40 teams in 40 days – Day 23: Pen Argyl (11)

Written by: David Mika on Monday, August 13th, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

Conor Gum passed for 52 of 98 passes for 1,131 yards and 14 touchdowns. Gum also rushed for 459 yards and five touchodwns.

Dylan Evans had a monster year rushing for 2,064 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Gum had two big receivers who were Mike Racciato (14 catches for 263 yards) and Zach Miller (12 catches for 312 yards).

The Green Knights had a 13-1 record in 2011. They went deep in the playoffs beating teams like Pine Grove, Northern Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre GAR. Their season came to an end against West Catholic.

Q & A with Pen Argyl head football coach Paul Reduzzi

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

How is your off-season going this summer?

Our numbers are going to be down this year. We graduated that big class and we are only bringing in four freshman. We may only have about 35 kids.

We are happy with the kid’s workout and 7-on-7 this summer.

Who do you have coming back on offense?

Our biggest question is the offensive line. We graduated five seniors. We have OT Brady Mutton returning. He got some playing time last year. He will be the key to the line. Alan Lancaster will be at offensive guard. Sophomore Zak Ruppert is at center. Ricky Johnson, Jeff Holden and David Reyes will be battling for the other spots.

Ryan Hunt is at quarterback. During the off-season Hunt overcame cancer. His team rallied around him. He is back and had a real good summer and he is a good leader.

Michael Depaolo is at running back. He had about 650 yards rushing last year. We moved him to the fullback position week four of last year. He did a great job.

Scott Beltz will play tight end. When we go to our two tight end set, Tanner Geake will be the other tight end.

Nick Oyer will be at receiver. Josh Salamone is the other receiver.

This is why I like these kids. We don’t have a lot of returning starters, but we have a lot of kids that played last year.

Who do you have coming back on defense?

It starts with Brady Mutton, he is going to be huge for us on the defensive line. Scott Beltz starts at defensive end. Alan Lancaster started a couple of game for us at end. The other two spots are up for battle. We have three solid players.

Mike Depaolo coming back at linebacker is huge. We are looking to get a lot out of him and he is a two-year starter. Tanner Geake is another one.

In the secondary you will see at safety Nick Oyer and Hunter Titlon. Matt Gilfilen is going into his fourth year at corner. He has been great back there for us. The other corner position is up in the air. We are looking at either Ryan Lobb or Josh Salamone.

League

Southern Lehigh has a good line this year. They are going to be tough. Northern Lehigh will be good. Every week is going to be a tough game.

What do you have coming back on special teams?

Jacob Krincek is battling for the kicker. The kicking job is wide-open. The punting job is up for battle.

To have a successful season you have to?

We need to control the line of scrimmage to be successful this year. If we can do that we can be successful. We need to take care of the ball and create turnovers on defense.

Home Opener

Pen Argyl opens at Saucon Valley on August 31^st

40 teams in 40 days

Day 1 – Mount Carmel Area (4) Day 11 – Scranton (2)

Day 2 – Manheim Central (3) Day 12 – Pottsville (11)

Day 3 – Delaware Valley (2) Day 13 – Cardinal O’Hara (12)

Day 4 – Southern Columbia (4) Day 14 – Shenandoah Valley (11)

Day 5 – Berwick Area (2) Day 15- Central Dauphin (3)

Day 6 – Easton Area (11) Day 16 – Scranton Prep (2)

Day 7 – LaSalle (12) Day 17 – Garnet Valley (1)

Day 8 – Downingtown East (1) Day 18 – Spring-Ford (1)

Day 9 – Council Rock North (1) Day 19 – Southern Lehigh (11)