2014 Team Preview: Mahanoy Area (11)

Written by: David Mika on Wednesday, August 20th, 2014. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

Head Coach Dave Holman Q&A

Q. What are the key things we should know about your offense?

A. Offensively, we return five starters. We lost our QB from last season, Dylan Mahmod, and FB Austin Forte. Mason Ryan and Matt Yedsena will step in as QB this year in our Flexbone Option offense, with Mason Ryan being the frontrunner through the summer.

Mike Wronski and Lenny Dulsky will replace Forte at FB. Both started on defense at LB since they were freshman and both have a great deal of experience at the varsity level. Dulsky will also get work at WR/TE.

We return three other skill players on offense. Jason Richmond and Mason Evitts both return as slot backs, and Matt Yedsena returns at WR. Aydan Erbe will also see a lot of time at WR.

We need to replace three offensive linemen, including Tyler Cavenas. Nolan Fegley is being moved from FB to center, and Troy Kimmel and Jeremy Markiewicz should fill into the two spots on the line.

Henry Blume and Bailey Forte return as starters on the offensive line.

Q. What are the key things we should know about your defense?

A. Defensively, we return six starters. Almost our entire secondary is back. Dylan Mahmod is the only player not returning. Jason Richmond, Mason Evitts, Matt Yedsena and Mason Ryan are either returning starters or had a good amount of varsity playing time last year.

Mason Evitts and Jason Richmond each had six interceptions last season.

Greg Merchlinsky is our one graduation loss at LB, however, Mike Wronski, Lenny Dulsky and Nolan Fegley are all returning starters at LB in our 43/44 Defense.

Similar to the offensive side of the ball, we lost three starters to graduation on the defensive line. Baily Forte is the one starter returning.

Henry Blume, Chris Caravella and Jeremy Markiewicz will complete our four-man front.

Q. What are the key things we should know about your special teams? Who are your kick and punt returners? Who are your kicker and punter?

A. Joe Bradley returns as our Kicker this year. He had a great 2013 season and we look forward to seeing him make a huge impact for us this year.

Our punter will be either Jason Richmond or freshman Matt Lewandowski.

Jason Richmond and Mason Evitts returned our kicks and punts last season and they will remain our returners this year as well.

Head Coach: Dave Holman

2013 Record: 8-4

2014 Schedule

Key Starters Lost: QB/DB Dylan Mahmod; FB Austin Forte; OT/DT Tyler Cavenas; C/DE Josh Kachmar; OG/DT Steve Bolusky; TE/LB Greg Merchlinsky

Offensive Starters Returning: (5)

SR Henry Blume (OL)

SR Bailey Forte (OL)

SR Jason Richmond (RB)

JR Mason Evitts (RB)

JR Matt Yedsena (WR)

Defensive Starters Returning: (6)

SR Bailey Forte (DE)

SR Jason Richmond (DB)

JR Mason Evitts (DB)

JR Lenny Dulsky (LB)

JR Nolan Fegley (LB)

JR Mike Wronski (LB)

Key Newcomers:SR Troy Kimmel (OL-DL); SR Jeremy Markiewicz (OL-DL); JR Chris Caravella (OL-DL); JR Aydan Erbe (WR-DB); SO John Molina (OL-DL)

Key Stats: Junior Mason Evitts returns on offense after totaling 1161 all-purpose yards last season. He also had 6 interceptions. Senior Jason Richmond had 6 interceptions as a junior along with 898 all-purpose yards. Junior LB Mike Wronski has accumulated 135 total tackles over the past two seasons.

2014 Season Outlook: I feel very confident in our team this year. They are smart and hardworking young men. We return a nice amount of our skill players on both sides of the ball. Obviously, we need to replace some very good lineman that we lost to graduation.

Our guys have been working very hard since last season ended and we’ve had a great summer. With the expansion of the AFL and with us being one of the smaller teams in the league, we know that we have a difficult schedule ahead of us. We need to stay healthy, stay confident and take it one game at a time.

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