Laurel SpartansHead Coach: Jeff Holzhauser
2009 Record/Finish: 6-1, 10-2 (2
nd Place)
Laurel has left the Big Seven Conference and joined the Midwestern Conference this season.
District/Conference: District 7 (WPIAL), Midwestern Conference
Class: AA
Last Playoff Appearance: 2009
2009 Points Per Game (Area Rank)Points Scored: 30.2 (T-14
th)
Points Allowed: 9.5 (T-2
nd)
Notes: Maybe one of the biggest discrepancies between one year to the next happened in 2009 with the Laurel Spartans. In 2008, Laurel scored an average of 17 points per contest and gave up an average of 25.3. In 2009, the Spartan offense increased their outage by over thirteen points per game. The Laurel defense improved by just about sixteen points from the prior year.
Spartans on the Move to a New ConferenceLet’s move ‘em out. Laurel joins the Midwestern Conference, replacing Center (which merged with Monaca to form Central Valley), where they will play the likes of the Aliquippa Quips and the Beaver Falls Tigers. Head coach
Jeff Holzhauser is excited about the new competition, “We want to find out how good Laurel football is so might as well play the best people.”
Holzhauser’s group is no stranger to playing and beating the best Pennsylvania has to offer. Just last year in week one,
Jake Dando filling in for an injured
Tyler Forbes at quarterback, led the Spartans to a 15-8 victory over the eventual Class A champion Clairton Bears with thirty-two seconds on the clock. The All-State receiver rushed the ball in from ten yards out for the victory. Coach Holzhauser points out that last year the team faced tough opposition week in and week out, “We played five of the top teams in the state last year.” The Spartans defeated a quintet of teams that finished the year with winning records.
Laurel’s coach says that the strength of the team will be the line play. “They’re tough kids and they love the contact.” Four of the five starters on the offensive front are back (seniors
Patrick Young,
Tyler Kirkwood,
Steven Jones, and 325-pound junior
Kaleb Kingston). The Spartans lost twelve seniors including Dando and Forbes. Senior tailback Dylan Jones returns after rushing for over 1,000 yards a year ago. The receivers and the defensive backs need to be replenished. The Spartan defense held nine opponents to single digits last fall,
“We have a lot of competition,” says Coach Holzhauser, “Seniors this year are quiet leaders and that’s ok. They’re not rah-rah kind of kids but that’s ok with us, as long as, the kids model after what they do on the practice field we’ll be fine.”
2010 Schedule
Date | Opponent | Time |
9/3/10 | Aliquippa | 7:00 |
9/10/10 | Jeannette | 7:00 |
9/17/10 | At Beaver Falls | 7:00 |
9/24/10 | Riverside | 12:00 |
10/1/10 | Freedom | 7:00 |
10/8/10 | At New Brighton | 3:00 |
10/15/10 | At Ellwood City | 7:00 |
10/22/10 | Beaver | 7:00 |
10/29/10 | At Mohawk | 7:00 |
2009 Results
Date | Opponent | Result |
9/4/09 | Clairton | W 15-8 |
9/11/09 | Pittsburgh North Catholic | W 28-7 |
9/19/09 | At South Side Beaver | W 31-7 |
9/25/09 | Neshannock | W 36-0 |
10/2/09 | At Rochester | L 7-14 |
10/9/09 | At Union | W 50-6 |
10/16/09 | Monaca | W 37-13 |
10/23/09 | Western Beaver | W 27-6 |
10/31/09 | At Shenango | W 22-6 |
11/6/09 | Vs. Burgettstown* | W 55-7 |
11/13/09 | Vs. Bethlehem-Center* | W 35-7 |
11/20/09 | Vs. Clairton* | L 0-33 |
Longest Current Home Win Streak
Local Team | Wins | First Win |
Cardinal Mooney | 31 | 10/15/04 |
Ursuline | 19 | 10/27/06 |
Girard | 12 | 10/12/07 |
Farrell | 9 | 9/26/08 |
East Palestine | 7 | 10/10/08 |
Laurel | 7 | 10/3/08 |
Wellsville | 7 | 10/10/08 |
Hubbard | 6 | 9/4/09 |
Western Reserve | 6 | 10/24/08 |
Youngstown East | 6 | 10/25/07 |
Last 10 Years
Year | Record |
2009 | 10-2 |
2008 | 3-6 |
2007 | 6-4 |
2006 | 7-3 |
2005 | 6-4 |
2004 | 9-2 |
2003 | 3-6 |
2002 | 4-6 |
2001 | 2-8 |
2000 | 5-5 |
