40 teams in 40 days – Day 33: Minersville (11)

Written by: David Mika on Thursday, August 23rd, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

Minersville finished the season with a 9-2 record and 7-1 in their league. The Battling Miners’ had big wins against Williams Valley, Shenandoah Valley, Mahanoy Area, Marian Catholic and Tamaqua. They lost in the District 11 1A opener to Shenandoah Valley.

Cole Weachock completed 48 of 122 for 704 yards and eight touchdowns. He rushed for 1,246 yards on 182 carries and 17 touchdowns.

Leading the way rushing was Billy Powanda who rushed for 1,274 yards on 150 carries and 15 touchdowns. Chris Murphy added 452 yards and Jake Kopinetz rushed for 346 yards.

Kopinetz was the leading receiver with 25 catches for 466 yards and five touchdowns.

The top three tacklers are Billy Powanda (80 tackles), Brett Polinsky (63 tackles) and Joe Lambert (60 tackles).

Q & A with Minersville head football coach Pat Mason

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

How is your off-season going this summer?

We are working hard in the weight room. We have good numbers coming back. The kids are ready for camp.

Who do you have coming back on offense?

We have our whole offensive line back. The two key linemen are offensive guard Brett Polinsky and center Chris Ochenrider. James Brophy, Joe Fedornak and Shane Kistishak are all back.

We have a couple of guys battling for the quarterback spot. They are Nick McBreen and Lucas Heffron.

My main back this year is Chris Murphy. He is a returning starter at fullback. The other two guys we have are Brandon Lafferty and Dakota Pritz at running back.

Ryan King is back at receiver. Our tight end position is up for grabs between Gage Heffron and Shane Kostishak.

We are primarily a running team and that is our goal this year to establish a run this year.

Who do you have coming back on defense?

Defensive is our strong point going into the season. Our front seven are pretty much coming back.

Our nose guard is Shane Kostishak. Our defensive tackles are Chris Ochenrider and Brett Polinsky. Our defensive ends are Chris Murphy and Joe Fedornak.

At Linebacker we have Gage Heffron and Dakota Prtiz.

We have to replace some good players in the secondary from last year. We have Brandon Lafferty back at corner. Lucas Heffron will play free safety. Our other corner will be Ryan King.

Who do you have coming back on special teams?

We will find out during camp and the two scrimmages who our kicker and punter will be.

League

We start with Williams Valley for a non-conference game. They are really tough. Then we go to North Schuylkill. Our whole league is brutal. We are going to take one game at a time. If we can stay healthy we should be competitive.

To have a successful season you have to?

Be able to establish the running game. If our line can play like I think they can play we will be successful.

Home Opener

Minersville opens at Williams Valley on August 31st

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)