By Jeff Say

NEW BETHLEHEM – The Redbank Valley Bulldogs have quarterback quandary. Do they go with the more experienced junior Cody Doverspike or do they hand the ball to converted wide receiver Shane Reed?

The answer will determine how the Bulldogs respond to losing last year’s starting quarterback, Chris Merwin, to graduation.

"We have two candidates, both juniors," Redbank Valley head coach Ed Wasilowski said. "We have Doverspike, who started at quarterback on junior varsity last year, and Reed who will compete (for the starting job). Reed was a wideout, but he has a great throwing arm. He expressed desire to try quarterback. They’ve both been working with our quarterbacks’ coach during camp, and since Aug. 1 have both been doing a great job."

The Bulldogs may follow the lead of other Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference teams and feature a two-quarterback set, but Wasilowski would like to see one starter come out of the battle for signal caller.

"That’s always a chance," Wasilowski said. "We’ve done that before when we’ve had two different style of quarterbacks. Both Cody and Shane are more classic passing quarterbacks. Hopefully one of them will step forward and take the reigns."

The Bulldogs passing game will have the luxury of having experienced receivers to throw to and also having three receivers on the field at all times.

"I think our passing game will be a little bit better this season because our wideouts are a little bit better," Wasilowski said. "Tyson Truitt is back with a year of experience. We have some younger receivers (as well). Josh Mooney is really stepping it up as a junior this year. We have a couple of sophomores, Ryan Toth and Shane Magagnotti, that looked pretty good in camp. I think we’ll be stronger at the wide out position which will hopefully compensate a little bit for the inexperience at quarterback."

Truitt led the Bulldogs with 23 receptions last season for 509 yards and four touchdowns.

The Bulldogs quarterback question mark won’t change the way the offensive is setup.

Redbank Valley will run its traditional one-back set with senior fullback Ron Geist providing the running game. Geist has quietly become one of the best backs in the league having rushed for 1,020 yards and eight touchdowns last season on 196 carries.

"We have two slots that we motion," Wasilowski said. "We can get into a traditional "I" formation. We can get into "Wing-T" formation. But our basic formation is a single fullback behind the quarterback. We’ll try to spread the field with the other four guys."

The key to Redbank’s running game will be the progress of the offensive line.

"Ron will be the first one to tell you it doesn’t matter who’s running the ball back there," Wasilowski said. "We could have Barry Sanders back there (and it won’t matter) if we don’t have kids on the offensive line that can execute the plays and stay on their blocks. A decent block will spring Ronnie. We don’t need crushing blocks. Having Ronnie as our back is a luxury that comes along once in a coaches career."

Redbank’s front line consists of Pete Monrean and Andrew Kespheler at guards, Craig Shaffer at center and Brock Shaffer at one of the tackle positions. The rest of the line could be a question mark, as the other offensive linemen haven’t progressed as quickly as the Bulldogs would have liked.

"Our starting line is pretty solid," Wasilowski said. "But I’m a little concerned about our depth there. We’re very thin on the offensive line. If one of our starters goes down we could have some trouble.

"Four out of the five that were pretty much starters last season are back for us. We have another sophomore, Andrew Wasilowski, stepping in for us. His inexperience has me a little concerned though.

"We have another sophomore who would be pushing for a starting position on the line, but he had some knee operations over the spring and had a setback. That hurt us. Some of our juniors and our other sophomores haven’t picked up the system as well as I would like."

Despite the problem filling the fifth sport, the starting offensive line will be a strong point for the Bulldogs with the line’s quickness being an advantage.

"Those starting four are really athletic," Wasilowski said. "Our smallest guy is 190pounds, but that’s a solid 190. Everybody else is over 200. But more over than that, most of them can move. It might be the most athletic line we’ve had in the 18 years I’ve been coaching."

On defense the Bulldogs strength rests in the middle of the field with three of the four starters from the linebacking squad returning from last season.

Monrean, Brock Shaffer and Geist are the three returning starters at linebacker.

"We’ve got three out of four back at linebacker plus both our starting defensive ends and one defensive tackle," Wasilowski said. "We have a good mix of experience and youth on defense."

Ends Kespheler and Tyler Raybuck anchor the defensive line. Craig Shaffer moved to tackle for the Bulldogs this season giving Redbank Valley a solid front line on defense.

The secondary will pose a problem for Redbank this season, as only two experienced players return to the defensive backfield.

Truitt will anchor the secondary, but he will be moved from cornerback to a safety position to utilize his mobility and experience.

The Bulldogs search for cornerbacks could be an exhausting one, as players haven’t stepped up at the position.

"We have a lot of candidates, but until we see them against other schools it’s very hard to evaluate," Wasilowski said.

The Bulldogs have been put at a disadvantage early as their first scrimmage (Aug. 17) was canceled due to a majority of the team having the flu.

The team was looking forward to the scrimmage as a chance to test out its two young quarterbacks and audition cornerbacks.

Because of the cancellation the Bulldogs only had one scrimmage in which to evaluate the team in game situations.

"I think this year especially we wanted to evaluate our quarterbacks," Wasilowski said. "We didn’t get that chance."

Redbank has been careful with its players this season making sure none of its key players are lost during the preseason camp.

"We’ve been trying to look for a happy medium where we have some live action, but we don’t get anybody hurt," Wasilowski said. "One coach put it good when he said ‘If you think you’re guys are hitting too much, they probably are. And if you think they aren’t they’re probably not.’"

The Bulldogs still have questions needing answers, but Redbank is optimistic for its chances at contending in the KSAC.

"I think it’s going to be wide open this year," Wasilowski said. "There’s probably going to be four or five teams that if things go their way could challenge for the top spot. I have a feeling you’re going to see the winner of the KSAC probably having more than one loss."