Following three straight trips to the playoffs, New Castle fell short last fall with a disappointing mark of 5-4. It's a source of motivation for the third-year starting quarterback Johnny Matarozzi and company, in the grueling Parkway Conference... rated one of the top 15 in the country by rivals.com.
"Our expectations are to win the conference, just as everybody in our conference," head coach Frank Bongivengo said. "That's what they want to do. You want to win the conference, and you want to win the WPIAL Championship. Those are our goals, and hopefully we can meet them."
It's a trend of success that Shenango likewise aspires to after finishing 9-9 the last two seasons. Loaded with eleven seniors and five starters back on each side, the speedy Wildcats expect to turn the corner this fall.
"It's a mindset of we expect to win," said head coach Ryan Mayo. "That's a big part of it, and the second part of it is defense. The last couple of years, we've averaged 20-some points per game, but defensively, we've come up short in a couple of big games. So I think we need to improve defensively if we're gonna do it."
Laurel expects their 4-5 record of last season to pay some serious dividends this time around. Although depth is a concern, the Spartans welcome back an experienced group overall, led by 7 seven seniors, and, more importantly, 8 offensive starters and 7 on D are also back in the fold.
"We have some real quality kids that were forced into playing last year because of injuries," head coach Jerry Holzhauser said. "They've really stepped up, and we're expecting big things out of them."
It's experience that Stacy Robinson does not have at Union with just two seniors returning. To have success, the Scotties will need to take full advantage of talent at skill positions.
"Ya know, we got athletes. It's my job to make sure we get the ball in the athletes' hands," said head coach Stacy Robinson. "Also, I tell the kids, we only have 27 players, and hopefully we can stick with that. So, in essence, I tell them, we can't be like other people. We've got to march all night. We can't rest. Then we've gotta fight all day. As long as they get that in their head, we'll be alright I think."
Numbers are up at Neshannock this season, with 42 players out for the squad. The Lancers hope their win total follows suit after finishing 4-5 last season, and it all starts with defense.
"We've got a little better tackling than we were in previous years," said head coach Pat Cuba. "We continue to focus on that. That's my biggest concern. Not only that you tackle and you do it well, and for safety issues, that you do it properly."
And, there's a new man in charge at Mohawk. Joe Lamenza takes over as head coach with ten seniors leading the way. He promises a strong rushing attack and fundamental defense in his first season on the Warrior sideline.
"We're just trying to change the level of expectations around here," Lamenza said. "Raise the standard of performance, and really just change the overall culture of the program."
