Waynesburg Preview
If knowing is half the battle, then the 2002 Waynesburg Central football team reached mid-season form a long time ago.
The Raiders’ four-year record of 42-5 includes losses at the hands of two state champions – Washington and Tyrone – and state finalist Aliquippa. “I told our kids over the past few years, we’ve played the best teams in the state,” said third-year coach Dave Sarra. “We know what kind of caliber teams are out there. We know the type of team we have to be to be successful.”
But of the five losses none were more devastating than last year’s first-round playoff loss to North Catholic. The 27-19 loss may have put a damper on the team’s road to perennial dominance, but it is now on the mind of players eager to return to the WPIAL spotlight in 2002.
“The kids talk about that,” Sarra said. “They don’t want to get bounced early in the playoffs.”
“It was a heartbreaking loss,” said senior quarterback Cory Walsh. “It took some of the excitement out of the regular season.
“It just made us work that much harder in the off-season.”
Sarra admits the loss did not tarnish the team’s regular season. The Raiders went 8-1 with a relatively inexperienced lineup.
“Anytime you get bumped out of the playoffs it’s going to be a disappointment,” Sarra said. “But the way the kids played, I felt overall our season was somewhat successful. Obviously, we want to go further in the playoffs. We were happy with the overall season.”
Six starters on each side of the ball return for the Raiders in 2002.
“Our biggest strength is that we have such a solid nucleus of players coming back with a lot of experience,” Sarra said. “A lot of guys started throughout the season on both sides of the ball. We are looking for that experience and leadership out of everyone.”
Walsh returns as the centerpiece of the Raider lineup as a second-year starting quarterback. His 8.8 yards-per-carry average in 2001 was impressive for a quarterback, as he finished the season with 746 yards on the ground.
Though the Raiders lose 1,000-yard rusher Mike Konosky to graduation, don’t expect Walsh to focus even more on running. A lot of his off-season training focused on honing his passing game.
“With his throwing ability and the receivers we have out there, we will throw the ball a lot better this year,” Sarra said.
“We want to get the ball in their hands.”
Seniors Kyle Aldhizer and Scott Cree return as wide outs and will join Walsh in the defensive backfield as starters.
Without Derek Mears and Konosky in the offensive backfield, the starting running back jobs are up for grabs.
Junior Bryan Golden is the leading candidate at halfback over classmate Billy Becker and senior Scott Burris.
Fullbacks were “too early to tell” during the first week of training camp, as seniors Marcus Imrich and Eric Conklin battled with junior Brandon Phillips.
Senior Brant Blair will anchor the Raiders’ offensive and defensive lines as a two-way returning starter. Joining Blair as offensive returnees are Drew Gacek and Matt Brewer, while three new starters will line up on the defensive front. Candidates include Gacek, Phillips, Scott Carson and Aaron Carpenter.
The linebacking corps of Imrich, Golden and Conkin – all returning starters – spearhead the Raiders’ 4-4 defensive unit. Mark Bosworth is a candidate as the fourth starter in the group.
“We already have our goals established. In order to achieve them, it’s going to take one step at a time,” Sarra added. “We are going to try some new things and we are going to do what we’ve always done here.”
And according to Waynesburg’s recent records, that is winning.