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Times-shamrock communiTy newspapers 149 Penn Avenue Scranton, PA 18503 Phone: (570) 348-9185 Fax: (570) 207-3448
August 18, 2016
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SUBURBAN
A preview of the upcoming Lackawanna Trail season by Dave Lauriha
ABINGTON SUBURBAN WRITER
The Lackawanna Trail football team earned its way into the District 2 Class A championship game before ending its season with a loss to Old Forge. Although there was no shame in losing to the Blue Devils in that district finale, finding a way to get over the hump and capture the championship trophy became the obvious goal for the 2016 season for Lions coach Steve Jervis and his crew. “Being that we made it to the district title game last year, even though we came up short, we got some valuable experience, especially at our skill position players,” Jervis said. “Our entire backfield returns, two good receivers; our biggest question is going to be how quick we mature up front. “If we mature, on both sides of the ball, up front, I think we’ll be pretty competitive.” Depth is always a concern for the smaller schools in the area, and, with a 23-man roster of returning players, the Lions know how to handle that situation. But Jervis believes that his team has the talent to compete with any team in the league. “I’d say at this point, we’re pretty confident on both sides (of the ball),” Jervis said. “One could say that we have our skills back, but defensively, our entire secondary and three of four starting linebackers are back. We’ve had to move a couple kids on the D-line that were linebacker-type kids last year and put them on the defensive line. “The quicker we can mature and be very physical up front will be the determining factor.” Being able to protect sophomore starting quarterback Nathan Rolka may be a telling point for the sea-
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son. The fewer times Jervis is forced to watch his quarterback running for his life or getting bounced around by the opposing defensive line behind the line of scrimmage, the better the chance for the Lions achieve many of the goals Jervis will set for them. Two factors appear to be the key ingredients for the Lions to succeed. “Our physicality on the offensive line, and our ability to control the line of scrimmage on the defensive line,” Jervis said. “Those, obviously, were things we have been working on a lot in the off-season. “We have some good kids, just not a lot of experience. If we can mature quickly up front, I’ll be Quarterback Tyler Baltrusaitis receives a snap from center Greg pretty excited about our Ellsworth at a recent practice. PHOTO ALICE STUFFLE season.” Offensively, tackles Most of those players will play key roles on the Robbie Davis, a sophomore, and junior Shawn Jones; senior center defense, starting with the secondary of Baltrusaitis Gregory Ellsworth and junior guards Dillon Moyle at safety, and Bergey at cornerback. Huffsmith reand Nick VanFleet and sophomore guard Jacob turns at inside linebacker while Berrios has one of Grim will try to pave the way for the potentially the outside linebacker positions. Up front, Jones, Davis, VanFleet and Brim man the tackles roles potent offense. Seniors Tyler Baltrusaitis and Matt Bergey give with Moyle and Gillespie at the ends. It all adds up to high hopes for a team on the Rolka a pair of dependable targets at wide receiver while the backfield is manned by seniors Thomas rise. Next week, a look at the prospects for Abington Huffsmith at fullback and running backs Anthony Heights. Berrios and James Gillespie. 1313 Wyoming Ave., Exeter
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