Danville Ironmen

BY HAROLD RAKER

Mike Brennan: You just led the Danville Ironmen to their best season in program history in your first year as the head coach. So, what do you do for an encore?

Before you answer that, know that you no longer have the services of recordbreaking quarterback K.J. Riley, or big-play receivers Ian Persing and Jagger Dressler.

In a year of coronavirus restrictions, few fans in the seats, and schedules turned upside down, Danville beat Montoursville for the District 4 Class 3A championship and advanced to the PIAA semifinals. The Ironmen finished 9-2 after the state semifinal loss to Wyomissing.

Riley, who will play at Berkshire Prep in Massachusetts, a Patriot League/Ivy League prep school, threw for 2,402 yards and 30 touchdowns last year. Persing and Jagger combined for 1,000 yards and 16 TDs.

Yet Brennan, who took over the Danville program after successful stints at Mount Carmel (where he won a state championship) and Hazleton, is not talking about a rebuild. He has plenty of talent looking to put its own stamp on the program.

“We lose some really good seniors. It will be interesting to see how these young kids step up and play for real,” Brennan said. “You can’t replace (kids like) K.J. and Ian and Jagger. They were good players; they played banged up and they will be tough to replace.”

Poised to take over for Riley is junior Zach Gordon, who filled in for injured halfback Ty Stauffer last season, and played wide receiver and returned kicks and punts.

“Zach is a good runner, a natural runner,” Brennan said. “He’s a special player and he’s paid his dues backing up K.J. He gives us a whole new dimension at quarterback.”

Freshman Madden Patrick will be the backup for Gordon, Brennan said.

Fortunately for the Ironmen, they do not need to replace wide receiver Carson Persing. Ian’s younger brother led the Ironmen with 63 catches, 1,231 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore. He will team with sophomore wideout Hayden Winn, who started some games last year and hauled in 12 passes for 96 yards and two TDs.

“Carson is dynamic, and Hayden has a big frame (6-3, 185) and runs good routes,” Brennan said.

Brennan knows that opponents will try to take Carson Persing out of the game, so “we have to be creative in how we use him. We could be pretty good from the get-go or there could be some growing pains for a while.’’

The coach added that how the team reacts without Riley on the field will be a key.

“This will be the first time in four years that these kids have been in the huddle without K.J. Riley. He was a special kid,” Brennan said.

The Ironmen return the entire offensive backfield, minus the quarterback.

Returning to carry the ball is junior halfback Stauffer, the team’s leading rusher last year, and he will be joined

ZACH GORDON ZACH GORDON

Aug. 27 at Mifflinburg* Sept. 3 Midd-West* Sept. 10 at Lewisburg* Sept. 17 at Loyalsock Sept. 24 Central Columbia* Oct. 1 Montoursville* Oct. 8 at Mount Carmel Oct. 15 at Jersey Shore Oct. 22 Shamokin Oct. 29 Southern Columbia

*-PHAC-2 GAME

W at Mifflinburg 49-7 W Midd-West 55-22 W Lewisburg 35-14 L at Montoursville 42-28 W at Central Col. 16-10 W Bloomsburg 46-0 W Mount Carmel FF D4 3A Semifinals W Athens 43-0 D4 3A Final W Montoursville 31-21 PIAA 3A Quarterfinal W Archbishop Carroll 41-21 PIAA 3A Semifinal L at Wyomissing 44-14

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

*-PLAYOFFS; &-DISTRICT CHAMPION #-PIAA CHAMPION

PASSING C-A Int TD Yds K.J. Riley 147-243 10 30 2,402 RUSHING Att Yards TDs Ty Stauffer 64 350 4 K.J. Riley 73 349 9 Zach Gordon 54 294 1 RECEIVING Rec Yards TDs Carson Persing 63 1,231 14 Jagger Dressler 37 639 11 Ian Persing 30 355 5

by junior Mason Raup, who starts at middle linebacker but will play a lot in the offensive backfield as well as at tight end.

“Mason had a really good summer. He can run, block and catch and he’s up close to 200 pounds,” Brennan said. “Mason is a guy who people have not seen on the offensive side of the ball.”

Sophomore Aaron Johnson will also run the ball.

Returning up front to help keep Gordon upright will be 6-foot-8, 255-pound senior tackle Colin Findura, 6-2, 265 sophomore center Justin Kutcher, and 5-11, 190, senior guard Gabe Benjamin.

Brennan said, “Findura, a second-year player, did a great job in the offensive line, and Benjamin is one of the best linemen around, and also a very underrated linebacker.”

The defense should be solid as linebackers Stauffer, Raup and Benjamin return along with junior Cade Cush, and the secondary is intact with Persing and senior Jack Smiley returning at the corners and Gordon back at safety. Sophomore Joe Shipe returns at defensive end.

“I like our work ethic and what the kids did in the offseason,” Brennan said. “They are motivated, and we have some really good players.”

He said the team competed this summer at WilsonWest Lawn against some outstanding teams and played well.

“They were not intimidated. They are a confident bunch,” he said.

Brennan said winning some big games and the way the Ironmen won the district title game, rallying from a two-score halftime deficit, built a lot of confidence.

“They never wavered, and I think that was the turning point for us and it really carried into the offseason and the expectation level this summer was just to pick up where we left off,” he said.

“I was really pleased with our progress in the summer.”

Brennan said he likes his team’s depth, and added that he has a 22-member freshman class coming up from an outstanding junior high season and some will see varsity time.

The Ironmen play all their Heartland Athletic Conference Division II games consecutively, starting with the opener versus Mifflinburg through Montoursville in Week Six.

“We know it’s a challenge. Lewisburg gave us a tough game the first half last year; Central Columbia is a natural rivalry; and Montoursville still has some real good players back with (running back Rocco) Pulizzi and quarterback (Maddix) Dalena. And they always have good linemen on both sides of the ball.”

Brennan said the scrimmage against a good North Schuylkill team should get the Ironmen battle-tested and give them a good idea what they need to work on before the opener with Mifflinburg.

And the Ironmen faithful will have a better idea if they can expect an encore performance in 2021.

DANVILLE COACH MIKE BRENNAN