PREVIEW: Passing Game Improvements May Be the Key to Union/A-C Valley’s Fate This Season

RIMERSBURG, Pa. (EYT/D9) — The first time Dan Reed was a head football coach, his teams were very pass-heavy.

In the last few seasons as the offensive coordinator at Union/A-C Valley, the Falcon Knights have been a smash mouth, running team in Reed’s attack.

To Reed, a high school football coach can’t be married to a system. He has to be flexible.

Reed, who takes over for Brad Dittman, will take that tack again in his first season as the Union/A-C Valley coach.

(Pictured above, Union/A-C Valley quarterback Brody Dittman gets set to receive a snap as linemen Zander Laughlin, 75, and Colbin Elliott, 54, line up/photo by Stephanie Crissman)

“My first stint as head coach (at Keystone), we threw the ball 50 times per game,” Reed said. “My time as OC at Union/A-C, we’ve been very run-oriented because that’s how our team has been built. We’ve had some really good running backs and some really good offensive linemen. I don’t think we’re going to get away from that this year because we have some good running backs and our line is a strength.”

Reed, however, wants to make the passing game more potent than it has been recently.

His belief is that will take the offense to the next level.

And, in turn, the fate of the team, too.

Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.

“I just feel we have to be able to pass the ball,” Reed said. “We have to take some shots down the field. We get a lot of eight-man boxes and it’s hard to run the ball against that.

“In my mind our passing game has to come around,” he added. “Really disappointed the last few years in our passing game. I don’t think we’ve ever really reached where we need to get to. I think we’re going to be a run-oriented team, but in order for us to get to where we want to go, we have to take that next step in the passing game, especially our down-the-field passing game and make some big plays.”

Union/A-C Valley went 5-6 last season, a year after posting a 9-3 mark and reaching the District 9 Class A title game.

It was a disappointing year for a program that has seen success since the co-op between Union and A-C Valley began in 2016.

The Falcon Knights have made that arduous climb to a yearly contender. They don’t want to slip from that status.

“We’re coming into this season as underdogs. We know that,” said senior offensive/defensive lineman Kaiden McNany. “Everyone is overlooking us after a bad season last year by our standards, but I think we’re going to be a decent ballteam that’s going to turn some heads this year.”

There’s a three-headed battle at quarterback with incumbent Brody Dittman squaring off with Owen Bish and Trey Fleming.

The two who don’t win the job will fill big roles at wide receiver.

There are a bevy of running backs, led by sophomore Logan Skibinski, who has a blend of speed and strength.

The offensive line returns four starters and is big and experienced. So is the defensive line, despite the loss of star Landon Chalmers.

There is certainly the talent in place to get the Falcon Knights back into contention for a D9 title.

“It’s looking very good,” Reed said. “We have four starters returning up front, plus another three or four kids who we think are starter quality back on the line.”

(From left, Union/A-C Valley senior Zander Laughlin, head coach Dan Reed and senior Kaiden McNany)

The line is determined to do whatever needs to be done, whether that is downhill run blocking or pass protecting.

“I take a lot of pride in that. Just being a hard-nosed football player,” McNany said. “We get overlooked, but without … everyone else on the line, this show doesn’t roll.”

The players on the roster are certainly motivated.

Last year did not sit well with them.

“It’s good motivation,” said senior offensive/defensive lineman Zander Laughlin. “It’s making us work harder. We want to chase a championship this year. Prove people wrong. Show them who we really are.”

Who the Falcon Knights are may depend on the opponent.

Reed’s offense runs out of a pistol formation, which gives him supreme flexibility.

“What we run, you’d have to call it multiple,” Reed said. “People call it pistol, but the pistol is really just a formation, not an offense. You can run pistol wing-T. You can run pistol power-I. You can run pistol spread. What I like about the pistol is it gives us the opportunity, if we have the personnel, we can have a downhill running game. If you have the passing game, you can be a spread team. You have a lot of options and you can gear it to the personnel you have in that particular year.”

If the passing game comes around the way Reed hopes, that could make Union/A-C Valley very dangerous.

Numbers, always an issue at small schools and particularly in co-ops like Union/A-C Valley, are good.

The Falcon Knights have a roster size pushing 40.

There is also a groundswell of participation and talent at the lower levels.

“You look even at our younger grades, they are putting in a lot of time in the offseason,” Reed said. “We actually did some junior high 7-on-7s this summer. I think there’s a bright future ahead. I think this year is going to be bright, but even as you look down the road, there’s some teams coming up that, if they stay together, they are gonna be pretty good.”

Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.