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RANDOM NOTES FROM RICH RHOADES |
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The Following Story appeared in the Aug. 29 edition of the DuBois Courier-Express. D9Sports.Com appreciates The Courier-Express sharing the story with us. By RICH RHOADES SHEFFIELD - There's a big coaching turnover in the Allegheny Mountain
League as a new high school football season kicks off Friday. Half of the
league's 14 teams have new coaches this year and one has ties to the
Tri-County Area. While it's his first job as head coach, it isn't his first year on the Sheffield sideline. Park, who replaced John Bonavita, enters his sixth year with the program. He started as an assistant in 1997. The Wolverines are coming off a 5-4 season, its best record in 13 years. Park wants to continue that improvement and solidify the program's reputation. "Right now, our slogan is 'We believe,'" Park said. "I'm trying to change the whole attitude of the football program." Since 1994, Sheffield has been in a co-operative program with Abraxas, a reform school located outside of Marienville. On Sheffield's 46-man roster, 26 players are from Sheffield and 20 come from Abraxas. The mix is a challenging situation for the coaching staff, which must work hard at integrating players from both schools into one cohesive unit. Park was hired as a physical education/health teacher at Sheffield last fall. Previously, Park worked at Abraxas for eight years and was the school's athletic director for two and a half years. "It's a great plus," Park said of his experience at Abraxas. "That was a big part of why I was considered for the (Sheffield) job. I know the Abraxas philosophy, how they work." Still, that doesn't guarantee harmony on the practice field. "I think right now that if I didn't have the background at Abraxas, I would have hit the panic button," Park admitted. "We've struggled with issues that other teams would not have had. We have Sheffield and then we have kids from all parts of the state, some from big cities. We're trying to mesh them. It's a culture shock at both ends." Park started his coaching career at his alma mater where he was an assistant junior high coach for six years (1991-96). During that time, he picked up his philosophy from then head coach Mike Donghia, from game strategy to discipline. "I believed in it then, I saw how it worked and I'm going with it again," Park said. While the contribution from the Abraxas players is somewhat unknown at the beginning of each year, Park said that his Sheffield group is promising. "It's the most talented group of players from Sheffield in awhile," said Park. Of the 26 players from Sheffield, only two are seniors, 14 are juniors and 10 are sophomores. Both seniors are among the team's best players, third-year starting quarterback Nik Obenrader and guard-linebacker Jared Snell. Other key players are junior split end-cornerback Robin Copley and junior fullback-linebacker Brendan Lobdell. Saturday will also serve as a mini-family reunion for Park. First-year Brockway assistant coach Adam Hepler is his brother-in-law. Park's younger brother, Matt, is a wrestling coach for the Rovers. Park joins other AML first-year coaches Drew Seaman of Eisenhower,
Kerry Snow of Otto-Eldred, Brian Lovett of Cameron County, Richard Bouch
of Kane and Joe Renwick of Elk County Catholic. Kevin Carter returns to
Johnsonburg for another stint as head coach. Starting with the District 9 League, you may want to head to the Bison Sports Complex in Hyde Friday night to get a good idea as Clearfield hosts Bradford. Clearfield returns its starting quarterback Mike Sayers, all-state player Dave Richards and top receiver Todd Shaw. Bradford lost 19 starters to graduation and returns only six letterwinners. But don't be deceived. Bradford has fared well in junior high and junior varsity the last few years and it may be a situation of reloading. Clearfield may have the nod Friday because of playing at home. The Allegheny Mountain League has three teams and then who knows. Brockway is the favorite in the South Division while defending D-9 Class A champion Coudersport and defending AML champion Smethport are the teams to beat in the North. There's no obvious choice in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference,
but mark down defending champion Karns City and Clarion-Limestone for
sure. Don't overlook Keystone or Redbank Valley either. If you go with the
"big back" theory, then look at Redbank Valley senior Ron Geist,
who's already the school's all-time leading rusher with 2,485 yards. He
has two 1,000-yard seasons under his belt. Class AAAA: DuBois is the only D-9 school and will compete in the District 10 playoffs, a big switch from the past link with District 6. Class AAA: Five teams include Bradford, Clearfield, Punxsutawney, St. Marys and A-C Valley. Up to four teams may qualify for the playoffs that start Week 10. Class AA: Five teams include Brockway, Brookville, Karns City, Moniteau and Otto-Eldred. Up to four teams may qualify for the playoffs that start Week 10. Class A: Everybody else, consisting of 14 teams from the AML and KSAC.
Four teams qualify for the playoffs that start Week 10. Each conference
receives an automatic bid and the remaining two spots are wild cards. ODDS AND ENDS - Altoona standout senior lineman Sean Shannon will miss at least the rest of the season and perhaps more after suffering heat stroke during practice last week. He was transported by helicopter to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and as of Tuesday, was still there. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Shannon, an all-state candidate, was being
recruited by at least one NCAA Division I school, the University of
Pittsburgh. ... State College tight end Jon Stupar, 6-foot-5, 245 pounds,
is rated among the top tight ends in the country, but isn't being
recruited by Penn State, according to the Centre Daily Times. ... Former
Clarion-Limestone head coach Clyde Conti is now the head coach at Slippery
Rock, a District 10 school. He starts the year with some |