Senior-heavy Leechburg expects to take next step after .500 campaign

By: William Whalen
Tuesday, August 20, 2019 | 9:51 AM

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There was a ton of positive energy and momentum surrounding the Leechburg when last season wrapped up.

The Blue Devils closed with convincing wins over Springdale and Cornell. The Blue Devils were playing their best ball of the season during the back half of the schedule, but it was too little, too late as they finished 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the Class A Eastern Conference.

Nevertheless, it was one of the most positive endings to a season Leechburg experienced in recent history. Longtime coach Mark George gave his players time off to heal and recover from the long regular season, but the players weren’t ready to stop.

“I said, ‘Let’s take a month off,’ when we finished up on Friday, and on Monday, they were back in the weight room,” said George, who is in his ninth season as Blue Devils’ coach. “It was a very good feeling to see the kids in there after a long season. They wanted to get right back at it to improve themselves and improve the team. It made me feel good.”

Leechburg finished with .500 record for the first time since 1991. Now, the Blue Devils want to increase that winning percentage.

“We want to do better than that,” senior running back Jake Blumer said. “We want to keep climbing the ladder and not fall down.”

WPIAL championship games are played in November, but they are won during the offseason. The Blue Devils had record turnout to offseason activities.

George has a senior class of 13 players returning, and most have played football together since youth league. The group is focused on getting Leechburg to the playoffs.

“When a team has experienced players coming back, it’s a good thing to have,” George said. “They believe in themselves right now, and there is definitely some confidence in the kids right now. In the past, confidence has been an issue.”

Junior quarterback Dylan Cook enters his third season leading George’s pro-style offense. Cook is light years ahead from where he was a year ago. So much so, George is considering opening up the playbook even more.

“I don’t want to put all the pressure on the quarterback, but we do expect a lot more out of Dylan this year,” George said. “We’ve noticed an improvement this summer.

“The first thing we noticed this summer, at the seven-on-sevens, was his recognition of the defenses, the coverages, and his reads have been better than they were before. But we have to see how that translates into real football.”

The offense will look similar to last season.

Blumer, last season’s leading rusher, will settle in at running back. Another senior, Alex Stramaski, will see time in the slot and also in the backfield beside Blumer when the Blue Devils go with their option package. George said Stramaski is probably “pound-for-pound” the strongest kid on the team.

Last season’s receiving leader Chace Wadsworth and Anthony Mangee return at wide receiver.

“My expectations are that we go out and we play competitively in every game,” George said. “They should be expecting big things of themselves. This is a mature team.”

If there is one glaring weakness early on for the Blue Devils, it’s on defense, and it is right down the middle. While Leechburg has a slew of returning starters from a year ago, the heart and soul of the defense graduated. The departure of middle linebackers Bret Kardos and Nick Venanzio has left a void to fill.

“You don’t replace those young men, but what you do is find kids to step up in those positions,” George said.

There’s a quartet of players George is looking at to earn the starting inside linebacker spots in Leechburg’s 4-4 defense. George likes what he sees out of senior Trace Ensley, who transferred into the district from Texas at the end of last school year. Fellow senior William Harvey and sophomores Jacob Reinke and Asher Miller will get a chance to make their cases to start.

The Blue Devils will be back playing in arguably the most difficult Class A conference in the WPIAL, and maybe the state. Leechburg’s Eastern Conference rivals remain Greensburg Central Catholic, Riverview, Clairton, Imani Christian, Springdale and Jeannette.

Leechburg opens the season with a Week Zero matchup against Apollo-Ridge before opening conference play the next week at Jeannette.

“There’s a group of kids on this team that just want to be successful,” George said. “That’s the bottom line, and I believe that they’ll do everything they can to try and accomplish that.”

Schedule

Coach: Mark George

2018 record: 5-5, 2-4

All-time record: 392-505-38

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23, Apollo-Ridge, 7

8.30, at Jeannette*, 7

9.6, Rochester, 7

9.13, Greensburg C.C.*, 7

9.21, at Riverview*, 12

9.27, Clairton*, 7

10.4, at Frazier, 7

10.11, at Imani Christian*, 7

10.18, Bentworth, 7

10.25, Springdale*, 7

*Class A Easter Conference game

Statistical leaders

Passing: Dylan Cook

Receiving: Chase Wadsworth

Rushing: Jake Blumer

Leechburg roster

Name, Pos., Cl.

Jake Blumer, RB/OLB, Sr.

Collin Cook, OL/DL, Fr.

Dylan Cook, QB/DB, Jr.

Agostino DeCapite, OL/DL, So.

Trace Ensley, OL/ILB, Sr.

Colton Farster, OL/DL, Sr.

Tyler Foley, WR/DB, Fr.

Ivan Guo, WR/OLB, Jr.

Dalton Hamm, RB/DL, Jr.

Allen Harvey, WR/DB, Jr.

William Harvey, OL/ILB, Sr.

Logan Kline, QB/DB, Fr.

Braylon Lovelace, RB/OLB, Fr.

Brandon Lucas, OL/DL, Fr.

Anthony Mangee, WR/QB/DB, Sr.

Mason McMillen, OL/DL, Sr.

Asher Miller, OL/ILB, So.

Garrett Myers, OL/DL, Sr.

Jacob Reinke, OL/ILB, So.

Elijah Rich, TE/DL, So.

Jacob Shaw, OL/DL, Sr.

Alex Stramaski, RB/OLB, Sr.

Jon Talarico, WR/DB, So.

Eli Verner, OL/DL, Fr.

Chace Wadsworth, WR/DB, Sr.

Jeff Wadsworth, RB/DB, Sr.

John Wagner, OL/TE/DL, Sr.

Joseph Williams, OL/DL, Sr.

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Leechburg