District 9 – Region 1 Season Preview
Tagged under: Conference Previews, District 9, News
Phil Myers | August 9, 2022
District 9 did a good thing for the 2022 football season and restructured the previous Small School North, Small School South, and Large School divisions into what they call three regions. The idea is to bring a little more parity into each division. Region 1 will consist of Bradford (4A), DuBois (4A), Punxsutawney (3A), St. Marys (3A), Brookville (2A), Central Clarion (2A), Karns City (2A), and Moniteau (2A). Region 2 has Kane (2A), Ridgway (2A), Brockway (1A), Keystone (1A), Port Allegany (1A), Redbank Valley (1A), Smethport (1A), and Union-AC Valley (1A). The teams that make up Region 3 are Bucktail (1A) out of District 4, Cameron County (1A), Coudersport (1A), Elk County Catholic (1A), Otto-Eldred (1A), and Sheffield (1A). Clearfield and Curwensville are also District 9 teams, but play in the Mountain Athletic Conference and the Inter-County Conference respectively with mostly District 6 teams.
REGION 1
A preseason coach’s poll put Karns City as the team to beat with St. Marys second and DuBois third. So, let’s take a look at Karns City first.
Karns City went 11-2 last year winning the D-9 Class AA championship before losing to Farrell in the state playoffs. On offense Karns City returns their quarterback, Eric Booher, and three wide receivers namely Nate Garing, Cooper Coyle, and Micah Rupp. They also return RB Luke Cramer. Returning most of your skill players on
offense is a good thing, but the Gremlins will have new starters at every offensive line position. According to Head Coach Joe Sherwin the line has the potential to be good but they need time to develop. Right out of the chute the Gremlins play DuBois and Redbank Valley which should be a good indicator of how good the new linemen will be. Defensively, the Gremlins return the same five starters as shown under the offense. Booher and Cramer are linebackers. Garing, Coyle, and Rupp are DBs. Obviously, there will be a new defensive line too and Coach Sherwin says the same thing about them, ‘They have a potential to be good.’ If both lines develop, Karns City will have another superb year considering the returning skill guys.
St. Marys went 8-3 last season losing to Clearfield in the District 9 Class 3A finals. The Flying Dutchmen return 9 starters on both sides of the ball, but they do need to replace Christian Coudriet their starting QB from a year ago. Their strength will be the offensive line and receiving corps. St. Marys has four linemen back from 2021 including Caiden Baker, Carter Price, Waylon Wehler, and Clay Grazioli. The four receivers who return are Logan Mosier, Collin Reitz, Carter Chadsey, and Charlie Coudriet. All four of those WRs are 6 foot or taller which gives them a heighth advantage over most teams’ defensive backs. The Flyimg Dutch gave Karns City their only regular season loss last year. Coach Chris Dworek said, “We have some good/tough younger guys who have worked hard this summer.” If they find a QB, then there is a good possibility St. Marys goes undefeated in the regular season and would be the favorite to dethrone Clearfield as the D-9 AAA champion.
DuBois will be a senior laden team this year led by QB Cam-Ron Hays. Although the coaching staff has a policy to not name starters until the first game because the position is earned each year, we will presume Hays will begin the year as the #1 quarterback. They have 19 seniors but also have some hungry underclassmen who will see action. The Beavers went 5-6 and made the playoffs for the first time in six years in 2021 losing a heartbreaker to USO (University Prep) from Pittsburgh 14-13. DuBois plays a fairly tough schedule, so staying healthy and improving each week will be keys to their season.
The Brookville Blue Raiders will have a veteran team for the 2022 campaign. Ten players who started at least a game return on offense and eleven kids who started at least a game return on defense. Odds are Brookville will improve upon their 7-4 record from a year ago and possibly go much deeper into the playoffs. Coach Scott Park says, “The key is going to be staying healthy and establishing the run game.” Some of the key players on the Blue Raider offense will be QB Charlie Krug, WRs Brayden Kunselman and Noah Peterson, and 6’2” 295 lb. OG Baily Miller. Defensively, in 2021 Brookville gave up two touchdowns or less in 7 games. If their veteran defensive unit improves upon that statistic and the offense plays as expected, Brookville should be a real contender for the D-9 AA championship.
Central Clarion lost their first four games last year and then went on a four-game winning streak which included beating DuBois. They ended up 4-6 as a very powerful Clearfield team beat them to end the regular season and Karns City dropped them in a first-round playoff game. This season may be quite different as they return six offensive starters including most skill position guys and 8 defensive starters. “We have a good mix of youth and experience,” stated Coach Dave Eggleton. “The line will have two returning starters (Coleman Slater and Colby Wright) and will be filled out by a talented group of underclassmen,” he continued. QB Jase Ferguson was only a freshman last year and had a good year. If he improves, and there is no reason to doubt he will, then the Wildcats will score a lot of points and could be a serious contender for the D-9 AA title.
The Punxsutawney Chucks finished 2-7 last year beating only Moniteau and Bradford, but they return a lot and have high hopes on turning things around in 2022. Of the seven returning offensive starters, RB Zeke Bennett is one to keep an eye on. He averaged 110 yards rushing a game and was the Chucks offensive MVP. The O-Line returns four of the five starters which should enable Bennett to do even better this year. Of the ten returning defensive starters, strong safety Justin Miller is a gamer. He was the defensive MVP last year. Also, kicker Peyton Hetrick booted 25 PATs in a row over two years according to Coach Alan Nichol and only missed one in 2020 and one in 2021 according to MaxPreps.
Moniteau had a lot of underclassmen start in 2021. Their record was 1-9, but were in a few games till the end. “We hope to capitalize on the experience we gained last year,” said head coach Bob Rottman. “We are looking for senior leadership on and off the field. Our team goals are achievable if they show up hungry and push themselves to new levels” he added. Size wise a couple kids stand out. Junior QB David Deccisino is 6’5” and weighs 220 pounds. He also will play a LB position. Senior FB Matt Martino is 6’ and weighs 250 pounds. On the other side of the ball, he’ll play defensive end. The Warriors return eight starters on both offense and defense. Look for them to definitely win more than one game in the upcoming season.
Bradford has lost 18 straight and 26 of their last 27 games. The Owls return five starters on offense: Lucas Laktash, Alex Gangloff, Talan Reese, Troy Adkins, and Nate Girdlestone. Four defensive starters return and they are Laktash, Gangloff, Adkins, and Girdlestone. Coach Jeff Puglio and his players have one goal for 2022 and that’s to win. Puglio was encouraged to see 60 kids sign up for football this year. Bradford was once a D-9 powerhouse and Puglio envisions getting there again.
Protime’s Projected Region 1 Finish:
- St. Marys
- Karns City
- Brookville
- Central Clarion
- DuBois
- Moniteau
- Punxsutawney
- Bradford
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