With young roster, Ligonier Valley works to come together quickly

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, August 17, 2023 | 9:02 PM

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Since Roger Beitel became football coach at Ligonier Valley 20 years ago, he has taken his squad to a team camp at Shippensburg University in July.

Who can argue with his success? Beitel’s record is 148-63 and the Rams have qualified for the playoffs, either PIAA District 6 or WPIAL, seven of the past eight seasons. The only time they didn’t qualify was in 2020, the covid-19 year, when the WPIAL only took the top two teams in each conference to the playoffs.

Ligonier Valley’s third season back in the WPIAL produced the school’s first playoff victory in its new district. The Rams finished 8-4 overall, defeated Western Beaver in the first round and advanced to the quarterfinals where they lost to Beaver Falls, the Class 2A runners-up.

But while every year is a challenge for coaches, Beitel finds himself with a young squad looking to etch its mark. So taking his squad to team camp could prove a valuable experience.

The biggest offensively losses were quarterback Broderick Schreyer and running back Haden Sierocky, who accounted for 25 touchdowns (16 rushing, seven receiving, an interception return and kickoff return). Schreyer threw for 783 yards.

“We got probably got more than 500 team reps offensively and defensively at camp, so that’s invaluable,” Beitel said. “We graduated 13 seniors that saw significant time. We return one senior and six starters, two on offense and four on defense, so we needed the time to evaluate our players.

“Competing in 7-on-7 events is OK, but football in diapers is not real football. In this era where you get a week to prepare and get players in the right positions, the process is expedited.”

What Beitel learned was his defense has a lot of athletes and quickness, but not a lot of size.

“We have to come at people different ways with blitzes and gap movement,” Beitel said.”We have to utilize our speed and come from different positions.”

Back on defense are sophomore linebacker Cole Henry, junior defensive end Hunter Carr and junior defensive backs Mark and John Jablunovsky.

On offense, junior center Sam Caldwell and running back John Jablunovsky are back. Beitel said Caldwell has great leadership skills. He started the last 10 games last season.

Beitel said the found out they have good speed and need to get that speed in space and on the flanks.

“We feel Mark and John are our big hitters,” Beitel said. “They have great speed. We have to bide our time and hopefully they can get a crack.”

Ligonier Valley is switching its offense back from the spread to the Wing-T to utilize the athletes who can run the ball. Along with the Jablunovskys, Beitel expects Carr, junior Aiden Mulheren, sophomore Bryce Vida and sophomore Jacob Petalino will carry the ball.

“We have a lot of backs,” Beitel said. “So with our offense, it allows us to spread the ball out and use them to the best of their abilities.”

Beitel said the bulk of the carries will go to John Jablunovsky, who rushed for 738 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022.

The quarterback spot will go to sophomore Boden Schreyer, who replaces his brother Broderick.

“The biggest thing is Boden needs reps,” Beitel said. “He did see a little time last year, but we need him to get comfortable with the offense.”

Beitel said he expects Steel Valley, Imani Christian and Serra Catholic to be good again and feels Burrell and Apollo-Ridge will be contenders.

As for his team, he hopes they continue to grow throughout the season.

Editor’s note: Due to a production scheduling conflict, the preview for Allegheny Conference team Serra Catholic will appear later this month.

Ligonier Valley

Coach: Roger Beitel

2022 record: 8-4, 5-2 in Class 2A Allegheny Conference

All-time record: 483-502-40

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.25 Springdale, 7

9.1 Southmoreland, 7

9.8 at Greensburg Salem, 7

9.15 Apollo-Ridge*, 7

9.22 at Steel Valley*, 7

9.29 Yough*, 7

10.6 Burrell*, 7

10.13 at Serra Catholic*, 7

10.20 Imani Christian*, 7

10.27 at Derry*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Broderick Schreyer*

55-103, 783 yards, 12 TDs

Rushing: Haden Sierocky*

155-1,246 yards, 16 TDs

Receiving: Sierocky*

31-395 yards, 7 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel needs two victories to reach 150 for his career. This is his 20th season.

• The Rams won the PIAA District 6 Class 2A title in 2016 by defeating Bishop McCort and advanced to the PIAA semifinals following a 39-19 victory against Dunmore. They fell to Southern Columbia, 31-27.

• Ligonier Valley is 20-10 since returning to the WPIAL. The Rams made the WPIAL playoffs two consecutive seasons and are 1-2 in the playoffs. They lost to South Side in 2021. All three playoff games were against Beaver County schools.

ROSTER

No., Name, Pos., Ht./Wt., Cl.

1, Boden Schreyer, QB/DB, 5-7/157, So.

2, Jordan Pape, WR/DB, 5-6/139, So.

3, Isaac Leighty, RB/DB, 5-1/106, Fr.

4, Gregory Sleasman, TE/DB, 5-9/140, Fr.

5, John Jablunovsky, RB/DB, 5-10/161, Jr.

10, Zach Theys, WR/DB, 5-4/131, Jr.

11, Brody Stitt, WR/LB, 5-7/171, So.

12, Elijah Robinson, SE/LB, 5-3/127, Fr.

13, Patrick Latin, QB/DB, 5-9/143, Fr.

15, Aidan Mulheren, WR/DB, 5-7/149, Jr.

19, Cole Henry, RB/LB, 5-10/176, So.

25, Aaron Dennison, RB/LB, 5-6/159, So.

26, Jonathon Constable, WR/DB, 5-3/135, So.

28, Jacob Petalino, RB/DB, 5-5/140, So.

29, Mark Jablunolvsky, WR/DB, 5-9/146, Jr.

34, Bryce Vida, RB/LB, 5-7/156, So.

42, Noah Mack, OL/LB, 5-5/180, Fr.

44, Maxx Oberley, WR/DB, 5-8/163, Jr.

52, Connor Faas, RB/LB, 5-8/174, So.

53, Drake Simmons, OL/DE, 5-9/159, So.

54, Sam Caldwell, OL/DL, 6-0/315, Jr.

55, Tony Lonas, OL/DL, 5-8/214, So.

57, Nolan Huba, OL/DL, 5-9/273, So.

58, Noah Dunn, OL/DL, 5-10/266, Jr.

65, Jacob Robertson, OL/DL, 6-0/232, Fr.

66, Lucas Krieger, OL/DL, 5-11/209, So.

67, Michael Hillen, OL/LB, 5-7/165, Fr.

71, Wyatt Queer, OL/DL, 5-11/284, Fr.

72, Wade Lamont, OL/DL, 5-7/232, Jr.

74, Noah Glunk, OL/DL, 6-1/261, Sr.

75, Wyatt Taylor, OL/LB, 5-11/207, Fr.

76, Jack Petrof, OL/DL, 5-10/225, So.

77, Dakota McDonald, OL/DL, 5-11/309, Fr.

78, James Haughton, OL/DL, 6-1/390, Fr.

80, Alex Marquis, WR/DB, 5-8/140, Jr.

81, Levi Moser, TE/DE, 5-10/141, So.

82, Cameron Kunkle, TE/DE, 5-11/174, So.

86, Douglas Keenan, TE/DE, 5-9/161, So.

88, Hunter Carr, TE/LB, 5-10/191, Jr.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Ligonier Valley