40 teams in 40 days – Day 14: Shenandoah Valley (11)

Written by: David Mika on Saturday, August 4th, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

Eric Whalen led the team with 1,447 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Chris Palubinsky passed for 1,527 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Billy Moyer caught 35 passes for 735 yards and seven touchdowns. Nick Merva added 639 yards and five touchdowns.

The Blue Devils finished the 2011 season with an 8-4 record.

After losing to Minersville during the regular season 43-28, they defeated the Battlin’ Miners in the first round of the District 11 playoffs, 39-34.

Their season came to an end against Pius X.

Q & A with Shenandoah Valley head football coach Nick Sajone

We sat down with Sajone and talked to him about his team for the 2012 season.

How is your off-season going this summer?

We have had decent attendance this summer. The kids that have showed up are working hard. It’s been good.

Who do you have coming back on offense?

We have four of the five offensive lineman coming back. Dakota Rakus is at center. He is a three-year starter. He is our leader on the line.

Both of our tackles are coming back. Chris Bonk is going to be a junior and Gavin Knott.

The other guard is going to be sophomore Irving Montesano. He started as a freshman.

The other guard spot we are still trying to fill.

Chris Palubinsky is our quarterback. It’s nice to have a three-year starter back at quarterback. He does a great job for us and is a great leader. He has all the physical attributes.

Nick Merva is back at wide receiver along with Angelo Maskornick and Tyler Marnell. Angelo played for us last year as a freshman and Tyler is new at receiver.

This year teams are going to double team Merva. We need someone to step up on the other side.

We are going by committee at running back this year. We lost a 4,000-yard back in Eric Whalen. There are three guys we are going to put back there. Kevin Karpovich is back as a senior. He hasn’t played since his freshman year.

Dave Gotshall who played for us last year when Eric got hurt. Jeremiah Ney is a sophomore. All three kids will be battling for a running back spot.

Who do you have coming back on defense?

It’s the same kids on the defensive line. Dakota Rakus and Chris Bonk are at tackle. Our defensive ends are Gavin Knott and Kayin Herb. We should be solid up front.

Kevin Karpovich and Dave Gotshall are the inside linebackers. We moved Chris Palubinsky to outside linebacker from free safety. He is our best defensive player.

Angelo Maskornick is the other outside linebacker.

Nick Merva is one of the corners. There is a battle for the other corner spot.

Tyler Marenell is our free safety.

What do you have to do to be success in your league this year?

I think North Schuylkill has established themselves. They are going to be good. Minersville should be good again. They’ve got size.

Marian Catholic and Schuylkill Haven should be better this year.

It’s a tough league all around. You can’t take a week off. We need to start the season strong.

To have a successful season you have to?

Stay healthy and depth is a problem for us. We have to be as consistent as possible. We can’t look ahead.

Home Opener

Shenandoah Valley opens at North Schuylkill on August 31^st

40 teams in 40 days