With experienced roster, Springdale sees its stock rising in 2020

By: Greg Macafee
Saturday, September 26, 2020 | 6:35 PM

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Two years ago, Springdale had five freshmen in its starting lineup and, not surprisingly, the Dynamos finished a disappointing 2-8.

Most of that season was spent teaching those freshmen the basics and working on fundamentals. Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski was more focused on preparing for the future than having immediate success.

“We didn’t get a chance to fine-tune anything,” Napierkowski said. “Now these guys are juniors and seniors and you kind of see that we are not teaching anymore, and we are going out and executing and we’re elevating what we’ve learned.”

The Dynamos are 3-0 for a second consecutive year. Last year, they defeated Deer Lakes (29-27), Imani Christian (34-20) and Monessen (28-7). Although the starts are similar, the Dynamos have a little more excitement around them this season.

With seniors and juniors such as Demitri Fritch, Cavin Kindler, Logan Dexter and John Utiss, the Dynamos are winning, and they are winning big.

Springdale has scored 126 points, the fifth-best mark in WPIAL Class 1A. The Dynamos also are excelling defensively, allowing an average 15.3 points.

“We focused a lot on defense, and it helps that we have a lot of guys back on that side of the ball,” Napierkowski said. “But it helps that the guys — it’s taken a few years — but we’re finally starting to see that the guys are reading keys.

“It’s not just one guy getting to the football either, we got guys rallying to the football, and that’s been the key to us succeeding on that side.”

The Dynamos held Riverview to seven points, Bishop Canevin to 20 and Leechburg to 12 points Friday before Dylan Cook hit Thomas Burke with a 26-yard touchdown pass with under a minute remaining.

Leechburg scored 55 points in Week 1 against Greensburg Central Catholic, the team Springdale plays next week.

The Dynamos’ explosive offense continued to roll Friday without starting quarterback Legend Ausk, racing to a 45-19 win.

Fritch completed 7 of 10 pass attempts for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Dexter, who caught five passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and Kindler combined for 245 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Utiss caught two passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.

It marked the first time Springdale beat Leechburg in the past three matchups, and it was the type of performance that displayed the Dynamos’ depth and how far they’ve come since that 2-8 season.

“We lost some key players last year, but we have a bunch of juniors in my class and seniors that know how to play the game well, and we’ve been playing together for a while,” Dexter said. “So, it’s good to have solid players at every position. We don’t really have a weak link in my opinion.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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