2023 Team Preview: Cocalico Eagles

Written by: David Mika on Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

Head Coach: Bryan Strohl, 4th as HC

Assistant Coaches:
Chris Laudenslager – Def. Coordinator and LBs – 30th year at Cocalico
Shawn Smith – WR/DB – 10th at Cocalico
Mitchell Shober – DB/RB – 5th year
Tommy Garner – LB/FB – 2nd year at Cocalico, 3 years at Warwick
Korey Eppinette – DL/RB – 1st year
Jon Good – OL/DL/Strength Coach – 15th year
Jim Cage – Special Teams/OL/DL – 5th year
Tim Van Dalen – Character Coach – 6th year
Chase Ochs – OL/DL – 1st year

Team Name: Cocalico Eagles

2022 Record: 10-5 (District III 5A Champions)

District: 3

Class: AAAAA

League: Lancaster-Lebanon League, Section 4

Key Starters lost:
Chuckie Drain, DL/OL
1st Team All-State DL by PA Football Coaches, PA Football News, and Eastern PA Football
1st Team All-Section DL, Defensive Linemen of the Year for Section 4
Clarion University

Tyler Angstadt, LB/RB
1st Team All-State Linebacker by PA Football Coaches, PA Football News, and Eastern PA Football
1st Team All-Section LB

Chase Tucker, OL
All-State OL by Eastern PA Football
1st Team All-Section OG

Carter Getz, LB/TE
2nd Team All-Section LB

Cole Roos, P/K
2nd Team All-Section Punter

Jacob Kohl, DB
Honorable Mention All-Section DB

Offensive Starters Returning:
Sam Steffey, FB
PA Football News, PA Football Writers, EasternPAFootball.com 1st Team All-State Running Back
1st Team All-Section Running Back

Aaryn Longenecker, RB
Lancaster-Lebanon League 1st Team All-Section Offensive Athlete

Adam Laudenslager, C/DL
Honorable Mention All-Section Center

Dane Bollinger, WR
Josh Myer, QB
Brayden Eppinette, RB
Hunter Frable, OL
Logan Brubaker, TE

Defensive Starters Returning:
Aaryn Longenceker, RB/DB
Lancaster-Lebanon League 1st Team All-Section Offensive Athlete

Bryce Nash, DB/WR
Lancaster-Lebanon League 1st Team All-Section DB

Dane Bollinger, LB
Honorable Mention All-Section LB

Adam Laudenslager, DL
Logan Brubaker, DL
Tim Porter, DB
Owen Weaver, DL
Derrick Belzince, DL

Special Team Starters Returning:
PK: Talen Popolis (split duties last year)
KR: Aaryn Longenecker, Brayden Eppinette
PR: Aaryn Longenecker

Key Newcomers:
Dane Horning FB/LB – played more and more as the season went along as a freshman last year
Connor Sola WR/DB – started a few games last year
Andrew Ensinger WR/DB – started a few games last year
Jarrett Weaver Safety/WR
Ja’Den Hudgens OL/DL – started a few games last year
Cole Hooper OL/DL – 6’6” 260
Aiden Williams OL/LB – started a few games last year
Thomas Dattoli OL/DL – started a few games last year
Derek Brubaker OL/DL

2023 Returning Player Stats:
Sam Steffey
Rushing:
309 carries
1829 yards
23 touchdowns

Aaryn Longenecker
Rushing:
100 carries
774 yards
10 touchdowns
Receiving:
16 catches
319 yards
3 touchdowns

Josh Myer
Passing:
19 of 48 passes
342 yards
3 touchdowns
Rushing:
128 carries
576 yards
12 touchdowns
Receiving:
1 catch
23 yards

Bryce Nash
Passing:
6 of 20 passing
69 yards
1 touchdown

Brayden Eppinette
Rushing:
33 carries
288 yards
2 touchdowns

2023 Outlook:

Offense: Last year we broke in a bunch of new starters at key offensive positions, and this year most of those starters return as well as quality backups to provide us nice depth, which should be a strength. We also have several starters back on our offensive line, but we have a core group of senior linemen who will battle it out along with a few underclassmen for those starting positions this year. We anticipate having 21 seniors which we hope will provide quality leadership for our team this season!

Defense: We need to replace our two big leaders from our defense from last year Chuckie Drain and Tyler Angstadt as well as a couple of other key graduates who did an excellent job providing leadership last season. We will rely on our large returning senior class to step up and guide this team to hopefully achieve its goals this season. We will need our underclassmen to step up and battle for playing time and provide the depth needed throughout the season.

Special Team: We return two quality returners Aaryn Longenecker and Brayden Eppinette who we expect to be weapons in the return game. Place-kicking duties will be a battle between Talen Popolis and Todd Becker who have both worked hard in the offseason to improve. We believe we have some possibilities to fill the punter position, but that will be an important spot we need to figure out heading into the season.

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