New coach hopes to help Connellsville get its swagger back

By: Jason Black
Thursday, August 26, 2021 | 6:01 AM

4169381_web1_ptr-ConnFB1-082521 — Jason Black | Daily Courier

Connellsville’s Gabe Ruggieri (right) spins away from John Budd during a pass-catching drill at football practice during the 2021 training camp.

4169381_web1_ptr-ConnFB2-082521 — Jason Black | Daily Courier

Connellsville coach Bill Maczko leads football practice during the 2021 training camp.

When Bill Maczko took the job as the new head coach of the Connellsville football team back in February, he knew the position would come with plenty of challenges.

However, Maczko and his coaching staff are excited to meet those challenges head on as they try to transform the Falcons from a winless football team in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season to a legitimate competitor in 2021.

Maczko isn’t coming into the situation cold. He served as an assistant coach, working with the offensive line during the past two seasons under former coach Marko Thomas, who is now at Greensburg Central Catholic.

“It helps because I know what our strengths and weaknesses are,” Maczko said. “They know what I’ll take and what I won’t take and they know what my expectations are.”

When Maczko was hired, he quickly set about the task of getting the Falcons in the weight room as much as possible. He noted that turnouts were good at first, but then slacked a bit as spring sports picked up.

However, the numbers have gone back up a bit throughout the summer. Of course, Maczko, like every coach, would like to see 100% offseason attendance in the weight room, but that hasn’t been the reality. He’d also like to have standouts at every position on the field. Again, it’s not the case. But that doesn’t mean the Falcons are without weapons.

“We’re going to be experienced at some key positions and inexperienced at others,” Maczko said.

Offensively, everything starts with the quarterback, and entering the season, the Falcons seem to have two legitimate candidates who can win the starting position under center.

Connellsville lost 15 players to graduation, including starting quarterback Gage Gillott. However, sophomore Anthony Piasecki and freshman Grayden Gillott are each trying to make a case to be the starting signal-caller.

“Anthony’s strength is his arm,” Maczko said. “He has the strongest arm. Grayden is probably the hardest worker.”

No matter who wins the starting position, they’ll have to fill in for a player who was a key piece to the offense in recent seasons. The same can be said in the backfield.

The Falcons will be without graduate Ky’ron Craggette, who represented Connellsville in the Big 33, rushing for 34 yards in a 20-0 Pennsylvania win over Maryland in May.

“We lost a Big 33 player, so right now we are looking at a lot of players (to step up),” Maczko said.

Bruce Giles, Xavier Malone, Zakary David and Dakota Nicholson are all candidates to get carries out of the backfield, with George Shultz, Alonzo Vielma and Chad Jesko emerging as fullbacks entering this season.

“We have depth at running back,” Maczko said, noting that much of the offense will be similar in style to recent seasons. “The scheme is similar to the past, and we’ll have some wrinkles off of that.”

When the Falcons aren’t running the ball, expect them to utilize a number of players in the passing game. Jason McBride will be asked to be a leader among the receivers. Gabe Ruggieri, Jace Ross, Jayden McBride and Anthony Mickens will also be looking to make plays as wideouts.

“They will give us some (favorable) matchups,” Maczko said.

Look for Devon Miller, Jakob Greer and Michael Lancaster to play tight end.

“We will use our tight ends in the run game and in the passing game,” Maczko said.

Of course, any success the Falcons have running and throwing the ball will depend on the strength of the offensive line. Fortunately for Connellsville, the play up front could be the Falcons’ calling card in 2021.

Four-year letterman Cullen Lynch will be joined by three-year lettermen Spencer Shaffer, Bailey Kennedy and Wyatt Shreve.

“Those four guys have been around, so they know what my expectations are,” Maczko said, noting that one of those expectations is to gain at least four yards on every running play. “Really, this will just be a review for them.”

Maczko also noted that the line will be tasked with setting the pace of the game.

“We want to be able to change the tempo,” Maczko said. “We want to be able to go fast or slow things down. Offensively, we’re starting to get the basics down and that’s an advantage.”

While the Falcons were respectable offensively last season, Connellsville certainly struggled on defense. Connellsville gave up more than 40 points in five of its seven losses during the 2020 season.

“Defensively, we’re changing the scheme,” Maczko said, noting that it has been a struggle to find the right type of scheme to fit the players on the Connellsville rosters in recent seasons. “We want to get back to basics and gain some confidence.”

The defensive line will play a major role in the overhaul of the defense. Maczko reported that as many as 16 players are capable of playing along the defensive front.

“Our front will be OK with depth,” Maczko said.

Tucker Bloom, Tyler Galis, Michael Hollis, Mason Hollis, Lynch and Shaffer will be top candidates up front.

The linebackers will be Shultz, Lancaster, Greer, Nicholson and J.T. Barnes.

On the back end, Mickens will hold down a spot at cornerback with Giles, Ross, Ruggieri and Gillott seeing time at safety.

For the Falcons on defense, the key will be to not make things too complicated.

“We just want to keep it simple, play our assignments, build confidence and make tackles,” Maczko said.

In terms of special teams play, Maczko noted that much of that part of Connellsville’s game is still a work in progress, including the kicking and punting duties. Benjamin Zavatchan seems to be the top contender to handle much of the kicking.

As a whole, the Falcons are anxious to begin play in 2021, but Maczko admitted that after going 0-7 in 2020, the team’s swagger may be somewhat lacking.

“Any time you come off a winless season, confidence is always down,” Maczko said. “It’s important for us to get some of that confidence back. It’s important to get that one win, and then hopefully it snowballs into something else.”

Getting wins in conference play won’t be easy. The Falcons will again compete in the Class 5A Big East Conference along with Franklin Regional, Gateway, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford and Woodland Hills.

“You can flip a coin (for the top spot) between Gateway and Penn-Trafford,” Maczko said. “Woodland Hills is Woodland Hills and we’ve had some battles with Latrobe.”

But before the Falcons begin conference play, they’ll open the season with five straight nonconference games, beginning with a home game against Laurel Highlands on Friday.

“I like opening up with Laurel Highlands,” Maczko said, noting that standout athlete Rodney Gallagher has brought a lot of excitement to the Mustangs’ program. “Hopefully we can start gaining some confidence. We can’t look that far ahead. We have to take it one moment at a time.”

Maczko noted that had covid-19 not interrupted the season (Connellsville had three games postponed in 2020), the Falcons may not have gone winless last season. But what’s done is done, and Maczko is hoping his team can take positive steps this season.

“We don’t want to dwell on the past, but we can’t forget it,” Maczko said. “We have to learn from it.”

Connellsville will enter the season with a 37-man roster. Maczko would love to have a bigger roster, especially playing in Class 5A. However, he and his staff are excited to work with what they have.

“There is excitement and our job is to pick them up as much as we can,” Maczko said.

In terms of what Maczko would like to see the Falcons achieve this season, the goals are simple.

“My goal is to be competitive and have a chance to win in the fourth quarter,” Maczko said.

Maczko believes that the Falcons have some components of a successful team. Now it’s just a case of putting those components in the best position to succeed.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but the pieces are there that can help turn this program around,” Maczko said.

Connellsville

Coach: Bill Maczko

2020 record: 0-7, 0-5 in Class 5A Big East Conference

All-time record: 537-544-59

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.27 Laurel Highlands, 7

9.3 at Greensburg Salem, 7

9.10 Norwin, 7

9.17 at Kiski Area, 7

9.24 at Peters Township, 7