Carmichaels seeks more toughness in bounce-back season

By: Ted Sarneso
Tuesday, August 20, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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Coach Ryan Krull returned to coach Carmichaels football last year after a four-year hiatus. He brought with him an intensity he’s known for and expects from his players.

“We’re very demanding of our players here, but from an intensity standpoint,” he said. “If we want to accomplish the goals we set forth, we’re going to have to bring that intensity, or edge, to the table against our competition.”

Krull’s philosophy hasn’t changed, but he knows there were some areas last year that he felt slipped through the cracks in his preparation for the season, which led to a 2-8 record, 1-6 in the Class A Tri-County South Conference.

“I didn’t have as good a pulse on our players as I thought,” Krull said. “I wasn’t able to really have a feel for the gaps that we were going to have. Hindsight’s 20/20 and having gone through last year, I pinpointed our deficiencies and have spent the offseason trying to fix them.”

One deficiency Krull looked to correct this offseason was his players’ lack of what he calls “collision toughness” —being unafraid of the physical nature of football and tougher, more physical than the opponent on Friday nights.

“It was evident on gamedays that we did not have a team-wide commitment to having constant collisions and not back down,” he said.

Krull says his players have seen the tape from last year and came to camp with the understanding they need to be ready to endure the other team’s brutal physicality while doling out their own punishment.

“I told this to our kids, in order for us to be successful here at Carmichaels, they must be tough in both areas,” Krull said.

Toughness on Krull’s teams begin with the offensive line, a unit he works closest with this time of the year.

The leader of the line is senior Bradley Schoenfeldt, who is a two-time all-conference player. Joining him are returning starters Dillan Fisher and Jacob Deems. Filling in the other spots on the line are a few young players Krull and his coaching staff are optimistic about.

“Bradley has positioned himself to be a dominant player for us,” Krull said. “He has both the size and ability that can play at the next level. He’s already received a few offers from Division III schools and is garnering attention from Division II as well.”

Senior tight end Carson Hillsman will be an added blocker along the line the majority of the time as the Mighty Mikes like to run the ball. Of course, that doesn’t mean they will never throw.

For the fourth year in a row, Carmichaels will start a new quarterback.

“In 2022, they had Alec Anderson here and the year prior to that they had Trent Carter and both of them were outstanding,” Krull said. “Last year, AJ Donaldson did everything we asked him, but we felt it best for us if he was back at receiver, a position he knew and played in his first two years here.”

This season, junior Cannon Bupka and sophomore Stephen Lewis will compete for the starting job, with Bupka the current frontrunner to start.

“Cannon’s really come a long way,” Krull said. “He came to me in the offseason and said he wanted to be considered for the position. We had a great conversation and every month he’s grown more mature. He handles his business very seriously in regards to football.”

At running back, juniors Will Murray and Gage Kundly will likely share time in the backfield at some point this season, but Krull looks forward to see who wins the battle to start the year.

“Both have the ability to make things happen for us,” Krull said. “We expect a competitive camp from those two and we’ll see how it plays out.”

Senior Robbie Wilson-Jones, who was Donaldson’s competition at the quarterback position, will also see some time at running back. He, along with Kundly, will be the linebacker pieces that fit into the larger puzzle that is the Carmichaels defense.

“Every guy is a piece to the puzzle,” Krull said. “We don’t have such unbelievable talent to where we can have a few of those pieces not fit in where they need to. It’s going to take all 11 players all the time to be successful, and that goes for the offense as well.”

Along the line, Krull said senior Parker Hewitt has “put in the work to check all the boxes to be a playmaker for us up front.” Sophomore Stephen Lewis will play that same role in the secondary.

As the 2024 season starts, Krull has told his players that the team will be more process oriented than outcome oriented, focusing on the little things, and allowing the big things fall into place.

“I want to see them give it their all every Friday night and what happens with the scoreboard, happens,” Krull said. “This year, we need to have each other’s backs and lay it all out on the field for a full game. Our success hinges on what we need, not what we want.”

Whatever success the Mighty Mikes hope to enjoy this year won’t come easy, especially in the Tri-County South Conference that has started to earn a bit of respect of late.

“I’ll lobby for our conference every day of the week,” Krull said. “Traditionally, the conference hasn’t got a lot of respect and that was due to lack of playoff success and we were seen as pushovers, and that’s not the case anymore. We’re doing a lot of positive things as a conference.”

Carmichaels

Coach: Ryan Krull

2023 record: 2-8, 1-6 in Class A Tri-County South Conference

All-time record: 516-389-48

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23 Bishop Canevin, 7

8.30 at Sto-Rox, 5

9.6 Frazier, 7

9.13 Beth-Center*, 7

9.20 Jefferson-Morgan*, 7

9.27 at Bentworth*, 7

10.4 at California*, 7

10.11 Avella *, 7

10.18 West Greene*, 7

10.25 at Mapletown*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: AJ Donaldson

64-108, 673 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing: Donaldson

118-473, 7 TDs

Receiving: Brandon Yekel

27-276, 1 TD

FAST FACTS

• After staring 2-3 last season, Carmichaels dropped its final five games.

• On average through those first five games, the Mighty Mikes were outscored 30-16. In their five-game skid they lost by an average score of 33-14.

• Carmichaels played a tough schedule last season, facing six playoff teams (five from Class A and Waynesburg from 2A). This year they only face four playoff teams with the first game being against Bishop Canevin, which lost to eventual WPIAL Class A champion Fort Cherry in the semifinals.

Tags: Carmichaels