NTL FOOTBALL: YOUNG COUNTING ON TEAM LEADERS, LINE PLAY TO CARRY WILDCATS IN 2019 (2019-08-23)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportATHENS "” Longtime Athens coach Jack Young has a wealth of talented, but inexperienced players on the 2019 Wildcats. He's depending on his team leaders to bring out the best in all of them.
(Athens opens the 2019 season Friday night at Hanover Area.)
"I've watched this team grow through the summer, and I think we can compete for a league championship," said Young. "If we can stay healthy, and keep our heads on straight, I think we'll be able to compete with anybody.
"It's all about leadership, especially when you're going to be counting on so many young kids to do so many things for you; there has to be leadership.
"When things aren't going well, we need to be able to handle ourselves, and right the ship," added Young. "No matter what the situation is, we have to have the leadership to pull our young kids along, especially when you are counting on a number of young kids."
One area where the Wildcats are not young or inexperienced is on the offensive line, which senior Dylan Comstock will anchor at center. Junior Connor Sindoni will start at right guard, and Lucas Aquilio will start at left guard until sophomore Dylan Harford returns from injury.
Senior Dan Hill will man the left tackle spot, and junior Ian Wright (6-5, 320 pounds) gets the nod at right tackle, with junior Ben Pernaselli starting at tight end.
Sophomore Tom Forrest will see some action at tackle, and senior Michael Craig could see action at center or tackle.
"Our biggest strength on offense has to be our line," said Young. "All six guys have played for us.
"Dan Hill played a little bit of tackle for us last year, and Lucas Aquilio hurt his knee and didn't play as much as he would have, but the rest of them have played a lot of football," noted Young.
"I don't care who our playmakers are, or what their abilities are, we have to be able to manage the line-of-scrimmage, and quite frankly, win the line-of-scrimmage to be successful," added Young. "Our offensive line is the direct line to our success."
The one player counting the most on that experience up front is freshman quarterback Mason Lister, who will be the first freshman to start at QB for the Wildcats in Week 1 since Shane Raupers in 2005.
"Mason is a real solid kid," said Young. "He's a good student, and he has athletic smarts, which is good to see from of a young kid.
"He may have one of the stronger arms we've seen here in a while. Hopefully, as he grows and improves, we're going to be able to put the ball down the field a little more than we've been able to recently.
"I'm throwing a lot of stuff at Mason," added Young. "I don't care if it's as simple as changes at the line-of-scrimmage, the no-huddle offense, or making simple reads in the passing game, but once he gets comfortable and has a good hold on his mechanics, I think he's going to do an outstanding job."
Young will try to avoid putting Lister in a position where he has to make big plays to win games.
"We have some big playmakers and those are the guys who are going to have to make plays when it counts," said Young. "I just want Mason to manage the offense.
"I want Mason to keep growing as a QB," noted Young. "He had a great summer and camp, and had a solid scrimmage ... he just has to be patient, which can be difficult for a young guy, but hopefully our playmakers will help with that."
Sophomore Aiden Harford will serve as the primary back-up to Lister.
Senior Damian Hudson and sophomore Shayne Reid will see the majority of carries at tailback. Young said both will also see time at wideout, and could even line-up at quarterback.
"Damian and Shayne can make plays at any times," said Young. "They are both quick, with good speed, and we are counting on them to be playmakers."
Junior Tanner Dildine and sophomore Troy Jennings will both see time at fullback.
Seniors Collin Martin and Barry Keene, and sophomore J.J. Babcock will each see time at wide receiver.
Young said avoiding mistakes will be the key to offensive success in 2019.
"My biggest fear for this offense is being efficient and taking care of the football," he said. "We've been preaching that the guys up front, on both sides of the ball, are going to lead us. We just need to take care of the football."
On defense, Wright and senior Keegan Braund will anchor the line as the tackles.
"We have some pretty good beef at tackle," said Young. "Those two combine for about 600 pounds."
Pernaselli will man one of the defensive end spots, while Comstock or first-year player sophomore Troy Pritchard will play on the opposite end.
Dylan Harford will start at middle linebacker once he returns from an injury. Until then Dildine, a returning starter, Sindoni, Jennings and Aiden Harford will see action at the three linebacker spots.
Hudson and Martin will start at cornerback, while Reid and Babcock will start at the safety spots. Sophomore Jared Peterson could also see time at safety.
Young also expects freshman Caleb Nichols to be a contributor on the defensive side of the ball in short order.
"Freshman Caleb NIchols has been working in the secondary, but because of a little hiccup we had going on earlier this week, we moved him down to linebacker," said Young. "Whether it's in the secondary or at linebacker, you're going to see him playing on defense soon."
Young is excited about the potential of the Wildcat defense.
"This defense is enthusiastic, and they want to get after the ball.
"We have experienced guys up front," said Young. "Ian Wright, Ben Pernaselli, and Keegan Braund are really good, and they have the potential to be dominant."
There is some concern for the longtime Wildcat mentor as well.
"My biggest concern with the defense is our inexperience," said Young. "Three out of our four linebackers have not played varsity football, and their inexperience showed at our scrimmage a little bit.
"We also have to sophomores starting in the secondary, and there could be a freshman in there.
"Inexperience on defense can be scary," added Young. "There's no greater gift than experience, especially on defense."
SPECIAL TEAMSReid will handle the kickoff duties, and either Reid or senior Aaron Lane will handle the place-kicking chores, while Nichols will do the punting, and Pritchard or sophomore Jack Barrett will handle the long-snapping.
Hudson and Reid will handle the punt and kick return duties.
YOUNG ON NTL LARGE SCHOOL"I think Canton is going to be very tough. If Canton stays healthy, I might give them the nod in the division," said Young. "I think Wellsboro is going to be tough, and Towanda will be pretty good, too."
"Tom Dickinson seems to keep re-loading at North Penn," noted Young. "They're going to be a fairly young team, but I think they've got it together, and will be very competitive.
"Like I said, I think we'll be able to compete with anyone," he added.
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IN PHOTO: Athens senior Damian Hudson in action last year against Wellsboro.
