Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference Football 2022 Preview: Division 2

Tagged under: Conference Previews, District 4, News

Dave Fegley | August 23, 2022

PHAC Conference Preview

Bulldogs, Tigers, Red Tornadoes Preseason Favorites

With the high school football season approaching, the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference has a lot of unknowns heading into 2022 due to the loss of many talented players from graduation. The preseason favorites in each of the three divisions are all coming off of success from a year ago.

Division 2 appears to be the most competitive. The five-time defending PIAA Class 2A champions from Southern Columbia, who defeated Serra Catholic to claim a state record 12th state title last December, are replacing the most starters of any. Danville, who the Tigers will take on in the middle of the regular season, should have the most potent passing attack in the division.

Loyalsock could be the team that surprises the most as the Lancers have a lot of speed returning on offense. Montoursville, who starts their season with two games against Northern Tier opponents, should be solid once again. Central Columbia is getting a fresh start with a new head coach and Lewisburg rounds out the division as they look to turn things around as soccer has been the primary Fall sport for the Green Dragons lately.

Division 2 Projected Order of Finish:

1.) Southern Columbia

The Tigers can never be counted out. For the first time in a while there won’t be a Garcia leading the offense, but Jim Roth and staff know how to get the best out of their players. “Our goal is to compete for another state title, biggest question is our D & O lines. We have a good group of skill players, if we stay healthy and fill holes up front we should be able to make a run”.

Maryland commit Braeden Wisloski is a bruising back that will punish defenses and Wes Barnes will hit the holes fast. The two have 1900 yards and 27 tds. The Garcia this year that will lead the team is on defense at LB. Also shoring up the SCA defense is LB Dom Fetterolf. They’ll contend for the title again, but it won’t be easy. Mt. Carmel is hungry for a win against the Tigers.

Returning:

Chris Treshock – (Sr) OT/DT, 6’2”-280
Wes Barnes – (Sr) RB, 5’9”-180: 956 Rushing Yds, 14 Tds; 48 Tackles
Braeden Wisloski – (Sr) RB, 5’11”-185: 944 Rushing Yds, 13 Tds; 3 Int
Garrett Garcia – (Jr) ILB, 6’-195: 205 Tackles
Dominic Fetterolf – (So) ILB, 6”-200: 139 Tackles
Jake Toczylousky – (Sr) WR/DB, 6”2”-185
Blake Wise – (Jr) QB, 6”1”-155: 563 pass yds, 11 Tds
Colden Bloom – (Jr) DE, 6”-190: 59 Tackles
Brett Horton (Sr) OG, 5’11”-200
Logan Sharrow (Sr) OT/DE, 6’3”-200: 24 Tackles
Ryan Kerstetter (Sr) TE/LB, 6’1”-190

Newcomers: Carter Madden (Jr) RB/LB, 5’7”-160 Louden Murphy (Jr) RB/S, 6’-170 Tyler Arnold (Sr) DE, 6’1”-205 Jude Bremigen (So) OG, 5’9”-205 Gavin Crebs (Jr) LB/RB, 5’9”-170 Jake Hoy (Jr) WR/DB, 6’-155 Kyle Christman (Jr) WR/DB, 5’11”-180

2.) Danville

The consensus is that the Ironmen “are for real” this year. Army West Point commit Ty Brown-Stauffer is a back that can get chunks of yardage but it’s the LB spot he’s most dangerous at. Mason Raup can go up and get the ball. Delivering the pigskin is QB Zach Gordon. Carson Persing is a record breaking WR that will see plenty of touches. Coach Mike Brennan is “hoping to compete for a PHAC-II and District 4 AAA Championship”. This is a good football team that will compete in 3A.

Returning:

Declan Aikens, OT 6’1″ 260 SR,
Justin Kutcher, C/DT 6’1″ 275 JR,
Mason Raup LB/TE 6’0″ 210 SR,
Ty Stauffer RB/OLB 5’10” 200 SR,
Carson Persing WR/DB 5’8″ 175 SR,
Hayden Winn WR 6’3″ 180 JR,
Zach Gordon QB/DB 6’0″ 185 SR,
Madden Patrick QB/DB 6’0″ 175 SOPH,
Cameron Kiersch, LB 6’1″ 195 SOPH,
Joe Shipe, DL 6’0″ 200 JR,
Aaron Johnson, WR/RB/DB 5’10” 180 JR,
Cade Cush, OLB 5’11” 185 SR

Newcomers: Lincoln Diehl DL/OL, Jah’risse McCullough OT, Jack Gibson LB, Matt Meloy LB, Chase Miller DL/OL, Carter Coombe LB/OL, Cole Duffy WR/DB, Garrett Hoffman K/P/OLB, Wyatt Schultz WR/OLB, Daniel Walker OL/DL, Mason Woll DB, Caleb Fowler DL/OL

3.) Loyalsock

The Lancers are loaded. This is going to be a fun league to watch. They return 4 linemen, QB Tyler Gee and all everything WR/DB Rian Glunk. Watch for teams to kick away from the talented returner, one of the top special teams players in the state. On defense coach Van Fleet has the pleasure of returning 5 linemen, three linebackers and nearly everyone in the backfield. “We look forward to a strong season with a large amount of talent returning.”

Offensive Starters Returning:
Sr. TE Cy Cavanaugh
Sr. HB David Boring
Sr. OL Dom Cellini
Sr. OL Ian Hornberger
Sr. OL Carter Secora
Jr. OL Ethan French
Sr. WR Rian Glunk
Jr. WR Jalen Andrews
Jr. WR Gage Patterson
Sr. RB Davion Hill
Jr. QB Tyler Gee
Sr. RB Gavin Rice
Jr. RB Logan Bastian

Defensive Starters Returning:
Sr. LB Cy Cavanaugh
Sr. DE David Boring
Sr. DE Dom Cellini
Sr. DT. Ian Hornberger
Sr. DT Carter Secora
Jr. NG Ethan French
Sr. CB Rian Glunk
Jr. S Jalen Andrews
Jr. S Will Burdett
Sr. S Davion Hill
Jr. FS Tyler Gee
Sr. LB Gavin Rice
Jr. LB Logan Bastian

Special Team Starters Returning:
So. K Evan Anderson, Jr. Punter Tyler Gee

Newcomers: Fr. OL DL Jeremiah Johnson

4.)

When you talk about Montoursville, you have to say the name Marco Pulizzi. The sturdy back was crushing teams defensively last year and is a heck of a receiver. The Warriors lost a lot to graduation but this team reloads.

Mark Boughton says “Team has to gel both offensively and defensively from losing many great seniors. Need some players to step up and play the role of true team leaders and not sure yet who that will be. Have a large number of athletes just need to fit them all together and gel together the kids we have on OL and DL”. If that happens quickly, this league will be deep in contenders.

Returning:

Marco Pulizzi WR/DB 2023,
James Batkowski RB/DB 2023,
Matthew Conklin LB/TE 2023,
Ethan Wanner LB/OL 2023,
Ethan Lepley OL/DL 2023,
Blaise Alexander DE 2023,
Cole Yonkin DL/OL/FB 2024,
Nate Fisher DL/RB 2023
Alex Fogleman RB/FB 2023

Newcomers: Ben Conrad WR/DB 2024, Mason Duncan OL/DL 2024, Bryce Eberhart QB 2023,

5.) Lewisburg

The Green Dragons finished 5-5 last year losing to powerhouse Jersey Shore twice, a strong Montoursville and had a three point loss to Shamokin. So not all bad. Losing Owen Orddonez on defense will leave a hole. Also gone is QB Zander Walter. The good news is Cam Michaels returns at running back along with 9 juniors. The Dragons have some ground to gain if they want to keep up with the top four.

6.) Central Columbia

The Blue Jays were young last year and it showed with their 3-7 record. It doesn’t look a lot better this year as coach EJ Smith says “Young team looking to rebound from a disappointing season. Look to have a stout defense and an efficient offense. We will look to our Sophomore class and our few returning seniors to help change the culture at Central Columbia”.

Returning:

Greyson Shaud, QB,RB, LB, 6-0 175 Senior
Gage Chipeleski RB, LB 5-10 185 Senior
Nate Smith CB, WR 5-10 170 Senior
Logan Welkom QB, WR, S 6-1 185 Senior
Landon Dietterick TE, LB 6-0 220 Senior
Clayton Ackerman OL, DL 5-8 240 Junior
Brayden Brown OT, DT 6-2 240 Soph
Kole Hummer OL, DL 6-2 240 Soph
Cordell Heggenstaller OL, DL 6-1 230 Soph
Aiden Hidlay OL, DL 6-0 220 Soph
Eli Book WR, S 5-9 160 Junior
Gage Gombert LB, RB 5-9 180 Soph

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