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August 20, 2012

Saegertown jumps up to Class AA

By Drew Karpen MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

MEADVILLE — In most cases, things are supposed to get easier for football coaches entering their second season. The foundation has been laid out, some of the nerves have abated, there is some familiarity with the opposition.

Unfortunately for Saegertown’s second-year head coach Mike Rhoades, this is not quite the case.

Rhoades and his team were thrown a wicked curve ball when Saegertown High’s male enrollment numbers forced the football program to jump from Class A to the bigger and more competitive Class AA. The team missed the single-A cut by 13 male students.

So, instead of Region 2, in which the Panthers went 7-4 and advanced to the District 10 playoffs, Saegertown is preparing to play in Region 3. It’s one number, but a world of difference as far as competitiveness goes.

Region 3 currently includes last year’s region champ and perennial powerhouse Wilmington, last year’s District 10 Class AA champ Hickory, and last season’s District 10 champ in Class AAA, Grove City, which dropped a classification this year. It’s probably the toughest region in District 10 this season.

So what’s a team to do, staring at a gauntlet of a schedule such as that?

Well, what else, get to work.

“It motivates us as a staff,” said Rhoades during a preseason camp session last week. “We haven’t scouted them too much and don’t know what kind of offenses those teams run from year to year.

“I know there are three perennial powerhouses in our new region and the other ones we are looking to be competitive with.”

The jump to Class AA didn’t happen at a very opportune time for the Panthers either. The program was hit hard by last year’s graduating class.

The Panthers will be looking to replace two first team all-region players in lineman Alex Petruso and linebacker Logan Pratt and three second team picks in quarterback Noah Marvin, running back Brock Lojek and lineman Jerrod Young.

Added to that, a number of players, sensing a challenging year for the team, decided not to go out for the squad. The Panthers started camp this year with 38 players, down from last year’s 55.

“I am pretty sure the jump to Class AA has affected our turnout,” Rhoades said. “Most of our players are multi-sport athletes and once they saw we were moving up a class they decided to focus on their other sports. But I am still happy with the group that we have and the effort they have put forth in the first week.”

There are indeed bright spots. Saegertown will be returning a few key players in seniors Adam Riddle and Luke Carter, juniors Kyle Wise and Dakota Long, and sophomore Nick Rumzie, who is recovering from a Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) injury he suffered during basketball workouts.

And the rest of the kids who did show up, they’re taking strides toward becoming a competitive Class AA team.

“It’s going good,” Carter said about the completion of the first week. “Everyone is really coming out and trying as hard as they can. Our numbers are down this year, but I know we have some guys that can step up and hopefully we play like we know how to.”

Carter noted that developing depth at each position has been a priority during camp.

“We want everyone to get reps at every position so we know what everyone is doing,” he said. “Once we start clicking on all cylinders we will get to where we need to be.”

And besides that, it is indeed Rhoades’ second year. The communication between his staff and the players has improved. The team should be more in tune. And Rhoades is taking that opportunity to get his players to focus on some of the finer details of the game.

“This year we run a way, way, way tighter ship,” he said, “All the way from the cleanliness in the locker room to stuff on the field.”

So the work continues in Saegertown. Some big challenges loom ahead. And the Panthers are preparing to meet them head-on.

“Right now we are just trying to get guys back in shape,” he said. “It has been a hard camp the first couple of days, but we are preparing them to compete in a hard region.”

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