At its now annual media day, Tri-Valley Football Coaches Association president and Upper Dauphin coach Brent Bell called the Tri-Valley League the “heart attack league.”
It’s a moniker that could perfectly describe the league this upcoming season.
“On any given night, you just never know,” Newport coach Todd Rothermel said. “You have to hang on to your hat.”
When the league’s coaches talk about what lies ahead this fall, one word always seemed to come up: Balance.
They felt the same way last year, too, but this season it could hold even more true:
• Defending league champ Pine Grove (10-1 overall, 9-0 TVL), runner-up Williams Valley (10-2, 8-1) and fourth-place finisher Upper Dauphin (7-4, 6-3) lost most of their main skill players from 2013 to graduation.
• Third-place finisher Tri-Valley (8-3, 7-2) has one of the league’s top skill players back but needs to rebuild its offensive line.
• Newport (6-5, 5-4) is no longer a league doormat.
• Perennial league contenders Juniata (4-6, 4-5) and Line Mountain (3-7, 2-7) suffered through uncharacteristically bad seasons last fall. Line Mountain has 15 letterwinners back and Juniata 20. Both should be improved. Millersburg (3-7, 3-6) returns 15 letterwinners and is expected to be better, too.
“I don’t think there is any clear-cut favorites,” Pine Grove coach Jeff Sampson said. “I think every week it is just going to be a struggle and you are going to have to be prepared for it.”
Here’s a look at what to expect from the Tri-Valley League in the coming months:
1. Welcome aboard Susquenita
East Juniata joined the league in 2012. Juniata returned last season. Now, the Blackhawks come on this year, making it an 11-team league.
How much of an impact Susquenita makes this season remains to be seen.
In addition to its new home, Susquenita (1-8-1 last season), which previously played in the Capital Division of the Mid-Penn Conference, has a new coach in Mark Kirk. Kirk had 37 years of coaching experience, most recently at Everett. He was the head coach at Halifax from 1995-99.
Players to watch are seniors Shane Smith (QB-MLB) and Jeremy Sultaberger (TE-MLB) and juniors Kevin Kenney (RB-LB) and Hunter McGuire (OL-DL).
Susquenita’s first TVL game is Sept. 5 against Line Mountain.
2. What’s in the Cards?
Pine Grove lost a huge part of its offensive production with the graduation of Tri-Valley League MVP Ryan Heim (2,031 yards rushing, 28 touchdowns) and quarterback Steve Zimmerman (605 yards passing, 302 rushing). Ryan Martin was the Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Senior Mark Weinus is expected to be the Cardinals’ main feature back, while senior Logan Levan, who was the starter in 2012, is the new starting QB. Overall, Pine Grove returns only five starters on offense and four on defense, but there is enough experience returning that it won’t be a complete rebuilding job.
Another title isn’t out of the question, either.
3. In search of new ‘skills’
Williams Valley said good-bye to running back Cole Barnhardt (1,288 yards rushing, 10 TDs) and quarterback Stephen Sedesse (1,367 yards passing, 20 TDs), while Upper Dauphin bid farewell to running back Trey Campbell (1,524 yards rushing, 16 TDs) and quarterback Mac Ney (802 yards rushing, 10 TDs; 826 passing yards, 5 TDs).
The players expected to fill those roles this season include Matt Miller (running back) and Nick Rodichok (quarterback) for the Vikings and Upper Dauphin’s Cameron Fornwald (running back) and Cole Reed (running back).
4. New QBs aplenty
Out of the league’s top 10 passers last season in terms of yards, Halifax’ Mason Erdman (1,109 in 9 league games), Millersburg’s Christian Wingard (929), Juniata’s Justin Clark (648) and Rodichok (507) return. However, only Clark, a sophomore, and Rodichok, a junior, are certain starters this fall.
Line Mountain is expected to start a freshman this fall in Craig Reichard, while Newport opened the preseason with four quarterbacks in the mix.
5. Dawgs’ Harner
back for more
The top returning offensive player is Tri-Valley senior quarterback Hunter Harner, who earned the league’s Ironman Award.
In his first year as a starter
at quarterback, Harner developed into one of the most explosive players in the league, rushing for 1,384 yards on 218 carries while scoring 18 touchdowns. He also threw for 422 yards and 5 TDs.
A big part of a repeat performance for Harner will be the Bulldogs’ rebuilt offensive line. The only returning starter up front is Hunter Herb.
6. Eagles, 2 Indians on the rebound
Line Mountain, Juniata and Millersburg all struggled last season.
The Eagles were young, with only three seniors who played on a regular basis. Juniata’s big offensive gun, running back Neil Bodley, who is attempting to walk on at Penn State, was injured on his first rushing attempt of the regular season and missed the rest of the year. Millersburg also battled through youth and injuries.
All three should be much more competitive this season.
Line Mountain has eight starters back on both offense and defense, Juniata has seven offensive and eight defensive starters, while Millersburg returns eight on offense and eight on defense.
7. New sensation in Newport
The Buffaloes haven’t been mentioned as a potential league champ in years. Their last TVL title was more than two decades ago.
Rothermel, now in his third season, promised to change the culture at Newport and he has. The Buffaloes’ appearance in the District 3 Class AA playoffs in 2013 a 59-14 loss to Berks Catholic in the semifinals, was their first postseason berth in 14 years.
Newport had a winning season despite battling through injuries every week. This fall, the Buffaloes return six starters on both sides of the ball. With 50 players on the roster thanks to a co-op with Greenwood, Rothermel’s biggest challenge might be finding the right positions for everybody.
Newport could indeed be ready to take the next step.
8. Old faces in new places
In addition to Kirk, East Juniata (2-8, 1-8) and Halifax (0-10, 0-9) have new coaches as both try to turn struggling programs around.
At East Juniata, Brent Hartman, a previous assistant for the Tigers, takes over for Simon Cameron, who is currently deployed overseas in the military.
Bob Folk takes over at Halifax. Folk was most recently the defensive coordinator at Susquenita and was a head coach at Newport prior to that. He also tried something unique to start Halifax’ preseason camp, holding a Midnight Madness Practice for the offense when the clocked switched to midnight Aug. 11.
9. Playoff success
Once again, the Tri-Valley League was well represented in the postseason in 2013.
Pine Grove (Class AA), Williams Valley (Class A) and Tri-Valley (Class A) qualified for the District 11 playoffs, while Upper Dauphin (Class A) joined Newport in the District 3 playoffs.
The Vikings reached the championship game, losing 42-16 to Schuylkill Haven.
10. Odd number of teams, unbalanced schedule
With an uneven 11 teams in the league, each team will play eight league games this season.
League’s rivalries, such as Williams Valley at Tri-Valley (Sept. 12), Pine Grove at Tri-Valley (Oct. 17), Williams Valley at Upper Dauphin (Sept. 19) and Halifax at Millersburg (Sept. 19) remain. However, some potential league contenders, such as Pine Grove and Newport, don’t see each other.
How that affects the outcome of the league will be interesting to watch.
Friday, Sept. 5
Upper Dauphin at Tri-Valley
Pine Grove at East Juniata
Wms. Valley at Millersburg
Line Mtn. at Susquenita
Juniata at Newport
Friday, Sept. 12
Tri-Valley at Williams Valley
Upper Dauphin at Halifax
Juniata at Pine Grove
Millersburg at Line Mtn.
Friday, Sept. 19
Pine Grove at Susquenita
Williams Valley at UDA
Halifax at Millersburg
Juniata at Line Mountain
East Juniata at Newport
Friday, Sept. 26
Line Mountain at Tri-Valley
Newport at Williams Valley
Susquenita at Halifax
East Juniata at Juniata
Saturday, Sept. 27
Millersburg at Pine Grove
Friday, Oct. 3
Tri-Valley at Juniata
Pine Grove at U. Dauphin
Susquenita at Newport
Millersburg at East Juniata
Saturday, Oct. 4
Halifax at Line Mountain
Friday, Oct. 10
Wms. Valley at Pine Grove
Tri-Valley at Halifax
Line Mtn. at U. Dauphin
E. Juniata at Susquenita
Newport at Millersburg
Friday, Oct. 17
Pine Grove at Tri-Valley
Upper Dauphin at Newport
Susquenita at Wms. Valley
Halifax at East Juniata
Juniata at Millersburg
Friday, Oct. 24
Wms. Valley at Line Mtn.
East Juniata at Tri-Valley
Millersburg at U. Dauphin
Susquenita at Juniata
Newport at Halifax
Friday, Oct. 31
Halifax at Pine Grove
Juniata at Williams Valley
Tri-Valley at Newport
U. Dauphin at Susquenita
Line Mtn. at East Juniata