2010 DISTRICT 9  SEASON PREVIEW

By Rich Rhoades

BROCKWAY – What is the point of reference this high school football season in District 9? That’s an easy one. Hop on Route 28, head to Brockway and look for Varischetti Field where senior quarterback Derek Buganza and the Rovers will be putting up video game numbers most weeks.

“What did Buganza do this week?” That’ll be a phrase uttered more than once around the district.

Big numbers in Roverland, that’s the expectation at least. And that’s not too much of a stretch considering Buganza threw for a state-record 3,824 yards a year ago to go along with 37 touchdown passes. Then throw in the fact that the Rovers return almost their entire lineup on both sides of the ball and you get the idea that it’s going to be an exciting season on the artificial turf.

Buganza, a second-team all-stater, with 65 career TD passes, is 15 shy of breaking Clearfield’s Chad Kroell’s all-time district mark and with 6,747 yards passing, he’s 1,797 yards away from breaking the all-time state passing yardage record held by Lancaster Catholic’s Kyle Smith. If things really go well, Buganza could reel in two other state records held by Smith — TD passes in a season (50) and career (118).

Buganza has two 1,000-yard receivers back in all-stater Mike Vervoort, who broke district records with 88 receptions for 1,390 yards. Jake Shaffer caught 66 passes for 1,000 yards, Zack Freemer hauled in 40 passes for 756 yards and tight end Chris Marshall finished with 26 catches and 423 yards.

Still, the Rovers have to prove they can stop the other team as their four losses attest. In Class AA, the Karns City Gremlins are the three-time defending champions who edged the Rovers in a shootout last year, 42-40, in the district finals. A finals matchup between those two teams again is the probable scenario again, although Moniteau and perhaps Brookville would like to take a shot at ruining that rematch.

In Class A, Clarion is the defending champion and the Bobcats have a new coach for the first time in over two decades as former assistant Judd Allan takes over for veteran Larry Wiser.

The Bobcats are certainly in the mix in Class A again as are traditional powers Coudersport and Curwensville, along with Cameron County. Don’t count out darkhorse Port Allegany either.

Speaking of new coaches, six other new regimes are getting started in Clarion-Limestone (Jason Kundick), Redbank Valley (Frank Fabian), Cameron County (Mark Morelli), Coudersport (Chris Fink), Smethport (Jesse Cheatle) and Otto-Eldred (Virgil Graham).

Class AAA should once again be an interesting race for two playoff spots as it was last year. Reigning champion Punxsutawney will be hard-pressed to repeat, considering Bradford, Clearfield and St. Marys all return some of their top players from winning seasons.

Conference realignment just didn’t hit the major college ranks. District 9 had some movement as well as St. Marys joined the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference, which split its setup into a Small School — Clarion, Keystone, Union, Redbank Valley, A-C Valley and Clarion-Limestone — and Big School — St. Marys, Punxsutawney, Brookville, Karns City and Moniteau — divisions and will crown separate champions in each one. While Clarion appears to have big edge in the Small School side, the Big School division could be an interesting race.

DuBois moves to District 10 Region 5 from the Mountain Athletic Conference while Clearfield stays in District 6 in a slightly modified division setup now called the MAC-Allegheny Division.

Who’s on the District 9 “Heisman” list as the players to watch? Obviously Buganza and his offensive posse are on the list. Add Clearfield’s Curtis Frye, Moniteau’s Kyle Armagost, Port Allegany’s Matt Bodamer, Punxsutawney’s Logan Weaver, Johnsonburg’s Andy Nortum and Karns City’s Dylan Hipple to the QB list.

Out of the backfield, St. Marys’ Kevin Hoy is the district’s leading returning rusher after gaining over 1,500 yards a year ago. Elk County Catholic’s Ricky Pearsall and Bradford’s Pat Pascarella also went over 1,000 yards. Running behind last year’s leading rusher and graduated Jed Greslick (1,699 yards), Curwensville’s Alex Holland managed to gain 820 yards.           

ALLEGHENY MOUNTAIN LEAGUE

NORTH DIVISION

Cameron County

First Game: Host Elk County Catholic, Friday

Last year’s record: 10-2

Head coach: Mark Morelli, first year

Notable: Veteran coach Mark Morelli becomes the third head coach in as many years for the Red Raiders, who haven’t lost an Allegeny Mountain League regular-season game outside the last three AML Championship games the past three seasons. Seniors Jason Blose and Andrew Fragale lead the way. Blose most likely is moving from quarterback to tailback after rushing for 699 yards as a signal-caller in the team’s run-heavy offense a year ago. Replacing him at QB is junior Zach Austin. Fragale, one of the team’s top offensive linemen, moves to fullback. Still, the Red Raiders have four of their starting lineman returning. Defensively, Fragale led the team with 77 tackles at linebacker while Blose returns to the secondary. Overall, 10 starters return.

Coudersport

First Game: Host Johnsonburg, Friday

Last year’s record: 9-3

Head coach: Chris Fink, first year

Notable: Former Falcons boys’ basketball coach Chris Fink takes over the helm of the Falcons, last year’s Class A runner-up. The Falcons had four players rush for over 400 yards and three of them return, including quarterback Tim McCusker. He ran for 458 yards and threw for 616 yards in an offense that attempted just 77 passes in 12 games. Kevin Wolfinger (466 yards rushing) and Mitch Freeman (438) also carried the ball. Other notable returnees are linemen Creighton Hayes and Skyler Blumer, who each ran for over 260 yards as well, but will anchor the trenches this year.

Otto-Eldred

First Game: Host Kane, Friday

Last year’s record: 2-8

Head coach: Virgil Graham

Notable: Quarterback Noah Colebert passed for 713 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago for the Terrors. Other key players back are G/DE Mike Martin and C/LB Stephen Hercheck. Graham was a star running back for Terrors who graduated in 2005. He rushed for 1,159 yards his senior season.  

Port Allegany

First Game: Visits Ridgway, Friday

Last year’s record: 6-4

Head coach: Mike Bodamer, sixth season (24-24)

Notable: The Gators return their starting quarterback and leading rusher from a year ago among their 16 returning lettermen, giving head coach Mike Bodamer reason to be optimistic. Sophomore Matt Bodamer threw for 1,239 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions as a freshman QB. Senior RB/LB Seth Lowery, entering his fourth year as a starter, rushed for 829 yards and was third on the defense in tackles. Senior WR/DB Camrin Stuckey caught 21 passes for 434 yards.

Sheffield

First Game: Visits Brockway, Friday

Last year’s record: 2-8

Head coach: Bryan Gould, second season (2-8)

Notable: Speedy RB Khalil Slaughter, TE/DE George Fitch, FB/LB Hunter Smith, WR Kevin Williams and WR/DB Nick Bonavita are the leading returning players for second-year head coach Bryan Gould.

Smethport

First Game: Visits Curwensville, Friday

Last year’s record: 1-8

Head coach: Jesse Cheatle, first year

Notable: Jesse Cheatle, a former assistant, steps into a Hubbers program that’s won four games the previous four seasons and hasn’t had a winning season since 2004. QB Kevin Lord, RB/LB Brian Zetwick and RB/DB Damien Kreckel are the Hubbers’ leading players.

SOUTH DIVISION

Brockway

First Game: Host Sheffield, Friday

Last year’s record: 8-4

Head coach: Frank Varischetti, third season (18-15)

Notable: No team in District 9 history is believed to have thrown for as many yards as the Rovers did a year ago, but considering they still managed to lose four games, you can bet where the team hopes to improve. Defensively, the Rovers gave up 25.7 points per game. Only six teams in District 9 surrendered more points. Improving defensively will determine if the Rovers can get over the top and win their first Allegheny Mountain League title since 2003 or Class AA crown since 2005.

Curwensville

First Game: Host Smethport, Friday

Last year’s record: 9-3

Head coach: Andy Evanko, 11^th season (80-32)

Notable: The defending AML South Division champion Golden Tide lost a significant group of athletes to graduation, but have 16 returning lettermen. Leading the way is junior tailback Alex Holland, who rushed for 820 yards and eight touchdowns in the same backfield as the district’s top gainer in graduated Jed Greslick (1,699 yards). Two starters are back on the offensive line, sophomore Spencer Smeal and junior Todd Munchak. The Tide have usually boasted a strong, physical defense and has three starters back on the line and returning linebackers Holland and senior Zach Dimmick leading the way. The Tide also have a new kicker in Taylor Bumgardner, who also plays for the school’s girls’ soccer team.

Elk County Catholic

First Game: Visits Cameron County, Friday

Last year’s record: 4-6

Head coach: Travis Skrzypek, third season (11-10)

Notable: After finishing last year with just 17 players, the Crusaders appear to be in better shape in that department with over 30 players on the roster at this point. That could help keep the Crusaders more rested going late into games. Senior Ricky Pearsall ran for 1,211 yards and has four starters back in front of him on the offensive line. Seniors Kyle Schneider and Ben Daghir, and sophomore Joe McLaughlin are vying for the starting quarterback position. Senior David Bojalad is back at tight end and punter, where he earned First Team All-State recognition after averaging over 40 yards a boot.

Johnsonburg

First Game: Visits Coudersport, Friday

Last year’s record: 3-6

Head coach: Tom Launer, seventh season (27-31)

Notable: Eight starters return on each side of the ball for the Rams, who lost three games by six points or less. Senior QB Andy Nortum threw for 1,059 yards and nine touchdowns and will lead the offense once again. Senior wingback Joe Holmberg was his top target, catching 30 balls for 452 yards. Junior Mike Shuey and senior Trevor Miller return to the line.

Kane

First Game: Visits Otto-Eldred, Friday

Last year’s record: 5-5

Head coach: Jason Barner, fifth season (30-16)

Notable: Senior quarterback Alex Anderson returns after passing for 754 yards and one touchdown last year. Senior DE Marty Nicklas made 66 tackles, including 12.5 sacks. Other key returnees are RB Logan Depto, lineman Josh Kibbey and TE/DB Evan Depto. The Wolves move back down to Class A this year after playing the past two seasons in Class AA. They won the Class A title in 2007.

Ridgway

First Game: Hosts Port Allegany, Friday

Last year’s record: 3-7

Head coach: Mark Heindl, third season (5-14)

Notable: The Elkers have two players — Kevin Kilhoffer and Alex Dickant — competing for the starting QB position. Senior D.J. Skraba will be the feature running back. Two seniors in Steve Gaffey and Derek Mattiuz are the leading linemen. Other top players are LB/RB Steve Mitchell, lineman Chris Woods and RB/WR/DB Ben Jacques.

KEYSTONE SHORTWAY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

BIG SCHOOL

Brookville

First Game: Host St. Marys, Friday

Last year’s record: 3-7

Head coach: Chris Dworek, 15^th season (79-71 at Brookville; 16^th season overall, 83-76)

Notable: The Raiders have 14 returning starters back, including senior Jared Heschke, who caught 33 passes for 619 yards and eight TDs. Those three numbers again would put him at the top of all three career lists in team history. Heschke was also the team’s top tackler from his middle linebacker spot with 158 stops. Dworek’s 15^th season at Brookville is the longest tenure of any coach in team history.

Karns City

First Game: Visits Moniteau, Friday

Last year’s record: 10-3

Head coach: Ed Conto, 11^th season (93-25 at Karns City; 22^nd season overall, 128-91-3)

Notable: The Gremlins have won the last three Class AA titles and will try to four-peat with some new names in the starting lineup. One of them won’t be senior quarterback Dylan Hipple, who passed for 1,056 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 345 yards. He’s about the only significant skill position back from last year. Senior Tyler Slagle, juniors Tyler Shreve, Ethan Williams and sophomore Glenn Toy will get carries out of the backfield at tailback along with fullbacks Zach Barney, Alex Kinkela and Jared Hutchison. Senior tight end Brad Francis was a first-team KSAC player last year and second-teamer on defense as a defensive back, but will move to linebacker.

Moniteau

First Game: Hosts Karns City, Friday

Last year’s record: 6-5

Head coach: Jeff Campbell, fourth season (22-13)

Notable: It’ll be a rebuilding year of sorts for the Warriors, who lost 24 seniors to graduation. But the return of junior starting quarterback Kyle Armagost will make the Warriors a dangerous team. Armagost passed for 955 yards and rushed for 565 yards in his first year as a starter. The rest of the backfield will be a committee at tailback with Jesse Uber, Joey Deal, Zach Dibiase and Trevor Shaffer along with fullback David Campbell. Zach Sloan was a KSAC second-teamer at tight end. Jordan Smith, Sloan and DiBiase all return as starting linebackers.

Punxsutawney

First Game: Hosts DuBois, Friday

Last year’s record: 9-3

Head coach: Alan Nichol, second season (9-3 at Punxsutawney; fourth season overall, 18-14)

Notable: Nichol did an outstanding job in coaching the Chucks to their first District 9 championship in 18 years. He’ll need to replace some key players this year in order to repeat the feat in Class AAA. Junior quarterback Logan Weaver passed for 1,366 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for another 409 yards last year. He already has 2,550 career yards going into his third season behind center.

St. Marys

First Game: Visits Brookville, Friday

Last year’s record: 6-4

Head coach: Joe Schlimm, seventh season (29-33 at St. Marys, 108-92-4 overall)

Notable: Senior Kevin Hoy’s 1,513 yards rushing ranked second in the district last year and he’ll likely be a focal point to this year’s Dutch offense, but Schlimm will try to surround him with other threats, like junior running back Justin Quiggle and first-year starting quarterback Brad Yetzer. Senior Kyle Schneider ran for over 400 yards and will also help lead the defense from his linebacker spot.

SMALL SCHOOL

A-C Valley

First Game: Hosts Clarion-Limestone, Friday

Last year’s record: 0-9

Head coach: Chris McNany, second season  (0-9)

Notable: It’s been 40 games and five years since the Falcons won a game back in 2005. They head into another season with a 22-man roster, 14 of them seniors. The Falcons’ co-operative partner, Cranberry, tried to switch partners and team up with Oil City in the off-season, but were turned down by the PIAA, so the future of that co-op setup is in doubt after this year. The Falcons will have senior Kasey McNany at quarterback this year after he missed all of last year with an injury. Cole Hardick, Alex Ford and Brendan Golden will get carries out of the backfield.

Clarion

First Game: Visits Keystone, Friday

Last year’s record: 10-4

Head coach: Jud Allan, first season

Notable: The Bobcats will defend their Class A title with a new coach, albeit a former assistant in Jud Allan. He takes over the program after assisting under the retired Larry Wiser from 1999 to 2005. Allan has to replace 16 starters, but he does have some key players back, starting with the quarterback rotation of senior Dan Walters (665 yards, 6 TDs) and junior Brandon Heeter (480 yards, 6 TDs). Sophomore defensive end T.J. Armstrong was the D9Sports.Com Rookie of the Year after making 106 tackles and 12 sacks. Junior Ian Matson was among the finalists for Offensive Lineman of the Year. Senior Kris Burkhart (644 yards rushing, 5 TDs) is the top returning rusher. Also new to the coaching staff is former longtime Clarion-Limestone coach Todd Smith, who will serve as defensive coordinator.

Clarion-Limestone

First Game: Visits A-C Valley, Friday

Last year’s record: 2-8

Head coach: Jason Kundick, first season

Notable: Kundick steps in to take over the program for the departed Todd Smith after coaching on the staff last year. He’ll try to get the Lions back to the winning side of things, as they haven’t had a winning record since 2005. The Lions sport a younger roster with just seven seniors on the 36-man roster. Junior Billy Kelley appears to be the starting quarterback. Senior Zach Kemmer caught 37 balls for 529 yards. After that, much of the lineup is untested.

Keystone

First Game: Hosts Clarion, Friday

Last year’s record: 7-4

Head coach: Jason Nellis, seventh season (26-36)

Notable: With the graduation of plenty of offensive firepower, including quarterback Dan Reed and his 2,000-plus yards, the Panthers just might be a running team this year. Those extra carries will go to one or many players, including senior James Gillen, junior Josh Lencer, sophomore Zach Hawk and junior colt O’Neil. Senior Mitchell Rearick will be the new quarterback. Senior B.J. Seyler is the leading returning receiver with 16 catches for 201 yards. Senior LB Matt Hergenroeder was second on the team in tackles with 74 stops. Dylan Ziegler is one of the top place-kickers in the district.

Redbank Valley

First Game: Hosts Union, Friday

Last year’s record: 3-7

Head coach: Frank Fabian, first season

Notable: It’s a new coaching regime with some familiar faces. Former assistant Frank Fabian takes over the Bulldogs with former head coach Ed Wasilowski taking over defensive coordinator chores. The Bulldogs lost over 20 seniors to graduation, so some rebuilding is in order. Senior quarterback Brandon Bain is back after passing for 831 yards and nine touchdowns. Also among the key returnees are junior lineman Braden Bowser and senior middle linebacker Caleb Delp, who could see some carries at fullback.

Union

First Game: Visits Redbank Valley, Friday

Last year’s record: 2-7

Head coach: Al Pryor, seventh season overall (two tenures, 15-39)

Notable: The Golden Knights weren’t officially knocked out of the Class A playoff chase until the final week of the regular season, so that’s a big improvement for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 1997. Senior quarterback Trent Corle passed for 661 yards and eight touchdowns with his favorite target in junior slotback Taylor Smith back coming off 21 catches for 254 yards. Mikey Harris looks to be the feature running back and will be joined by junior Austin Davis, who moves to fullback from the offensive line. Harris and Davis will return to their spots on defense at linebacker as well, where they ranked third and fourth respectively in tackles.

DISTRICT 10 REGION 5

DuBois

First Game: Visits Punxsutawney, Friday

Last year’s record: 5-6

Head coach: Jason Shilala, sixth season (21-31)

Notable: The big boys of District 9 — the only Class AAAA school  — are moving to a new league this year in District 10 Region 5 with Grove City, Oil City, Slippery Rock, Meadville and Corry. The Beavers will still play locals Punxsutawney, Brookville, St. Marys and Bradford, so the schedule mix has head coach Jason Shilala excited. Junior Sean Sleigh will be the new quarterback while tailbacks Shawn Newpher, Brady Haines and fullbacks Alex Burkett, Kaleb Bright and Broc McCloskey will carry the ball. 

DISTRICT 10 REGION 6

Bradford
First Game: Hosts Olean, Friday

Last year’s record: 6-4

Head coach: Jeff Puglio, second season (6-4)

Notable: Second-year coach Jeff Puglio has a few key players back, led by RB Pat Pascarella, who rushed for 1,068 yards and 12 touchdowns. QB Cody Coats (283 yards passing, 239 rushing), FB/LB Mark Havers (449 yards rushing, 48 tackles) and OT/LB Connor Borowski are others. The Owls are back in District 10 Region 6 with the likes of Cathedral Prep, Central Tech, Erie East, Strong Vincent, Fort LeBoeuf and Warren.

MOUNTAIN LEAGUE-ALLEGHENY DIVISION

Clearfield

First Game: Hosts Central-Martinsburg, Friday

Last year’s record: 7-4

Head coach: Tim Janocko, 26^th season (181-91-3)

Notable: The Bisons lost some key players, but have some important players back from  last year. Leading the way is junior quarterback Curtis Frye, who passed for 1,777 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 451 yards. The Bisons also have back their leading rusher in Derek Morgan (772 yards) and second-leading receiver in Derek Danver (30 catches, 437 yards). Clearfield will play in the Mountain League-Allegheny Division with District 6 schools Bellefonte, Central Mountain, Clearfield, Indian Valley, Lewistown and District 4’s Juniata.