LOYALTON — Coaches usually bring along players when they attend preseason football media day functions.
Pine Grove coach Jeff Sampson had a pair of players with him Monday when he attended the 2nd annual Tri-Valley Football Coaches Association Media Day at the Upper Dauphin Middle School.
He also had a special guest — 5-month-old daughter Averleigh.
Averleigh took in the sights like the rest of the players and coaches from the Tri-Valley League’s 11 teams, who talked football with writers and broadcasters from seven media outlets, including The Republican-Herald.
In a way, Averleigh symbolized Sampson’s 2014 Cardinals squad.
One year after completing a perfect 10-0 regular season and winning the school’s first TVL title since 2005, Pine Grove will field a young squad that must replace several key cogs lost to graduation.
Among those gone are Republican-Herald All-Area Offensive Player of the Year Ryan Heim, quarterback/defensive end Steve Zimmerman, two-way lineman Ryan Martin, fullback Jesse Fisher, receivers Jed Blankenhorn and Jared McCabe and key defenders Guy Zimmerman and Kade Haldeman.
Heim rushed for a school-record 2,031 yards and scored 29 touchdowns for the Cardinals, who lost to Palisades in the District 11 Class AA semifinals.
“In certain ways we (have an inexperienced team), and in certain ways we don’t,” Sampson said. “Two of our linemen starters are coming back, and Mark Weinus
saw playing time at tailback, fullback and started at defensive end.
“We have a little bit of a mix. We have some young, talented kids who have to step up. We have a fairly decent-sized senior class, and some of those kids that may have been on the cusp of starting last year will have to step up and be the ones we go to this year.”
Weinus, who was in attendance Monday with lineman Scott Werner, will take over the primary ballcarrying duties for the Cardinals after rushing for 269 yards and scoring seven TDs last year. Senior Logan Levan, who started in 2013 when Zimmerman was injured, will take over the reins at quarterback.
The four TVL teams in The Republican-Herald coverage area finished as the top four teams in the league last season, as Williams Valley went 8-1, Tri-Valley compiled a 7-2 mark and Upper Dauphin finished 6-3.
Like Pine Grove, Williams Valley and Upper Dauphin must both replace their quarterback and top tailback, but have several talented players returning.
Tri-Valley returns perhaps the most electrifying player in the league in quarterback Hunter Harner, who rushed for 1,384 yards and 18 touchdowns for Mike Ulicny’s Dawgs.
Here’s a look at some other storylines surrounding the Tri-Valley League entering the 2014 campaign:
Welcome Susquenita
The Tri-Valley League expanded for the second time in three years this season, as Susquenita becomes the TVL’s 11th member.
The Blackhawks, who competed in the Capital Division of the Mid-Penn Conference, went 1-8-1 last year. Susquenita’s only win was a 20-14 victory over Boiling Springs, while the tie was a result of a game-ending brawl against Steel-High.
Mark Kirk, who guided Halifax for five seasons in the late 1990s, takes over as the Blackhawks’ new coach. The Cedar Cliff graduate moved back to the area from Oregon with his wife Robin to be closer to his two grandchildren.
He inherits a squad that has just four seniors on its roster, but returns a strong junior class that features a bevy of players who started last season as sophomores.
“It gives our kids a chance to compete every week,” Kirk said. “I think we’ll be competitive. Our mantra is we’d like to be in every game in the fourth quarter. If we can do that, we’ll have a shot to win our fair share of games.”
The addition of Susquenita, a Class AA school, changes the league’s schedule format. Instead of nine conference games, TVL teams will now have eight league games and two non-league games.
Williams Valley, for example, picked up Marian for its season opener, while Tri-Valley will host Jim Thorpe in Week 4, Upper Dauphin added St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and Pine Grove will trek to Eastern York in Week 9.
“I think it’s great,” Sampson said of Susquenita joining the Tri-Valley League. “It expands our league a little bit. It will be a new challenge for us.”
Added Williams Valley coach Tim Savage: “I’m glad they’re in the league. I’m glad they joined. It’s another nice-sized school to bolster our league.”
Remembering Jazz
Upper Dauphin head coach Brent Bell, the president of the Tri-Valley Football Coaches Association, welcomed those in attendance with some brief remarks before a luncheon was served by The Nutrition Group Inc.
During his remarks, Bell noted the July passing of legendary Mount Carmel coach Joe “Jazz” Diminick, who was a volunteer assistant with UDA when current Mount Carmel coach Carmen DeFrancesco coached the Trojans from 2007-09.
Bell was an assistant coach at that time, and said the time he spent with Diminick helped him prepare to be a high school head coach.
“He helped out behind the scenes,” Bell said. “He wasn’t a position coach or a paid coach. He spent a lot of time in the press box on Friday nights with me. It was always nice to have a set of eyes like his that have been through as much as he had to rely on.
“He just had a way of really giving confidence to me as a young assistant coach and probably gave me the confidence I needed to become a head coach. Between him and Carm, the fact that I’m a head coach now, I owe it to them for the little things they taught me along the way those three years.”
More expansion?
Like college football, conference realignment has become a popular trend in eastern Pennsylvania over the past few years.
The Anthracite Football League expanded to 11 teams for this season with the addition of Lehighton and Blue Mountain, and will grow to 12 teams and split into two divisions in 2016 when Pottsville joins the league.
The Lehigh Valley Conference absorbed the six Mountain Valley League teams — East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West and Stroudsburg — forming an 18-team super conference of District 11 Class AAA and Class AAAA schools now called the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
What about the Tri-Valley League? Would the TVL grow to 12 teams in the near future?
Bell said it’s a possibility.
“We don’t have anybody that is necessarily interested at this point, but we have pursued other options looking for additional teams,” Bell said. “It would be nice to get to 12 teams. It’s disappointing at times that you don’t get to play some of the teams in your league, but at the same time we still have rivalries. They arranged the scheduling to make sure we’re getting those teams as well.
“If we’re able to get a 12th team, it would add to our league even further. As an athletic director, we continue to look for people who are interested and are the right fit.”
Fallen teammate
Williams Valley lost QB Stephen Sedesse (1,367 passing yards, 20 TD), tailback Cole Barnhardt (1,288 rushing yards, 10 TD) and standout fullback/linebacker Trevor Whelski (156 tackles, career tackles leader) to graduation from last year’s District 11 Class A runner-up squad that finished 10-2.
Perhaps tougher to replace will be Anthony Rios, who was killed in a car accident over the summer.
Rios, who compiled 47 tackles as a defensive end last season, would have been a senior this season. A stirring tribute featuring his jersey and a large assortment of flowers hangs on a tree as you enter the Tower City area along Route 209.
“It was tough on everyone because of his personality,” Savage said. “He was a clown on the team and he was always enjoyable to be around. He was ultra-competitive. He grew up in foster care, so he had an edge about him that you like to see on the football field. We miss him greatly.”
Quick hits
Upper Dauphin must replace QB Mac Ney and Trey Campbell, who combined to gain 2,326 of the Trojans’ 2,721 rushing yards and score 27 touchdowns. Cole Reed and Cameron Fornwald will take over the running back duties, while Aaron Cleveland and Drake Lenker are competing for the starting QB job. ... Nick Rodichok will take over as the starting QB at Williams Valley, while Matt Miller will get the most of the ballcarrying duties. The Vikes return talented wideout Cody Miller (26-761, 12 TD), six starting linemen and standout linebacker Albert Wolfgang (140 tackles). ... Reed and Dakotah Wiest represented Upper Dauphin, while Miller and Wolfgang represented Williams Valley and Josh Chacon and Devin Schwalm comprised Tri-Valley’s contingent.
(Boyer is sports editor and covers high school football for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)