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TIGERS OPEN 2010 SEASON ON FRIDAY NIGHT AGAINST STATE COLLEGE

 by Don Vandergrift

Coach Art Walker’s Tigers will open the 2010 season with a non-conference contest against last year’s PIAA Quad A runnerup State College.  The Tigers are coming off a 9-2 season that featured the championship of the Northern Six Conference along with a win in the first round of the WPIAL Quad A playoffs.  State College finished with a final mark of 12-3 last year advancing all the way to the state championship game where they lost to LaSalle College, 24-7.

State College is led by veteran coach Al Wolski who has compiled a record of 46-17 in six years at the helm of the Little Lions.  Overall, Wolski has a record of 111-45 in fourteen years as a head coach.  SCAHS has won the last two Mid-Penn Conference Championships.  The Little Lions are coming off a great season last year but have only two offensive and two defensive players returning.  Top players coming back for SCAHS are senior running back and linebacker Shane Dorner (6-1, 215), senior offensive lineman and linebacker Mark Baney (6-1, 225), and senior tight end and linebacker Mark Seeland (6-2, 210).  The Little Lions are picked to finish in 4^th place in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Conference this year by the Patriot-News.

On offense for Coach Wolski will be junior QB Josh Wheatland (6-3, 192) who will be joined in the backfield by senior running back Jamal Albro (6-0, 200).  The Little Lions feature a four-receiver set including split ends senior Colton Myers (5-11, 162) and senior Kyle Hefkin (6-3, 200) along with slot backs senior Dan Taylor (5-9, 175) and senior Luke Jones (5-8, 180).  On the offensive line, senior Tyler Kaluza (5-8, 235) will start at center flanked by senior Kip DiEugenio (6-0, 230) and senior Oliver Terrell (6-0, 220) at the guards with senior Phil Sebulsky (6-4, 220) and senior Matt Delricco (6-1, 230) manning the tackle positions.  Defensively, Seeland and Clay Antos will start at the ends with Delricco and Terrell in the middle.  At inside linebacker, look for Baney and junior Jack Haffner (5-11, 210) with Dorner and junior Brian Laskowski (5-11, 185) starting on the outside.  Senior Dan Taylor (5-9, 175) and senior Jeremy Murray (6-1, 160) get the nod at corner while the safety position is still not decided. 

Coach Walker’s Tigers return a number of key players from last year’s conference champions.  Leading the way is senior RB Alex Papson (5-8, 180) who has gained over 1000 yards in each of his last two seasons.  Last year, Papson picked up 1090 yards on 152 carries (7.17 ypc) good for 15 touchdowns.  Also returning is senior wingback and kick returner Matt Steinbeck (6-1, 195).  The Tiger senior scored five TDs last year, including a  90-yard kickoff return against Shaler and a 68-yard punt return against Seneca Valley.  Senior Mike Buchert (5-10, 160) steps into the quarterback position after seeing some duty last year where he picked up 146 yards rushing in 17 attempts (8.59 ypc) good for a pair of scores.  Junior Nick Passodelis (5-11, 200) gets the nod at fullback.  Senior WR Dan Slivka (6-3, 190) returns after catching 12 passes for 177 yards (25.3 ypc) and four TDs.  Also seeing action at wide receiver will be senior WR Steve Ferringer (6-2, 175), sophomore Brendan Coniker (6-1, 170) and junior James Kleinhampl (6-1, 170).  Senior Rob Kugler (6-4, 245) will move into the tight end position after transferring from Orchard Park HS outside of Buffalo, NY.  On the offensive line, senior Jack Wall (6-2, 260) has experience at center, junior Zack Harvey (6-2, 220) and senior Justin Haser (6-5, 245) will play guard while senior Vince Czerniewski (6-1, 280) and sophomore transfer Patrick Kugler (6-4, 270) will man the tackle positions.

On the defensive line, look for Haser, junior Nate Nachazel (6-0, 175) and Rob Kugler to see time at the ends while Czerniewski and junior Pete Thistle (6-1, 220) will start in the middle.  At the outside linebacker spots, senior Lucas Hook (6-2, 175) and junior Kevin Clemens (5-11, 190) have been starting while seniors Kevin Cope (5-10, 200) and Seth Marx (6-0, 200) will play in the middle.  Steinbeck, an All-Conference first team defensive back last year, will be the safety while the corner position will be shared by Ferringer, Slivka, and sophomore Chas Smith (6-0, 160).  On special teams, senior Alex Greenblatt (5-10, 160) will take over the placekicking duties with Steinbeck doing the punting.  As always, these lineups are tentative as Coach Walker and staff will continually evaluate the team particularly in the season opener.

In checking the archives, these two teams have met only twice, both times in the early 1980s.  In 1982, NA trounced the Little Lions, 48-0, in what was one of NA’s top seasons.  After going unbeaten throughout the regular season, the Tigers lost to rival North Hills in the WPIAL semifinals at Ambridge by a 7-3 score.  The next year, NA also downed State College, this time by a 28-0 score.  The weather forecast is calling for rain in the afternoon but by game time the chance of precipitation has dropped to 10% with the temperature at 73 degrees.  If you cannot attend the game or want to listen to the archive, be sure to join Don Vandergrift and Rick Meister for all the action on the North Allegheny Sports Network.  The pre-game show will begin at 6:40 pm and will include an interview with NA Head Coach Art Walker.  Game time for the opener is set for 7:00 pm with all of the remaining NA home games scheduled for a 7:30 pm start.

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director
Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org