Published: June 17, 2008 11:49 pm            

North coach adapting to passing in Lantzy game

North squad coach Dave Small has been an assistant for the Ken Lantzy Finest 40 All-Star Football Game several times, but this is the first time the Purchase Line coach has been the head honcho.

“I’ve coached three other times as an assistant,” Small said. “There’s a lot more responsibility when you’re the head coach, as with anything. Keeping these guys in line and making sure that we do what we need to do to be ready to play the game in one week is a lot of information (including) getting them to know the plays in language they understand coming from different schools. It’s great as a coach to have kids like we have that pick things up quickly.”

The North offense will be run by a pair of quarterbacks who have combined to throw for more than 2,600 yards, Central Cambria’s Shane McGregor and Blacklick Valley’s Mike McDermott.

“It’s an honor to be picked for the Ken Lantzy game and then once you’ve been picked, it’s nice to meet everybody,” McGregor said. “It’s a lot like football camp in the fall. You have to go through the grind and learn a new offense. Once you learn the system and work the kinks out, now it looks like we’re jelling together as a team and are starting to look like an all-star team like we’re supposed to be.”

Added McDermott: “It was difficult to learn the new system at first, but through repetition it gets easier. Everyone is easy to work with. At first, it’s tough to get timing down in your passes, but it gets better.”

The wide receivers are Bobby Glenn of Penn Cambria and Blairsville’s Pete Beskid. Vince Gray of Penns Manor and Ben Sollenberger of Northern Bedford are the tight ends.

“You have to have five passes in a quarter,” Small said. “We checked with the rules committee prior to the start of this, and I asked ‘If you throw the ball to down it, does that count as a pass?’ and they assured me that it was, so we only have four more to throw. We do not throw the football a lot up where we’re from; I’m always for keeping it on the ground, but the type of athletes and the kids we have down here, it’s a little different.

“Our receivers have good speed and good hands. We’ll probably have to air it out a little more than I’m used to.”

The running backs are Northern Cambria’s Jeremiah Dunchack, Tussey Mountain’s Jordan Donaldson, Blairsville’s Chris Hibbs and Purchase Line’s Timmy Lydick. The fullbacks are Penn Cambria’s Luke Geisbrecht and Jerad Peles of Penns Manor.

“Our running backs are solid and are real fast, so that takes a load off the quarterback,” McDermott said.

On the line for the North, Blacklick Valley’s James Smith and Jim Gatskie of Homer-Center are the centers.

The other linemen are Sean Billings of Bishop Carroll, Don Miller of Cambria Heights, Matt Roman of Portage, Justin Serre of Forest Hills, Will Grace of Northern Bedford and Josh Price of Purchase Line.

“We’re trying to get the best people we can in certain situations, some are better at pass blocking and some are better at run blocking,” Small said. “We’re still putting together our line and coming up with a consistent group. They are picking up the system and doing a fine job.”

The 38th annual Ken Lantzy Finest 40 All-Star Football Game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Trojan Stadium.

“It’s a fun week, but it’s a lot more fun when you win, so we come out here and we’re working hard to end up winning Saturday night,” McGregor said. “It should be a good game. I think we’re coming together nicely.”

        

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