Division: Mid-Penn Capital Offensive formation: Spread Defensive formation: 4-3 2013 season: 6-5 (5-2) Postseason: Did not qualify

RETURNING LEADERS

Passing Comp Att TD Chris Lehman 91 186 20 Rushing Att Yards Avg Chris Lehman 96 114 1.2 Receiving Rec Yards Avg

Yards 1,430 TD 2 TD

The Sentinel • D31

Jacob Owens 12

161 13.4 1

Key players lost: Chase May (WR/DB); Nate Sites (WR); Jarrett Caton (RB/LB); Colton Whitmeyer (RB/LB); Daulton Megonnell (LB); Dakota Paul; Gage Harless; Clay Rice (OL); Hunter Lesher (DL).

Returning offensive starters (3): Chris Lehman, sr., QB; Hunter Whitcomb, jr., OL; Zach Miller, sr., TE. Returning defensive starters (1): Hunter Whitcomb, jr., DL. Top newcomers: Cameron May, so., WR/DB; Nate Salinetro, sr., QB/DB; Curtis Fry, jr., RB/ LB. Outlook: This is now very much Chris Lehman’s team. Well, outside of first-year coach Bob Boden. Lehman’s coming off a solid junior campaign in which he threw 20 TDs against just 10 picks.

But he’s without any major weapons from that 2013 season, including stud wideout Chase May. May and No. 2 guy Nate Sites had the

size to overpower defensive backs at times, but the likely starting duo of Jacob Owens and Kyle Thoman don’t. They’re small, but quick. And Boden loves their tenacity, calling them “ankle-biters” before a recent practice.

Owens’s 12 receptions are the most of any returning receiver, though, and that isn’t always easy to overcome. Plus, Lehman represents a sizable chunk of the ground attack. It’s great that he has the legs, but the Mustangs are going to have to find a steady producer behind him.

A dark horse on offense, however, may be May’s younger brother, Cameron. Boden likes his size and speed and feels the younger May will want to do everything he can to get out of big bro’s shadow, in a good way.

Defense will be the bigger issue, however.

Lehman has the experience and the confidence coming off a solid junior campaign to keep the West Perry offense humming. But on the other side of the ball Lehman and company are going to have to learn on the fly.

They’re switching to a Cover 2 after years in the Cover 3. Boden isn’t throwing the whole manual at them, however, opting instead to let them learn base schemes. When they excel at those, he’ll add more. He’s hoping that will help accelerate the learning curve and not expose them to big plays. And that’s vital for a unit that returns just one starter, lineman Hunter Whitcomb. The Capital is a much more passer-friendly division and they’re hoping the switch helps them combat that.

We’ll get our first glimpse right away, as two spread offenses duke it out in the season opener. Big Spring wants revenge in a tough loss last year to these Mustangs. For the West Perry defense, this will be the perfect test to see just how quickly the defense has come along. If they can shut down the Bulldogs, the unit may be better equipped for the season that initially expected. Regardless, it’ll be fun to watch.

THE ROSTER No. 10 12 13 14 15 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 30 31 32 33 34 35 40 41 42 43 44 54 54 56 58 60 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 80 82 83 84 85 86 88

West Perry Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. Logan Mann 10 5-9 150 WR-DB Chris Lehman 12 6-2 180 QB-LB Jacob Campbell 10 5-7 124 WR Nathan Salinetro 10 5-7 145 QB-DB Cameron May 10 5-11 65 WR-DB Darien Donnelly 10

RB-DL Sean Thoman 10 5-8 147 RB-DB Gregory Snyder 10 5-10 145 RB-LB Talen Thebes 12 5-11 185 RB-LB Hunter Wilson 11 5-11 185 RB-LB Gavyn Deiter 11 6-2 175 R-DE Austen Durtnett 11 5-10 184 WR-DE Cameron Tienter 11 5-4 125 RB-DB Colton Group 12 5-6 130 RB-LB Zachery Rudy 11

RB-LB Curtis Fry 11 5-8 160 RB-LB Joey Buskey 11 5-9 170 RB-DL Evan Ricker 10 5-7 175 RB-LB Caleb Knaub 11 6-0 183 WR-DL Cole Lesh 12 5-7 160 K Josh Comp 12 5-7 165 RB-DB William Bryan 11 5-11 219 RB-LB Mark Berlin 10 5-11 170 K James cOmp 12 5-9 175 OL-LB Ethan Stauffer 12 6-6 282 OL-DL Riley Stone 11 6-2 240 OL-DL Christian Puchalsky 10 5-9 170 Andrew Hann 12 5-8 210 OL-DL Hunter Whitcomb 11 6-1 210 OL-DL Paul Zelenky 11 5-8 225 OL-DL Dacoda Rose 12 6-2 200 OL-DL Kraig Cullison 10 5-7 260 OL-DL John Searer 11 5-10 185 OL-DL Ian Siever 10 5-10 210 OL-DL Setgh Otstott 10 5-8 170 OL-DL Jordan Long 11 5-9 220 OL-DL Stone Caldwell 11 6-0 230 OL-DL Patrick Tienter 10 5-10 280 OL-DL Benjamin Wertz 10 6-4 290 OL-DL Clayton Ziegler 11 5-10 190 OL-DL Joseph Dailey 11 5-8 205 OL-DL Marshall Putt 10 6-2 260 OL-DL Dylan Shope 10 5-11 250 OL-DL Scott Messner 10 5-10 150 K Kyle Thoman 12 5-9 141 WR-DB Jacob Owns 12 5-11 155 WR-DB Austin Wonders 10 5-11 145 WR-LB Zachary Miller 12 5-10 175 WR-LB Dominic Fry 12 5-11 170 WR-DB Gabriel Puchalsky 10 5-10 168 WR-LB

Mid-Penn

D32 • The Sentinel

Friday, August 29, 2014

Mid-Penn Breakdown 2014 Mid-Penn Breakdown Commonwealth Division Outlook: The defenses will be out in force in the big-school division this year. All eight teams bring back important pieces on that side of the ball for a season that looks to be one of the most even from top to bottom as we’ve had in recent memory.

(Teams listed in predicted order of finish) Harrisburg: Decimated by injuries, last season didn’t end the way the Cougars wanted.

Those injuries did allow a young group of players to get experience under its belt, which bodes well for this talented team to make a run.

CD East: It’s a strange world we live in with the Panthers near the top of the division. Even with the huge loss of Chase Edmonds, the team that was about 15 seconds from a district semifinal berth has the confidence to keep it up.

Ce n t ra l Da u p h i n : 8 -3 doesn’t seem like a bad year, but it was a slide for the Rams.

With a stout defense coming back, there’s time for some new skill position players on offense to get settled in, but not much with that nonleague slate.

Cumberland Valley: Second year for Michael Whitehead is a normal one for the Eagles. There’s a few starters back, but that never seemed to slow down CV. The size and strength is there, but we’ll see if the results come to match.

State College: A new coach in State College shouldn’t change much. There’s still a huge roster and the expectation to win the District 6 title.

Of course, Mifflin County had something to say about that last year.

Mifflin County: Suddenly, the Huskies look a little bit comfortable in the Mid-Penn.

No, they’re not quite ready to go after a division title, but you have to assume that the District 6 championship will help with confidence.

Carlisle: Not quite sure where to slot the Thundering Herd. They’ll certainly be improved, so we wouldn’t be surprised if this new confidence and drive the Josh Oswalt’s crew is showing will push the team to

a few more victories.

Chambersburg: The Trojans — at least coach Mark Saunders — had a wild offseason. It will be tough to go back to business as usual, but after becoming familiar in the postseason field, they shouldn’t drop too far down.

Five Players to Watch Billy Burger, Carlisle, sr., QB: His third year starting should be the best for Burger, whose offense should click in a way it couldn’t before.

Mikale Clark, Harrisburg, sr., QB: Forced to grow up quickly after Rob Martin’s injury, Clark blossomed into one of the better QBs around.

Joe Lemelle, CD East, sr., RB/LB: The guy who will try to replace Chase Edmonds doesn’t have to go for 2,000 yards, but explosive plays will help.

Steven McNeal Central Dauphin, sr., RB/LB: The Rams will be leaning on their defense this year, and McNeal is a heck of a linebacker for them to lean on.

Tim Spinelli, Cumberland Valley, sr., RB/LB: Already a stalwart backer, Spinelli will be the next to line up at that key fullback position in the Eagles offense.

Three Division Games to Catch Central Dauphin at Cumberland Valley, October 17: The classic Commonwealth showdown could be a battle for third — or another with title implications.

Harrisburg at Carlisle, October 31: It may not be a de facto title game, but once again, it will be a barometer for just how far the Herd have come.

CD East at Central Dauphin, October 31: A rivalry that’s just so much better when both are on top, and the Panthers may just be called the favorite.

Keystone Division Outlook: It will be tough to repeat with a pair of district champs, but this group will try.

Another year of explosive offenses, but from top to bottom, the defenses might be the most improved part of the high-flying Keystone.

(Teams listed in predicted order of finish) Bishop McDevitt: After suffering their first division loss

in roughly 170 years, the Crusaders still bounced back for another (co-) championship.

What’s scary is McDevitt has plenty back from that squad that collared a fourth straight 3-AAA crown.

Susquehanna Township: Some big playmakers on a team that wants to bounce back from a rough finish for the Indians. Veteran coach Joe Headen knows how the make the most out of his talent, and should be able to with this group.

Mechanicsburg: What should be the breakout offense of the year will lead the Wildcats. But for them to get over the hump, Chris Hakel’s side needs a revamped defense to do its part in holding back the opposition’s attack.

Cedar Cliff: Hard not to have a step back, but there’s pieces in place for first-year skipper Colin Gillen to have a solid debut. Offense won’t be as flashy, but if the defense keeps its improvement, a high finish is possible.

Lower Dauphin: It will be interesting to see how the Falcons play without their wrecking ball rushing attack. That defense will still be physical, which is always a good way to find some wins in this speedy division.

Red Land: The Patriots will be looking for a bit of a new identity without John Ford.

Opening up the offense may be part of that adjustment, and seeing just where the crew from Lewisberry fits in that realm could be very interesting.

Hershey: Big losses off a team that was up-and-down in 2013, including the coach, who was pushed out under strange circumstances in the offseason.

Just not sure the Trojans have the strength and experience to battle for 10 weeks.

Five Players to Watch Grant Breneman, Cedar Cliff, so., QB: Andrew Ford’s replacement is earning high praise despite having just 12 months under his belt as a high schooler.

Shyheim Brown, Mechanicsburg, sr., RB/DB: One of a number of explosive pieces in what should be an explosive offense out of the Wildcats this year.

Christian Ciotti, Susque-

hanna Township, jr., WR/ DB: Expecting big things on both offense and defense from the Indian. Had four — yes, four — kick return TDs. Garrett Scott, Red Land, sr., QB: It should be the signal caller’s time to lead the Patriot offense, and he has the games under his belt to do just that.

Ko bay W h i te , B i s h o p McDevitt, jr., WR/DB: What do you know, another start in the making at McDevitt. Big plays are the name of the (passing) game.

Three Division Games to Catch Mechanicsburg at Cedar Cliff, October 3: Emerging explosive offense vs. offense trying to stay explosive could decide a lot in the tight middle of the field.

Bishop McDevitt at Susquehanna Township, October 3: Something tells us the Indians will be charged up for another shot at the ace Crusaders.

Cedar Cliff at Red Land, October 31: The West Shore Showdown on Halloween will be a blast, and has all the makings to be a heck of a game as well.

Capital Division Outlook: Two new faces and two departures gives the Capital a different look. The fun mix of power running and spread offenses always entertains, and defense, whether returning or rebuilding, will determine who takes the small-school field.

(Teams listed in predicted order of finish) Milton Hershey: Defense will clear the path for the Spartans as they attempt to defend their division title. Also have to love the experience coming back in the trenches, which — if you haven’t heard — is where games are won or lost.

Steel-High: That defense that helped the Rollers to the state semis was no joke. Not everyone is back, but there’s enough there that can stick with the hard-nosed play. Some exciting players on the offensive side of the ball as well.

Camp Hill: Numbers, numbers, numbers. That’s the key for the Lions, and they’re in their favor this year. Of course, it also helps that some of those numbers include some offen-

sive standouts that should boost Frank Gay’s side up a notch.

Middletown: Nice debut for coach Brett Myers, who gets a solid returning cast in Year 2.

Playoffs are the goal for the Blue Raiders, and after being battletested last year, that goal isn’t a stretch as long as they get the wins to back it up.

Palmyra: Here’s where we find out if the two-year stint in the rough Keystone pays off for the Cougars. With 17 starters back, it will be much different in the Capital, but they’ll quickly realize that it’s not a cakewalk against these sides.

Boiling Springs: A lot of talk about how last year helped the Bubblers improve. It’s true that Nate Freier’s side was better at the end of last year than at the beginning, but keeping that going is another, although makeable, hurdle.

Trinity: The Shamrocks will be better than 2013, that’s for sure. Just where they’ll fall in line is a tougher call. It’s all up to the offensive and defensive lines to get out there and shove some people around to get this team back to where it’s used to.

West Perry: A slide over from the Colonial feels pretty natural for the Mustangs, as they won’t be getting beat up by that brutal division. They will have to adjust to a new one without much experience coming back to help though.

Five Players to Watch Tw y n i q u e C h i s h o l m Wilkerson, Steel-High, sr., LB: The defending defensive POY can play some linebacker, as many opposing running backs found out.

Mitchell Cooper, Palmyra, sr., WR/DB: The lanky receiver was able to haul in 73 balls while the center of attention. Let’s see what he has for an encore.

Nathan Ocker, Middletown, sr., QB/DB: The ace hurler isn’t a half-bad quarterback either. He’ll play a large role in how far the Blue Raiders go.

Qwasif Shabazz, Milton Hershey, jr., RB: Gets a veteran line to run behind as he helps bring along a new QB in the sneaky good Spartan offense.

Bill Williams, Camp Hill, so., RB/LB: One of those young athletes that gets a

chance to shine early on a Class A team, Williams is already the real deal.

Three Division Games to Catch Palmyra at Trinity, September 19: A welcome-tothe-division game for the Cougars, who will give the Shamrocks a test to see where both stand.

Milton Hershey at SteelHigh, September 19: First to 10 wins? Could be in this earlyseason matchup that could just decide who grabs the title.

Camp Hill at Boiling Springs, October 17: Just a double-overtime contest last year, this one should be another exciting and physical contest.

Colonial Division Outlook: Quite a different look to the smashmouth division of the Mid-Penn this year.

The top teams are either gone or lost a lot, which could create a lot of excitement down the stretch when every game carries title implications.

(Teams listed in predicted order of finish) Greencastle-Antrim: Odd down year for the Blue Devils a year ago, but this side knows how to win. There’s the right kind of mix of returners and young talent to give them the nod as favorites, not to mention coach Chuck Tinninis’ track record.

Northern: Another fresh group for Garrett Mowery to mold in Dillsburg. It might be a slow start with some young guys, but there’s potential there to be in the top level of the division if everything comes together quickly enough for the Polar Bears.

Shippensburg: Back-toback titles gives the Greyhounds confidence, but there’s tons of losses to deal with. Should the guys in the trenches jell at the right time, another successful season could still be in the cards for the power-running team.

James Buchanan: The Rockets took a huge step with four wins in 2013. Now that 16 returning starters know how to win, the hard part is down. The defense, with the most experience back, will need to keep improving to push over .500 though.

See Breakdown, D33

Friday, August 29, 2014

Mid-Penn

Breakdown Continued from D32 East Pennsboro: It will be interesting to see how the Panthers adjust to the beefier Colonial vs. the more flashy Capital.

There’s some offensive weapons at Todd Stuter’s disposal, but those linemen will need to grow up fast to stay competitive.

Big Spring: Not sure where things went wrong for the Bulldogs in division play, but it wasn’t pretty last year. The youth is starting to turn into experience though, and getting momentum on their side is still key to getting a few more wins.

Waynesboro: First-year coach Brennan Marion will have his work cut out for him, but with a cup of coffee in the NFL to his name, his players will certainly listen. The Indians have the whole culture change thing to keep working on though.

Five Players to Watch Garrett Chestnut, Big Spring, jr., QB/DB: After coming along nicely in his first try, the offense will lean heavily on the junior for a jolt when needed.

Sam Geiser, Northern, sr., RB/DB: The Polar Bears are looking to get back to their rushing roots a bit, which will mean the ball in Geiser’s hands quite a bit.

Tim Hart, Shippensburg, sr., OL/DL: Without returning ball carriers, the Greyhounds have to look to the big uglies, and they start with Hart.

Shamar Pates, James Buchanan, sr., RB/DB: One of the most exciting players in the division, Pates can make a game change in a single play.

Robert Rider, Greencastle-Antrim, sr., OL/DL: Important for the Blue Devils to

pound the rock. That gets easier when you try it behind a guy like this.

Three Division Games to Catch East Pennsboro at Shippensburg, September 19: The Panthers’ first Colonial game comes against a team that hasn’t lost one in more than two years.

James Buchanan at Greencastle-Antrim, October 10: Time to see how far the Rockets have come against their Franklin County bretheren.

Northern at Shippensburg, October 10: A one-possession game in each of the last five years, this one seemingly always comes down to the final minutes.

Five Nonleague Games to Catch Cedar Cliff vs. Penn Manor, August 29: Double revenge game for the Colts, who fell to the Comets in the last two postseasons. Oh, and, Ireland and all.

Camp Hill at Upper Dauphin, August 29: The Lions get a nice Class A test to open, facing a Trojans side that ventured into the playoffs last year.

CD East at Wilson, September 5: The Bulldogs might be down a bit, and the Panthers may be up. What a better way to determine which one falls where?

Cumberland Valley at Bishop McDevitt, September 12: The best team in the Mid-Penn will always provide a nice early-season test for the Eagles.

Boiling Springs at Big Spring, September 12: A wild comeback was technically wiped off the board last year, but the game itself was once again fun.

Sentinel file photos

Above: CD East’s Joe Lemelle is tackled by Carlisle’s Jordan Purcell.

Right: Boiling Springs’ Kyle Jones closes in on Middletown quarterback Nathan Ocker.

The Sentinel • D33

Dickinson Red Devils Head coach: Darwin Breaux 2013 record: 3-7 (3-6)

THE BIG QUESTION Does Dickinson have enough weapons for the Centennial?

Things didn’t go so great for the Red Devils in 2013 or in the two years prior. That’s more to say on the level of competition in their conference, though, than the talent coming through Dickinson.

The Centennial has become one of the most competitive leagues in Division III, especially on top.

Dickinson struggled to a 3-7 mark last season, with all seven of its losses coming by more than 21 points. In order for the Red Devils to turn some of those numbers around and get back on track, they’ll need to rely on some familiar faces.

That starts with quarterback Cole Ahnell. The senior captain has been asked to do just about everything short of kicking in his three years as the starter. The offense will move with Ahnell and as long as he can stay healthy — he missed three games last season — it has the ability to.

Ahnell will have some weapons at his disposal as well. Dickinson does lose its top two receivers from a year ago, but brings back leading rusher Shawn Wilson. And with Cedric Madden back as well, it’ll retain more than 1,700 rushing yards from 2013. The Red Devils aren’t a pas-first squad, so those three will need to do big things in order to improve upon 15.5 points per game they averaged last year.

Dickinson

Q&A Dickinson finished just 3-7 a year ago. In fact, it hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since 2009. This season, though, the Red Devils bring back 18 starters and 33 lettermen. That includes fouryear starting quarterback Cole Ahnell, who has been the spark in their offense.

Darwin Breaux has done plenty of winning at Dickinson in his career, but after a string of rough seasons, is this the year he can get the ship righted?

Q: After struggling a bit defensively last year, did you make any big changes? Or is it enough to rely on the experience of getting eight starters back?

A: There will always be some tweeks to our schemes, but basically we feel good about what we’re doing. It’s about getting the right players in the right spots. We made some adjustments as

Friday, August 29, 2014

Darwin Breaux, head coach the season went on and now we’re looking forward to the experience our guys have now. We’ve got a lot of depth now on our defensive line and I think that is going to be a key for us.

Q: What do you have to do this season to make sure some of those lopsided scores from a year ago don’t happen?

A: It’s always about being fundamentally sound. We’ve got to play well, take care of the football and just keep to the old principles of the game.

Q: How does opening up with a tough opponent right away help you for the rest of the season?

A: It’s a great opportunity for our program. Hobart is going to be ranked nationally and it gives us a chance to see where we’re at. We’ve got to play well in all phases and take advantage of the situation.

2014 schedule

D34 • The Sentinel

Sept. 6 at Hobart noon Sept. 13 at Juniata* 1 p.m.

Sept. 20 vs. Susquehanna* 1 p.m.

Sept. 27 at Moravian* 1 p.m.

Oct. 4 vs. Franklin & Marshall* 1 p.m.

Oct. 11 vs. Johns Hopkins* 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 McDaniel* 1 p.m.

Nov. 1 vs. Muhlenberg* 1 p.m.

Nov. 8 vs. Gettysburg* 1 p.m.

Nov. 15 at Ursinus* 1 p.m. *Centennial Conference game

Sentinel file photo

Dickinson head coach Darwin Breaux.

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Dickinson

Friday, August 29, 2014

QB Ahnell aims to finish Dickinson career on high note

By Christopher Hopkins The Sentinel CARLISLE — Players like Cole Ahnell don’t come around too often.

To have someone be able to step in under center their freshman year is rare at the college level.

Many times, it takes two or three years to fully prepare a young quarterback for the starting role.

For Ahnell, that just wasn’t the case.

As a first year at Dickinson College, Ahnell got his first start, playing in all 10 games. Over the last three seasons, he’s played in 27 games, only missing a game last season. The Red Devils haven’t

done a whole lot of winning during his run at quarterback, but he’s put up numbers that would suggest otherwise.

Now as a veteran senior captain, he’s back for one last hurrah in Dickinson red. And changing the Red Devils’ recent misfortunes is at the top of his list.

“He’s a guy that I trust,” Dickinson coach Darwin Breaux said.

“We’ve been through the battles together since midway through his first year. We’ve been through a lot together and I put a lot of trust in him.”

Ahnell does more than just throw the ball as quarterback for the Red Devils. A lot of his game — and Dickinson’s offense — comes from his legs as well. In his first

three seasons, he finished in the top three on the team in rushing, entering his senior year with 2,544 yards on the ground, or 57.2 yards per game. As a sophomore, he led the team in both rushing and passing.

He loses his top two passing targets from 2013, so its those legs that will make the offense go again this season.

“He’s certainly a versatile player, that’s why he’s at that position,” Breaux said. “We ask a lot out of our quarterback. We want him to make plays with both the arm and the legs.”

Email Christopher Hopkins at chopkins@cumberlink.com or follow him on Twitter @chopkins44

Inside the huddle DICKINSON RED DEVILS Head coach: Darwin Breaux (22nd season, 124-90-1) Assistant coaches: Joel Quattrone (Defensive Coordinator); Bob Jazwinski (defensive line coach); Ben Miller (offensive line coach); Scott Shank (offensive backs coach); Andrew Casale (assistant coach); Steve Reider (wide receivers coach); Ryan Anderson (linebackers coach); Keith Fischer (linebackers coach); Bob Gamble (kickers coach).

Stadium: Biddle Field Colors: Red/White Conference: Centennial Conference Offensive formation: Multiple option Defensive formation: 4-3 2013 season: 3-7 (3-6 Centennial Conference) RETURNING OFFENSIVE LEADERS Passing Comp Att TD Yards Cole Ahnell 70 113 5 766 Rushing Att Yards Avg TD

Shawn Wilson 152 769 5.1 5 Receiving Rec Yards TD Eric Ondo 12 158 2 RETURNING DEFENSIVE LEADERS Tackles Tot TFL Jake Myers 66 0 Sacks Tot Yds Ethan Rayner 3.5 18 Interceptions Tot Yds Jake Myers 2 35 Fumble Recoveries Tot Yds None RETURNING SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS Field Goals FGM-FGA Pct. Long Adam Kaminski 5-9 55.6 41 Extra Points XPM-XPA Pct. Adam Kaminski 20-20 100 Punts Tot Avg Long Austin High 30 34.3 53 Kick Return Tot Avg Long TD James Ward 21 23.3 47 0 Punt Return Tot. Avg Long TD M. Helmandollar 10 4.2 11 0

Returning offensive starters (6) Returning defensive starters (8) Returning special teams starters (1) Outlook: Coach Darwin Breaux has had plenty of success in his 21 years in charge of the Red Devils. However, not a lot of that winning has come in the last couple years. Last season, Dickinson was outscored by more than 160 points en route to a 3-7 mark. In order to get back on track and record their first winning season since 2009, the Red Devils will need to see a lot of success from fourth-year starter Cole Ahnell. Lucky for them, that shouldn’t be a problem.

In the run-heavy offensive attack, Ahnell has been asked to use his legs more than his arm and with his top two receiving targets from last year graduated, 2014 shouldn’t be any different. Two years ago, Ahnell was the leading rusher while standing in under center, last year he came in at No. 2 behind running back Shawn Wilson. The junior is also back to

help the Devils offense and with those two alone, they should be able to improve upon their 15.5 points per game from 2013.

The defense will have to step up its game as well, though, if Dickinson wants to see those improvements turn into wins. In 2013, it surrendered 31.8 points per game, largely in part to the 2,309 passing yards in 10 games. However, eight starters come back from that side of the ball, meaning experience can help this unit get back on track.

The season starts with two contests on the road against two top teams, putting the Red Devils to the test right from the get go. A quick start with a couple wins could go a long way in making this season a success. There’s a lot of talent in the Centennial Conference, especially at the top, but there’s no reason to believe this season can’t be the start to a comeback for this historic program.

The Sentinel • D35

THE ROSTER Dickinson College Football 2014 Roster No. Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. 43 Anthony Survilla 1 Jake Meluskey Jr 5-11 185 RB-DB 44 Tanner McMahon 2 Shawn Wilson Jr 5-10 200 RB 45 Hunter Wagnon 3 Sam Easton So 6-0 190 LB 46 Pat Harchik 3 Cody Riemsenschneider So 5-8 160 QB 47 Adam Kaminski 4 Ryan Schutte So 5-6 170 WR 49 Chase O’Connell 5 Cedric Madden Jr 5-11 191 RB 50 Pat Schlecker 6 Michael Carmella Sr 6-0 170 QB 51 Ethan Ranyer 7 Eddie Kozlowski So 6-1 180 QB 52 Josh Schwartz 8 Connor Thompson Sr 5-11 190 LB 53 Ned Emala 9 Cole Ahnell Sr 5-7 185 QB 54 Miller Higgins 10 Tom Dex Fr 6-0 194 LB 55 David Chow 11 Kevin Ioannidis Fr 6-0 195 DB 56 Arturo Adkins 12 Ricky Klingerman Fr 6-0 190 QB 60 Josh Dixon 13 Mark Manganaro Jr 5-8 165 DB 14 Lex Lauletta Fr 5-11 175 QB 61 Robbie Marsden 15 Kyle Donahue Fr 6-1 181 WR 62 Justin Smalley 16 Kienan Dixon Fr 6-2 180 QB 63 Justin Reamer 17 Eric Ondo SR 5-11 180 WR 64 Bill Foote 18 Pat Irwin So 5-8 150 DB 65 Billy Bolinsky 19 Mitch Helmandollar Sr 6-2 190 DB 69 John Bock 20 Jack Margavitch Jr 5-10 185 DB-LB 70 Kelsy Boland 21 Jason Dones Fr 5-8 160 DB 71 David Bertram 22 Zac Surujon Sr 5-9 190 RB 72 Kyle Santorine 23 Brent Scardapane Jr 5-9 170 WR 74 Ron Stine 24 Anders Overhaug Jr 6-0 186 WR 75 Gary DiBileo 25 Devin Gaby Sr 6-2 190 WR 76 Matt Alexis 26 Anthony Scioscia Jr 5-9 185 LB 77 Gavin Harter 27 Teddy Airoldi Jr 6-2 203 LB 28 Stephen Black So 5-10 190 DL 78 Will Gladden 29 Matthew Woodbury Fr 5-9 160 EB 79 John Dean 30 Erik Dettloff Fr 5-10 180 DB 80 Darrion Bunce 31 Brendan Wagner So 5-9 165 DB 81 Oscar Travers 32 Chris Soulas Jr 5-7 200 LB 84 James Higgins 33 James Ward So 5-6 170 WR 87 Brander Suero 34 Will Logue Fr 5-9 170 DB 88 Jordan Maben 35 Bryan Latorraca Fr 6-0 180 DB 91 Walker Moriarty 36 Will Peck Fr 5-9 160 DB 93 Kevin Sherry 37 Jake Myers Jr 5-10 190 DB 94 James Sumpter 38 Mac Franklin Fr 5-9 185 DB 95 Zach Kalman 39 Joe Cacchione So 5-10 165 WR 97 Chris Snyder 40 Clem Rinaldo So 6-1 210 LB 98 Will Hornsby 41 Connor Speidel Fr 6-0 210 LB 42 Wyatt Dickerson So 6-1 210 LB 99 Austin High

Here’s to a great season!

Jr Sr So Fr Sr So Jr Sr Jr So Sr Jr Fr Fr SR So Sr So So Sr Fr Jr So So Fr So So So Fr Fr So So So Fr Sr So So So Fr So Jr

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Shippensburg University

D36 • The Sentinel

Head coach: Mark Maciejewski 2013 record: 2-8 (2-5)

THE BIG QUESTION Can they still be an offensive powerhouse without Zach Zulli?

There’s no doubt the 2012 Harlon Hill trophy winner had a major impact on the Red Raiders offense. In 11 games last season, Shippensburg University put up 37.4 points per game, amassing more than 5,000 yards of total offense. Without Zulli under center, throwing for 3,500 yards and 35 touchdowns, that probably wouldn’t have been possible.

This year, however, it’s not crazy to think they could do it again, all with a new man at quarterback. Zulli is one of just two starters from last year not returning for 2014 — the other being guard Jason Brady.

And while those coming back won’t have the same QB getting them the ball, there’s no reason to believe they can’t be just as successful on their own. After all, coach Mark Maciejewski already sees this offense as further along at this point in the season than last year’s. And that’s without a permanent signal caller.

Senior captain and Cumberland Valley grad Trevor Harman figures to be the No. 1 receiver in this offense yet again. Last year he compiled 1,421 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns. Now he stands just 1,413 yards and nine touchdowns from breaking the all-time PSAC record. With Harman out wide and the likes of Sheldon Mayer, Blair Brooks and Alex Kuljian as options to go to, whoever steps in as the Zulli’s replacement will have plenty of help to choose from.

Q&A Looking back over the last three years under coach Mark Maciejewski, Shippensburg really couldn’t have asked for anything better. Coach Mac has led his alma mater to a 25-10 mark, the most wins by a Shippensburg coach in their first three season, winning the AFCA D-II Region 1 Coach of the Year. Now, with nine starters back, it’s up to Mac to lead the Red Raiders back to a PSAC title.

2014 schedule

Shippensburg Red Raiders

Friday, August 29, 2014

Mark Maciejewski, head coach Q: You lose Zach Zulli at quarterback, but bring back nine other starters.

How much will that help an inexperienced QB that comes in?

A: We are so much better offensively right now then we were at this time last year.

Out running backs are flying around, they’re tough runners. We’re deep at wide receiver. I’m very excited about our potential on offense.

Sept. 4 at Seton Hill 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 vs. Edinboro* noon Sept. 20 vs. California* noon Sept. 27 at Bloomsburg* 2 p.m.

Oct. 4 vs. East Stroudsburg* noon Oct. 11 at Lock Haven* 3 p.m.

Oct. 18 at West Chester* 2 p.m.

Oct. 25 vs. Cheyney* noon Nov. 1 at Millersville* 4 p.m.

Nov. 8 vs. Kutztown* noon Nov. 15 at Mercyhurst noon *PSAC game

Q: After starting 0-2 last season, how important is it for you to get off to a strong start this year?

A: Starting off like that is not what you want to do.

You’ve got to give that team a lot of credit, though, for coming back. Of course, we want to start with a win, take it game-by-game.

We’re a little unproven now, with a young team with some guys who haven’t played before. Starting off

with a win is our objective.

Q: Any extra excitement opening up on a Thursday night?

A: I think that that’s a lot of fun for us. We’ve played pretty well on Thursday nights in the past, so hopefully that continues. I know our guys are excited, not only to play on a night, but to just get out there and compete against someone that’s not ourselves.

Curt Werner/For The Sentinel

Shippensburg University head coach Mark Maciejewski.

Shippensburg University

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A While Zach Zulli was a major influence in the Red Raiders’ offense, Trevor Harman no doubt helped his signal caller in a big way. The Cumberland Valley grad has already been twice named an All-American and in 2013, led Division II with 22 receiving touchdowns. Now, he enters his senior season within striking distance of three major PSAC records.

Q: What’s it like coming into camp with two quarterbacks battling for a starting position?

A: It’s fine. I really like both guys, both bring something different to the table. It’s a great battle that’s a lot of fun to watch.

Q: Why is this offense so far along at this point?

A: We’re very comfortable with the offense now. When we were first introduced to the nohuddle, we really didn’t know what was going on. Now we’ve had a whole season, two camps with this offense and we’re used

Trevor Harman, senior, WR to it. It’s just a level of comfort.

Q: Knowing you’re within striking distance of some big records, is that something you think about or just let it happen?

A: I want a championship to be

completely honest. I definitely want a ring. They are in the back of mind sometimes, just knowing how close they are. It’s kind of cool to see, but it’s the PSAC championship ring that I want the most.

Curt Werner/For The Sentinel

Shippensburg wide receiver Trevor Harman.

Inside the huddle SHIPPENSBURG RED RAIDERS Head coach: Mark Maciejewski (4th season, 2510) Assistant coaches: Joe Davis (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach); Mike Burket (defensive coordinator/linebackers coach); Pete Lee (offensive line coach/kicking coach); J.C. Morgan (running backs coach); Marc Hull (defensive backs coach); Mick Chronister (defensive line coach); Tony Johnson (defensive backs coach); Ron Kerr (offensive line/tight ends coach).

Stadium: Seth Grove Stadium Colors: Red/Blue Conference: PSAC East Offensive formation: Multiple Defensive formation: 4-3 2013 season: 7-4 (6-1) RETURNING OFFENSIVE LEADERS Passing Comp Att TD Yards Chris Lawshe 13 32 1 115 Rushing Att Yards Avg TD Blair Brooks 133 908 6.8 6 Receiving Rec Yards TD Trevor Harman 105 1,421 22 RETURNING DEFENSIVE LEADERS Tackles Tot TFL Cortlin Dell 84 8.5 Sacks Tot Yards Cortlin Dell 3.5 19 Interceptions Tot Yards Jared Adams 1 40 RETURNING SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS

Field Goals None Extra Points None Punts None Kick Return Blair Brooks Punt Return Sheldon Mayer

FGM-FGA

Pct. Long

XPM-XPA

Pct.

Tot

Avg. Long

Tot 21 Tot 22

Avg. 22.8 Avg 13.8

Long TD 89 1 Long TD 85 1

Returning offensive starters (9): Trevor Harman (Sr., WR); Sheldon Mayer (Jr., WR); Blair Brooks (Sr., RB); Dan Wheeler (Jr., FB); Alex Kuljian (Sr., TE); Brandon Robinson (Sr., LT); Tim Latham (Sr., LG); T.J. Smink Jr. (So., C); Doug Randall (Sr., RT).

Returning defensive starters (6): Cory Cowdery (Jr., DT); Joe Dolan (So., DT); Brian Sourber (Sr., LB); Cortlin Dell (Jr., LB); James Brennan (Sr., LB); Phil Boyd (Jr., DB).

Returning special teams starters (0): N/A. Outlook: Anytime you can bring back nine starters back on the offensive side of the ball, you’re already in great shape. However, one of those two players lost is quarterback Zach Zulli, the 2012 Harlon Hill trophy winner. Zulli set nearly every school passing record during his time at Shippensburg. His numbers — which include 10,988 passing yards and 123 touchdowns in three years as a starter — are going to be tough to replace, no matter how many guys back they have around the new man under center. Who that man is is still to be determined and coach Mac is in no rush to name a starter, saying the two-man

race between redshirt freshman Ryan Zapoticky and junior Chris Lawshe is a tight competition that won’t be decided until a clear winner is apparent. No matter who comes out front, they’ll have plenty of weapons at their disposal. Every starting skill player comes back from last season, headlined by Cumberland Valley grad, wide receiver Trevor Harman.

The senior captain, a second-team All-American, is approaching the all-time PSAC receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns mark and with another big year can go down as one of the top receivers to ever play in the conference. Combined with Blair Brooks in the backfield, the Red Raiders have plenty of firepower left over. No wonder why Maciejewski says the unit is well ahead of where it was at this time last year.

The biggest question could be on the defensive side of the ball. Five starters from last year’s team have graduated — all of whom were all-PSAC. Defensive ends Jake Metz and Dainen Green leave big shoes to fill, as do the three secondary players no longer there. It’s there where the Red Raiders will need to find someone to step up in a big way. It should be no problem for them to score in bunches again, but it will be up to this defense to keep up its success and make sure the offense isn’t playing catchup.

Shippensburg hasn’t had a down year yet under coach Mac and 2014 shouldn’t be any exception.

But if it wants to get back into contention for a PSAC title and a spot in the playoffs, it’ll need to avoid the slow start that plagued last season. If Maciejewski is right about where his team is at, that shouldn’t be any problem.

The Sentinel • D37

THE ROSTER Shippensburg University Football 2014 Roster R-Fr No. Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. 46 Brady Forney Fr 1 Sheldon Mayer Jr 5-7 170 WR 47 Kadeem Gill 2 Jared Adams So 5-9 175 DB 48 Jordan Alexander Fr 2 Billy Deane Fr 5-9 155 K-P 49 Matthew Dooley Fr Sr 3 Phil Boyd Jr 5-9 175 DB 50 Sean Sadosky 4 Jordan Harro So 5-11 200 WR 51 Kevin Goldsmith R-Fr 52 Christian Brown R-Fr 5 Ryan Zapoticky R-Fr 6-0 200 QB 54 Joe Dolan So 6 Justin Pyle So 5-9 190 RB 7 Dexter Bridge Jr 6-1 205 WR 55 Andrew Englebert R-Fr Fr 8 Stanley Lumpkin Jr. So 6-0 185 WR 56 Kyle Schutt Sr 9 Mike Brown So 6-3 195 WR 57 Doug Randall Fr 10 Chad Miller Jr 5-11 185 DB 58 Steven Cain 59 Dylan Herb Fr 11 Andrew Smith Jr 5-9 195 RB 12 Ryan Martin Fr 6-4 205 WB 60 Brandon Robinson Sr Fr 13 Will Hudson R-Fr 5-10 190 DB 63 John Durkin R-Fr 14 Andrew McClelland R--Fr 5-11 175 DB 64 Oscar Ghasab 65 Nick Merritt Jr 15 Dakota Collins Jr 5-11 210 QB 66 Schuyler Harting R-Fr 16 Darius Wills R-Fr 5-10 215 LB 67 Dakota Thompson Fr 17 Chris Lawshe Jr 6-4 225 QB Fr 18 Michal Lloyd Sr 6-0 170 K-P 68 Dan Curry Fr 19 Devin Ramos R-Fr 6-2 170 WR 69 John Maul 70 Mike Palmer Fr 20 Colin McDermott R-Fr 5-11 205 RB Sr 21 Dywan Blanding Jr. R-Fr 5-9 165 DB 71 Sam Rolman 72 Tom Latham Sr 22 Blair Brooks Sr 5-8 180 RB Fr 22 Matt Thorne Fr 5-11 195 DB 73 Jordan Good So 23 Chavez Cheatham R-Fr 5-8 180 DB 74 Hayden Rigo 24 Doug Baumann Fr 6-0 195 K-P 75 Aaron Genevese R-Fr Fr 25 Jailen Harmon Fr 5-10 180 DB 76 Matt Belt 77 T.J. Smink Jr. So 26 Marcus Lominy Fr 5-11 195 EB Fr 27 Zak Dakes R-Fr 6-0 190 DB 78 Dalton Brill Fr 27 Tyree Turner Fr 6-1 180 WR 79 Casey Pierce Sr 28 Samuel Marshall Fr 6-4 190 WR 81 Alex Kuljian Fr 29 D.J. Brinkley Fr 5-8 200 DB 82 Ty Rugg 83 Elliot Rende R-Fr 30 John Ford Fr 5-11 195 RB 31 Tarron Dunbar R-Fr 5-10 185 DB 84 Paryss Marshall Fr 85 Daniel Wheeler Jr 33 Brandon Hollister So 5-10 205 LB 87 Trevor Harman Sr 34 Mike Cassidy Fr 6-0 240 FB Fr 35 Tyler Pavalko Fr 5-10 180 DB 88 Chris Figler 36 Luke Spahits Fr 5-9 185 DB 89 Richad Nase Jr. Fr R-Fr 37 Aaron Sye So 5-11 180 DB 90 Jeff Gulyas 91 Kurt Walker Jr 38 Brian Sourber sr 6-2 210 LB 39 Richard Sheler Fr 5-11 190 DB 92 Austin Rosenberry R-Fr 40 Kyle Flick Fr 6-0 185 WR 94 Thomas McIntyre Fr 95 Alex Colon So 41 James Brennan Sr 6-1 205 LB 42 Chris Fegley So 5-10 185 DB 96 Nick Drawbaugh Fr 97 Curtis Marsko Fr 43 Devin Lawhead R-Fr 6-1 220 LB 98 Josh Lister Fr 44 Adam Hollinger So 5-9 215 RB 99 Allen Holman So 45 Cortlin Dell Jr 6-0 230 LB

6-0 195 WR 5-11 180 DB 6-0 235 LB 6-0 190 DB 6-2 255 LB 6-1 215 LB 6-0 205 LB 6-0 260 DL 6-2 265 OL 6-4 275 OL 6-0 300 OL 5-11 195 LB 6-0 215 LB 6-2 275 OL 6-3 240 DL 6-3 290 OL 6-2 335 OL 6-4 265 OL 6-2 230 DL 6-2 230 OL 6-4 290 OL 6-4 170 OL 6-1 265 DL 6-3 290 OL 6-2 295 OL 6-5 280 OL 6-2 305 OL 6-2 335 OL 6-0 280 OL 6-3 310 OL 6-3 245 OL 6-4 245 WR 6-1 210 WR 6-5 250 WR 6-0 195 WR 6-3 270 DB 6-2 205 WR 6-2 190 WR 6-1 210 DL 6-4 255 DL 6-3 240 DL 6-2 285 DL 6-4 255 DL 5-11 280 DL 6-2 240 DL 6-3 245 DL 6-2 260 DL 6-0 225 LB

Penn State

D38 • The Sentinel

Q&A

Head coach: James Franklin 2013 record: 7-5 (4-4)

THE BIG QUESTION What direction is Penn State headed under new leadership?

Penn State took a major hit when head coach Bill O’Brien departed for the NFL to coach the Houston Texans last winter.

Enter James Franklin, the former Vanderbilt coach that led his team to consecutive nine-win seasons in the dreaded SEC Conference. Franklin’s arrival has been met with much fanfare and excitement, especially on the recruiting front.

Penn State currently has the top-ranked class in 2015, but can the first-year coach back up the expectations he’s set on the field? Franklin has the arm of Christian Hackenberg to rely on, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year. After a dynamic rookie campaign, Hackenberg returns more experienced and prepared to build off of last season’s success.

O’Brien wasn’t the only one to leave for the NFL, with last season’s leading receiver Allen Robinson leaving after a junior year in which he rewrote Penn State’s record books. The Lions are forced to replace the production of a player that accounted for the majority of its offense.

Under its fourth head coach and staff in as many seasons, Penn State will need to prove itself early, starting with the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland against Central Florida.

eD ic Beer • iMporT Beer • MicroBrews DoMesT a • snacks • i

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Belton was Penn State’s second best rusher last year but came on towards the end of the season as the most reliable running back, especially in some of the team’s biggest moments. He will compete with Zach Zwinak and Akeel Lynch for the starting role.

Q: With depth in the backfield what is the competition like?

A: I can’t take a day off.

I learned that the hard way two years ago and that pushed me to be the player that I am today.

Q : M i c h i ga n wa s a breakout game for you last year, how important was that performance for you?

A: It gave me a chance to show people what I can do.

I never limit myself to just being, what you guys call, a third down back. I’m not that. That game just gave myself a chance to prove myself to the previous coaching staff and prove myself to the world.

Q: How do you think having different style backs helps?

A: It definitely helps.

You have guys that can run around you and guys that can run through you. So it definitely keeps the defense on its toes.

Bill Belton, senior, RB

2014 schedule

Penn State Nittany Lions

Friday, August 29, 2014

Aug. 30 Sept. 6 Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept. 27 Oct. 11 Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov, 15 Nov. 22 Nov. 29

vs. UCF (Dublin, Ireland) vs. Akron at Rutgers* vs. Massachusetts vs. Northwestern* at Michigan* vs. Ohio State* vs. Maryland* at Indiana* vs. Temple at Illinois* vs. Michigan State*

* Big Ten Conference game

8:30 a.m. noon 8 p.m.

TBA noon 7 p.m.

8 p.m.

TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

The Associated Press

Penn State running back Bill Belton.

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Penn State

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A Breneman added depth to an already talented tight end core last season with 3 TDs. He injured himself in camp but the Mechanicsburg native could potentially return in the season and provide a big impact.

Q: With such a talented group at tight end where do you fit in?

A: I think we have a good group and any time you have competition at a position it makes everyone better. I think that the group we have will help make up for some of the production we’re losing. It’s exciting, part of the reason I came here is to play with guys like Jesse [James] and Kyle (Carter) some of the best at the position.

Q: What’s the relationship like between you?

A: We’re a pretty close group and we get along very well. Everyday we go at it in practice that’s just how it is. It’s very competitive but we’re all great friends. It’s a neat dynamic.

Adam Breneman, so., TE Q: You and Christian have been linked in a lot of ways. What’s your relationship like?

A: It’s a neat dynamic we have, both coming in here together and doing the recruiting thing together and deciding to stick with the program. That obviously

brought us pretty close, off the field we great friends and on the field its a little different. Christian’s starting to trust me more and I’m getting more familiar with hims and his reads and timings.

You saw towards the end of the season we were trusting each other more.

Associated Press file photo

Penn State tight end Adam Breneman.

Inside the huddle PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS Head coach: James Franklin (1st season) Assistant coaches: Bob Shoop (defensive coordinator, safeties coach); John Donovan (offensive coordinator/tight ends coach); Charles Huff (Special teams coordinator/running backs coach); Brent Pry (assistant head coach/ co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach); Josh Gattis (offensive recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach); Herb Hand (offensive line/run game coordinator); Ricky Rahne (passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach); Terry Smith (defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks coach); Sean Spencer (defensive line coach); Dwight Galt (director of performance enhancement).

Stadium: Beaver Stadium Colors: Blue/White Conference: Big Ten (East Division) Offensive formation: Multiple Defensive formation: Multiple 2013 season: 7-5 (4-4 Big Ten) RETURNING OFFENSIVE STARTERS Passing Comp Att TD Yards Christian Hackenberg 231 392 20 2,955 Rushing Att Yards Avg TD Zach Zwinak 210 1,004 4.7 12 Receiving Rec Yards TD Jesse James 25 333 3

RETURNING DEFENSIVE LEADERS Tackles Tot TFL Mike Hull 78 4.5 Sacks Tot Yards C.J. Olaniyan 5 45 Interceptions Tot Yards Jordan Lucas 3 37 Fumble Recoveries Tot Yards Mike Hull 1 0 RETURNING SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS Field Goals FGM-FGA Pct. Long Sam Ficken 15-23 65.2 54 Extra Points XPM-XPA Pct. Sam Ficken 41-42 0.98 Punts Tot Avg. Long Christian Hackenberg 2 42.5 43 Kick Return Tot Avg. Long TD Eugene Lewis 22 22.3 44 0 Punt Return Tot Avg. Long TD Jesse Della Valle 18 8.7 31 0 Returning offensive starters (7) Returning defensive starters (7) Returning special teams starters (1) Outlook: There’s no doubting what the biggest story in Happy Valley will be this season.

After a short two-year stint by now Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, James Franklin now takes the reins of a Nittany Lions program that only looks to be on the rise.

Franklin has handled the heat before, leading Vanderbilt through the trenches of the SEC. He more than survived, averaging eight wins a season in his three years in charge — his two nine-win seasons with the Commodores are two of only four in school history.

Now, he returns to his home state to lead the school he had dreamed of playing for as a child. He already passed the first test by keeping most of the big-name recruits lured in by O’Brien before his departure and is already building his own impressive list.

Now, with a full offseason already under his belt, he’ll just have to prove himself on the sidelines.

Franklin has plenty of weapons at his disposal, most notably sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg. The Big-Ten Freshman of the Year lived up to hype coming out of high school, tossing for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. He’s got several top targets back, especially at the tight end slot, but there’s no question losing Allen Robinson will hurt. Hackenberg will have to work without his safety valve, but there’s no reason to believe his success won’t carry over with the new crowd.

The Big Ten is crowded at the top, especially in the East. While a top finish might still be out of reach, don’t expect any sort of dropoff in

The Sentinel • D39

THE ROSTER No. 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10 11 12 12 13 12 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 21 22 23 23 24 24 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 31 32 33 34 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39

Penn State Football 2014 Roster Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Pos. 40 Jason Cabinda 41 Parker Corthren Bill Belton Sr 5-10 204 RB 41 Zach Ladonis Christian Campbell Fr 6-1 183 DB 42 T.J. Rhattigan Marcus Allen Fr 6-2 196 DB Jake Kiley R-So 6-0 179 WR 43 Mike Hull 44 Troy Reeder Da’Quan Davis Jr 5-10 171 DB DeAndre Thompkins Fr 5-11 173 WR 44 Tyler Yazujian 45 Adam Cole Adrian Amos Sr 6-0 209 DB DaeSean Hamilton R-Fr 6-1 203 WR 47 Brandon Smith 48 Ryan Ammerman Nyeem Wartman R-So 6-1 236 LB 49 Brian Tomasetti Malik Golden R-So 6-1 198 DB Koa Farmer Fr 6-1 208 DB 50 Mike Wiand Eugene Lewis R-So 6-1 199 WR 51 Drew Boyce 52 Curtis Cothran Gary Wooten R-So 6-2 237 LB 53 Derek Dowrey Jordan Lucas Jr 6-0 198 DB 54 Sean Corcoran Trace McSorley Fr 6-0 192 QB 55 Wendy Laurent Trevor Williams Jr 6-1 188 DB Brent Wilkerson R-So 6-3 247 WR 56 Carter Henderson Chris Godwin Fr 6-2 210 WR 57 Marshall Lefferts 58 Chance Sorrell Joran Smith So 5-11 183 DB Saeed Blacknall Fr 6-3 210 WR 59 Andrew Nelson 60 Noah Beh Jesse Merise R-Jr 5-8 180 DB 65 Mile Dieffenbach Christian Hackenberg So 6-4 234 QB 66 Angelo Mangiro Kasey Gaines R-Fr 5-10 161 DB 67 Andrew Terlingo Grant Haley FR 5-9 186 DB 69 Adam DeBoef Michael O’Connor FR 6-4 226 QB 70 Brendan Mahon Billy Fessler Fr 5-11 183 QB 71 Albert Hall Devin Pryor Sr 5-10 181 DB D.J. Crook R-Fr 6-1 213 QB 72 Brian Gaia Dad Poquie So 5-10 179 DB 73 Steve Myers Deion Barnes R-Jr 6-4 255 DL 74 Evan Galimberti Jesse James Jr 6-7 254 WR 75 Brendan Brosnan Daquan Worley Fr 5-10 180 DB 76 Donovan Smith Jordan Dudas R-Jr 6-0 214 DB 77 Chasz Wright Johnathan Thomas R-Fr 5-11 215 RB 78 Tom Devenney Amani Oruwariye Fr 6-1 193 DB 79 Charlie Shuman Akeel Lynch R-So 6-0 215 RB 80 Matt Zanellato Mark Allen Fr 5-7 184 RB 81 Adam Breneman Ryan Keiser Sr 6-1 208 DB 82 Gregg Garrity Nick Scott Fr 5-11 192 RB 83 Luke Vadas Anthony Smith So 6-0 196 DB 84 Chris Geiss Von Walker So 5-11 207 LB 85 Brandon Kuntz Brandon Bell So 6-1 222 LB 86 DeShawn Baker Colin Harrop R-So 6-0 174 DB 86 C.J. Olaniyan Zach Zwink R-Sr 6-1 233 RB 87 Kyle Carter Troy Apke Fr 6-1 185 DB 88 Mike Gesicki Brandon Johnson R-Jr 6-1 215 RB 88 Tyrone Smith Charles Idemudia R-So 5-11 237 DB 89 Tom Pancoast Brad Bars R-Sr 6-3 263 DL 90 Garrett Sickels Adam Geiger So 5-9 191 RB 91 Tarow Barney Jack Haffner R-So 5-10 210 RB 92 Joe Hokmes Cole Chiappialle So 5-8 211 RB 92 Daniel Pasquariello Dom Salomone R-So 5-10 226 DB 93 Robby Liebel Matthew Baney Jr 6-0 230 LB 93 Antoine White Hunter Crafford R-Fr 6-1 211 LB 94 Evan Schwan Deron Thompson R-Jr 5-10 204 RB 95 Carl Nassib Kyle Alston R-Fr 5-9 173 DB 96 Torrence Brown Chris Gulla R-Fr 6-0 193 P-K 97 Sam Ficken Desi Davis R-Fr 5-10 165 WR 98 Anthony Zettel Ben Kline R-Jr 6-2 238 LB 99 Austin Johnson 99 Joey Julius Jesse Della Valle R-Sr 6-1 203 DB

FR 6-1 248 LB R-Fr 6-5 271 DL So 6-2 219 KS R-Jr 5-10 194 LB R-Sr 6-0 232 LB Fr 6-1 244 LB R-So 6-0 228 KS R-So 5-11 223 LB R-Fr 6-0 225 DB R-Fr 6-1 220 LB R-Fr 6-1 182 DB R-Fr 6-0 222 LB R-Jr 6-1 203 LB R-Fr 6-5 235 DL R-So 6-3 323 OL R-FR 6-0 206 KS R-So 6-2 284 OL R-Fr 5-10 213 LB Fr 6-2 330 OL Fr 6-5 291 OL R-Fr 6-5 305 OL Fr 6-6 257 OL R-Sr 6-3 303 OL R-Jr 6-3 309 OL R-Fr 6-4 289 OL Fr 6-5 265 OL R-Fr 6-4 292 OL R-So 6-4 266 OL R-So 6-3 291 OL Fr 6-2 315 OL R-Fr 6-4 268 OL FR 6-6 286 OL R-Jr 6-5 335 OL Fr 6-7 321 OL R-Fr 6-1 299 OL Fr 6-8 305 OL R-Jr 6-3 200 WR So 6-4 243 WR So 5-9 135 WR R-Fr 5-11 163 WR R-Fr 6-3 188 WR Fr 6-4 200 WR R-Jr 6-0 188 WR Sr 6-3 252 DL R-Jr 6-3 241 DL Fr 6-6 237 DL Sr 6-4 275 DL R-Fr 6-2 209 WR R-Fr 6-4 246 DL Jr 6-1 289 DL Fr 5-10 268 DL Fr 6-0 199 P Fr 6-2 200 P Fr 6-1 286 DL R-So 6-6 247 DL R-Jr 6-6 258 RL Fr 6-2 253 DL Sr 6-2 186 PK R-Jr 6-4 274 DL R-So 6-4 313 DL Fr 5-11 200 PK

Penn State

D40 • The Sentinel

Franklin the right man for the job

By Jake Somerville For The Sentinel

wife and kids are there every single day.”

Franklin has reiterated his idea of the team as a family for its players and As James Franklin approached the how he plans to involve his own in the podium on for his first media day as program’s growth.

Penn State’s head coach, he opened His early energy has been infectious things in a fashion unfamiliar to the throughout his staff and team. Wide Penn State brass. receiver’s coach Josh Gattis described “How is everybody doing? How is his head coach as “a firecracker shooteverybody’s summer?” Franklin asked. ing out of a cannon.”

“You guys look shocked like this is un“His energy rubs down on everybody usual to start it this way.” that’s a part of our program,” Gattis said.

There is no doubt Franklin is tactical “They know now how to practice and in his approach. In the same press con- how to perform at our expectations.” ference Franklin made a point to greet There is no shame to Franklin’s game each media member personally when when it comes to self-promotion. they asked a question and wouldn’t The hashtags #DominateTheState, answer until addressed properly. #PSUnrivaled and #107kStrong are Say what you will about Franklin’s ef- likely engrained in your head if you’ve forts to promote his personal, as well as followed him on Twitter since his hirthe Penn State brand, but in just eight ing in January. months Franklin has made all the right But his outgoing personality and use moves as head coach for Penn State. of social media has helped him recruit In his short tenure, Franklin’s enthusithe top class in the Big Ten for next asm and engaging personality have shined season a realm Ohio State has domithrough from the start, a stark contrast nated for the past half of a decade. The from his predecessor Bill O’Brien. class includes top ranked offensive The Langhorne-native has billed tackle prospect Sterling Jenkins and himself as a family man and has stressed four stars Brandon Wimbush (quarterthe importance of a family like environ- back), Juwan Johnson (wide receiver) ment throughout his team. In a press and Manny Bowen (linebacker). conference following this year’s Blue Though proven on the recruiting trail, and White game he answered quesit will all come down to Franklin’s success tions at the podium with his two young on the field and when the season kicks daughters Shola, age 6 and Addison, 5. off on Aug. 30 against UCF in Dublin, The coach had to make a major adIreland; Franklin’s sole focus is business. justment, living in State College on “I think we have [a couple weeks ] his own, spending nights in his office until we open the season against cenwhile he waited for his family to move tral Florida. I addressed that with the in and get sttled. team and it will be here before we know “It’s really been strange because my it for all of us,” Franklin said. “That’s wife and kids have been such a big part of really the last time we’re talking about our [past] programs,” Franklin said. “The that. Our focus right now, we are in a fact that none of these kids really know time period where our focus is on Penn my daughters and none of these kids re- State and becoming the best Penn State we possibly can.” ally know my wife is weird, because my

Q&A Jesse James was Penn State’s top tight end last year and reeled in 25 catches for 333 yards. With an inexperienced wide receiving core in 2014, look for James to be one of Christian Hackenberg’s favorite targets.

Q: How do you feel about that responsibility and how do you guys feel you’ve improved from season to season?

A: We’ve improved on every asset of the game and I think we’re really prepared to take on whatever role the coaches are gonna give to us.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Jesse James, junior, TE It’s gonna be the wide receivers, the tight ends, the running backs that are gonna have to fill in for the stuff that. We’re not really worried about that as a team.

We’ll figure it out.

Q: You’re referred to as the prototypical guy when they talk tight ends. How do feel that your skillset separates you and makes you a little bit more dynamic as a tight end?

A: I’m just trying to be as balanced as possible and do whatever the team asks me

and whatever the coaches ask me to do. So being balanced really helps me out.

Q: Can you speak a little bit about what the comradery is like between you and the other tight ends and what the competition is like out there?

A: I’m really excited to see what some of the guys bring to the table, some of the freshmen and the guys that have been here, we compete everyday in everything whether its in the film room or on the field so we’re all excited to get to work.

The Associated Press

Penn State head coach James Franklin.

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Penn State

Friday, August 29, 2014

Q&A The junior cornerback made a name for himself last year, leading the team with three interceptions. Under a new defensive coordinator, he is expected to play an even greater roll in the Lions defense: Q: How do you guys feel about your growth as a unit? A lot of growth and inexperience last year?

A: I feel great about it because if you look at each position and break it down, people have played. We have guys that have started we have guys that were in the mix so there’s not anybody new. The coaches are very confident with that and as a whole we all are. We’re all ready to see how each person has grown and just going by summer training everybody has took a huge leap, everybody on the defense. We’re just anxious to prace [today] and

Jordan Lucas, junior, CB get out there and get ready for UCF. Q: With a new coaching staff, how you felt about change of schemes how have you been picking things up?

A: I love it. Coach Shoop he’s a guy that wants to get after people and Coach Smith I love playing for him because he’s a real down to earth coach. He knows the position and has a lot of knowledge of the game, so just being out there is better for us because we get to put different pieces of the puzzle together ourselves while they’re in our ear helping us grow as football players and young men and I think that’s the best thing about having them on the staff and the best thing for us defensively.

Q: Coach Shoop talked about the Star position, hybrid guys, and you could be

one of them what are your thoughts on that?

A: I love it the star position is a phenomenal position. If you guys actually saw it you would be like ‘wow, it’s nice.’ You get to do a lot of different things.

Whoever coach gives the keys to for that position, he’s a lucky dude.

What do you like about it?

A: You’re in the middle of everything you’re like a linebacker, you’re like a safety and a corner all in one. You could blitz, you could drop back in coverage, you could play man, you could do the whole thing.

Q: What aspect of you game do you think puts you in the best position?

A: Technique. I’ve been working on my technique a lot and just recognition of routes and split formation and what not.

The Associated Press

Penn State cornerback Jordan Lucas plays with head coach James Franklin’s daughters Addy, left, and Shola during photo day Aug. 10 at Beaver Stadium in State College.

The Sentinel • D41

Unproven O-line has big responsibility

By Jake Somerville For The Sentinel STATE COLLEGE — The responsibilities of Penn State’s offensive line can be boiled down into one direct mission statement: Protect Christian Hackenberg at all costs.

An inexperienced line will have to be up to task guarding the Nittany Lions most valuable player heading into 2014.

And a unit that includes just one returning starter, a former backup and a couple of defensive lineman converted to the other side of the ball does not inspire much confidence.

“You know, that’s going to allow (Christian) to continue to develop, making sure that we are able to protect him with our offensive line,” Franklin said. “Making sure that we are able to be balanced offensively and be able to run the ball with our offensive line and tight end.”

Last year, the Lions boasted a star studded cast on the O-line with the likes of All-Big Ten first team guard John Urschel, All-Big Ten honorable mention in center Ty Howle and several experienced back ups. Left guard Miles Dieffenbach was expected to make a big impact this season but went down with what is suspected to be a season ending injury in the spring.

That leaves Smith and a unit of relative unknowns. Centers Angelo Mangiro and Wendy Laurent got snaps as backups last season but Ben Gaia and Derek Dowrey had to be converted from the defensive side and Brendan Mahon will have to prove himself as a freshman.

“We’ve got a really experienced offensive line coach, I think that’s helpful. We do have some guys that have played a little bit,” Franklin said. “The issue I think is a little bit of body types and flexibility with those body types. If we had

a bunch of 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6 guys that were playing guard that we felt like gave us the flexibility to play multiple positions, then that would be helpful.”

Offensive line coach Herb Hand helped to build a potent rushing attack while on Franklin’s staff at Vanderbilt. His offensive line helped running back Jerron Seymour set a school record with 14 touchdowns last season.

Another aspect Franklin says will help the line is going up against an experienced defensive line in training camp. He said competition between the offensive and defensive front will be like “iron sharpening iron.” Defensive end Deion Barnes echoed his coach’s sentiments.

“I’m not sure how the battles are going to be but we’re just going to be working hard,” Barnes said. “We’ll give our all and expect them to give their all and hopefully they’ll get better when we give our all.”

Penn State could rely on a strong running game last season with the three-headed monster of Bill Belton, Zach Zwinak and Akeel Lynch and will likely utilize its running backs more this season with an inexperienced receiving core. The line will need to provide the push for these running backs to be effective.

Ultimately, Hackenberg holds the keys to Penn State’s offensive success and his protection is a must. Franklin is hoping that his quarterback’s year two development will mask some of the issues surrounding the line.

“I want him to be more and more confident so he can make really good decisions in terms of protecting the football,” Franklin said. “Get the ball out of his hand as quickly as he possibly can, and what you like to see with a quarterback I know in this system is, they get to a point where they feel like the defense can’t be right.”

Penn State

D42 • The Sentinel

Friday, August 29, 2014

Offense looks to replace lost production Big names are gone throughout the starting lineup, leaving plenty for Franklin to address

By Jake Somerville For The Sentinel STATE COLLEGE — For any new coach inheriting a new team, obstacles come standard. Fitting in new and unfamiliar personnel simply comes with the territory.

Throw in a reduced amount of scholarships and more than half of the team’s offensive production from the previous season and it appears James Franklin enters his first season as Penn State’s head coach with exceptionally difficult circumstances.

Fortunately for Franklin, quarterback Christian Hackenberg is back for his sophomore year coming off an exemplary rookie campaign that earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Hackenberg threw for 2,955 yards and 20 touchdowns last year, but the big question heading into this season is whom he’ll be throwing to.

Gone are Allen Robinson and Brandon Felder, the Nittany Lions’ two top receivers from 2013. Robinson took his talents to the NFL on the heels of a historic junior season that set him apart as one of the top receivers in Penn State history. Robinson reeled in 97 catches for 1,432 yards and six touchdowns Losing that type of impact leaves question marks around which receiver the Lions will rely on in 2014.

Could it be redshirt sophomore Geno Lewis, a viable threat during 2013? Or may-

be training camp standout DaeSean Hamilton? A redshirt freshman who missed his true freshman year recovering from a broke wrist.

“I actually think where a lot of the makeup for the production that we lost will come from the tight end position,” Franklin said. “I believe that that’s where we have the most veteran players. That’s where we have the most experience and depth. “ The Lions boast a talented and experienced tight end core coming into 2014 headed by Jesse James and Kyle Carter. The two veterans both made the Mackey Award watch list, which is given to the nation’s top tight end.

Though the core took a recent blow by losing sophomore Adam Breneman to a knee injury in training camp, expectations remain high.

Offensive coordinator John Donovan deemed James, the “prototypical guy” at tight end. The junior will likely be one of Hackenberg’s favorite targets in 2014. Standing at 6-foot-7, with athleticism and reliable hands, James caught 25 passes for 333 yards last year. According to James the entire unit is willing and excited to step into an expanded role.

“We’ve improved on every asset of the game and I think we’re really prepared to take on whatever role the coaches are going to give to us,” James said. “It’s going to be the wide receivers, the tight ends, the running backs that are going to have to fill in for the stuff that. We’re not really worried about that as a team.”

Franklin and his coaching staff hyped the athleticism of the team from top to bottom heading into camp.

Several coaches pointed

The Associated Press

Above: Members of the media interview Penn State football head coach James Franklin after practice Wednesday at University College in Dublin, Ireland.

Below: Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg throws during NCAA football practice Aug. 14 in State College. to true freshman receiver De’Andre Thompkins who ran a sub 4.5, 40-yard dash in the spring.

Lewis showed deep threat ability last year catching a 54-yard touchdown pass in the first game of the season and finishing the year with 18 catches for 234 yards. As the top returning receiver he’s expected to be heavily targeted in 2014.

New receivers coach, Josh Gattis, who has guided the likes of NFL receiver Jordan Matthews while on Franklin’s staff at Vanderbilt, sung high praises for his new unit at Penn State.

“We’ll have a number of guys and I think this is by far one of the most talented receiving cores I’ve been around from top to bottom,” Gattis said. “Although many people don’t know about them right now I think many people will be talking about this group by the end of the year.”

Friday, August 29, 2014

Penn State

The Sentinel • D43

PSU defense searching for a new identity ‘Linebacker U’ has a new system to learn under first-year coordinator Bob Shoop

By Jake Somerville For The Sentinel STATE COLLEGE — Penn State football is in the midst of an identity crisis.

In recent years its struggled to live up to the moniker of “Linebacker U,” after years of building its teams around run-stopping defense and producing NCAA and NFL greats.

Penn State’s top linebacker products include the likes of Shane Conlan and Lavar Arrington as well as some of the game’s top current linebackers in Navarro Bowman and Sean Lee. After a span of four different head coaches in four years, the team could use a rebranding after relying primarily on its offensive weapons to win games in recent years. Though senior linebacker Mike Hull presented himself as a formidable leader on defense with 70 tackles in 2013, the unit is plagued by a lack of depth and experience.

“Each defense, first of all, takes on its own identity,” first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said. “The identity of this group is still yet to be determined.”

The standout unit for Penn State the past couple seasons has been the defensive line and the Nittany Lions will have to rely on their big men up front again this season.

Defensive ends C.J. Olaniyan and Deion Barnes lead the unit. Olaniyan broke out in 2013 with 50 tackles

and a team-high five sacks.

Barnes’s numbers were down last year from his first year in 2012 that won him Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, but Shoop has high expectations for the Philadephia-native. “(Safety Adrian Amos) and De are both players that if they play up to their potential, have all Big Ten potential this year certainly and can play a lot of years at the next level if that’s what they want to do,” Shoop said.

Barnes didn’t offer many predictions for his 2014 performance and kept it short and sweet when discussing his goals for the year.

“Do whatever it takes to win,” Barnes said. “Be a great teammate and win basically.”

One of Penn State’s weak points in 2013 was its secondary, which ranked toward the bottom of the Big Ten in pass defense giving up 237 yards per game and relinquishing the second highest yards per play (8.2).

This year they defensive backfield returns a lot of experience, especially in Amos and cornerback Jordan Lucas who picked off three passes last season.

Shoop has detailed some exciting new plans for his defensive backs with the introduction of the star package, a scheme in which a selected defensive back will play a hybrid role with room to freelance.

The position will be used to combat the growing trend of spread offenses around the Big Ten and has already caught the eye of the players.

“You’re in the middle of everything you’re like a linebacker, you’re like a safety and a corner all in one,” Lucas said. You could blitz, you could drop back in coverage,

The Associated Press

Above: Penn State cornerback Jordan Lucas cracks a smile during practice Wednesday at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.

Left: Penn State cornerback Grant Haley practices.

Below: Penn State defensive backs gather at the end of practice Wednesday.

you could play man, you could do the whole thing.”

Though depth is present in the line and backfield, coaches have an eye on some of the young linebackers such as Bradon Bell and freshmen Koa Farmer and Troy Reeder who will likely be asked to make an immediate impact.

Penn State may not live up to the “Linebacker U” title for this year but is expected to show noticeable growth from last season as a whole, with a focus on covering its weak spots.

“There’s ways to scheme around any limitations and depth at any position,” Shoop said. “Specifically as it relates to linebacker this star package or the 4-2-5 package is one of the ways teams can do that.”

D44 • The Sentinel

Friday, August 29, 2014

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