2020 Team Previews: Oxford Area Hornets (1)

Written by: David Mika on Thursday, August 20th, 2020. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

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Head Coach: Michael Means

Assistant Coaches:
Joe Pearson – DC/OL
Chris Johnson – OL/OLB
Josh Belford – H/DL
Dave Thomas – RB/DL
Leo Pizzini – S/WR
Ryan Hubley – CB/WR
Rich Higgins – OL/DL

Team Name: Oxford Area Hornets

2019 Record: 4-7 – First round playoff loss

Key Starters Lost:
Tom Repetz – QB
Justin Neskie – WR/S
Michael Anthony – LT
Jay Morton – DE
Jaxson Chew – WR/OLB
Austin Moon – CB
Gavin Baumgardner – CB
Jared Vining – OLB

Offensive Starters Returning: (6)
RB – Dom Pantalone (5’6 165 lbs Junior) and Davon Rueda (5’10, 195 lbs Senior)
WR – Joey Morton (6’5 196 lbs Senior)
H – Kelvin Figueroa (5’11 200 lbs Senior)
RT – Caleb O’Connor (6’3 290 lbs Senior)
C – Seth Pearson (5’9 200 lbs Junior)
G – Aidan Reilly (5’9 180 lbs Senior)

Defensive Starters Returning: (6)
S – Joey Foutrakis (5’9, 160 lbs Senior)
S – Jake Highfield (5’9 170 lbs Senior)
ILB – Aidan Reilly (5’9 180 lbs Senior)
ILB – Kelvin Figueroa (5’11 200 lbs Senior)
NT – Nick Richardson (6’3 280 lbs Junior)
DE – Maven Brannon (6’3 205 lbs Sophomore)

Special Team Starters Returning: (0)

Key Newcomers:
Seth Yoder QB (6’1, 220 lbs Senior)
Dustin Long CB/QB (5’10, 160 lbs Sophomore)
Nick Verderame OLB (5’10, 175 lbs Senior)
Dak Jones CB/WR (5’9 155 lbs Junior)
Evan Pechin DE (6’1 205 lbs Junior)

Many young lineman who will be battling all camp for starting spots

Key Stats: 4-6 regular season record, lost in first round of playoffs to District One finalist Academy Park

2020 Offensive Outlook: The key to our offensive production next year really revolves around two factors. Even though we lost two of the most productive WR in the league last year in Justin Neskie and Jaxson Chew, we get a lot of skill position experience back but we have to break in a new QB for the third straight season. Seth Yoder, a senior, has made huge improvements in the off-season and it is his job to lose but we also have some good young quarterbacks coming up to put pressure on him. The second factor is how well the offensive line plays. We get three starters returning and have five or six other guys who are competing for starting positions. The faster that they gel, the better off we will be. We play in a bruising league in the Ches-Mont where the team that wins the league every year is the most physical, blue-collar team. We need to get more physical and tougher on both sides of the ball.

2020 Defensive Outlook: We really like the depth and the amount of experience we have coming back this year. We have a lot of experience returning in the middle of the defense with both safeties, both inside linebackers, and three experienced defensive linemen back. It is also the second year in our 3-4 system and we are looking for our defense to come together this year. We are led by our senior tandem of starting strong safety Jake Highfield and middle linebacker Kelvin Figueroa.

2020 Special Teams Outlook: We lose all of our starting special teamers.