High school football 2002
Area teams set to kick off tonight When area high schools open their respective seasons tonight, the outcomes will mean nothing as far as section races go.
But for first-year Laurel Highlands coach Scott Knee and Huntingdon’s Jim Zauzig, the final results mean everything, albeit for different reasons.
Knee sees the game against Huntingdon as the first step in turning around a Mustang program which has gone 10-40 over the past five seasons.
“It’s extremely important for us,” he said. “We need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. Our confidence level would really be at a high with a win. To keep getting better and better, a win this week is very important to us at this point.”
Zauzig doesn’t have to worry about returning his team, the Bearcats, to prominence. Huntingdon is one of state’s all-time winningest schools with 587 victories and a .659 winning percentage. The Bearcats are perennially Big 8 and District 6 powers. Zauzig said his team will use the opener to get ready for their section slate, which features upcoming games against PIAA heavies Tyrone and Bellefonte.
“I think the game is important because it sets the tone going into our next three games,” Zauzig said. “In our league, Tyrone and Huntingdon and dominated for the past several years, and we open our section with Tyrone next week. A bad outing (against Laurel Highlands) could have a negative effective going into that game. This game is big in that regard.”
Zauzig then added, “This game brings us out of the thicket and puts us into the limelight a little, playing against the WPIAL. There’s still a sour taste in everybody’s mouth after we lost to Moon in the Western finals (1998).”
In other area games tonight, it’s West Mifflin at Uniontown, Baldwin at Albert Gallatin, Connellsville at Trinity, Clairton at Brownsville, South Allegheny at Geibel Catholic, Cornell at Frazier, Thomas Jefferson at Belle Vernon, Yough at Southmoreland, McGuffey at Waynesburg, Burgettstown at Carmichaels, Beth-Center at Jefferson-Morgan, Springdale at Mapletown, Riverview at California, and Turkeyfoot Valley at Clay-Battelle (W.Va.).
The opener will be a welcome sight for players, coaches and area fans after nearly 10 months of offseason.
“We’re ready to go,” Knee said. “The off-season is important and this is why you do all the things you do, so you can play under the lights on Friday night. As a head coach for the first time, I wanted to see this game get here.
“As terms of having things in place, we’re run a lot of offense with these kids and we’ve put in a defensive package. They’ve responded well. The preparation is done. It’s time to play. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be a little pumped up.”
Senior quarterback Matt Humbert figures to be a big part of Laurel Highlands’ game plan after throwing for over 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. Humbert will need to find some new receivers, however, as the Mustangs’ top three pass catchers from a year ago – Santino Sloboda, Nathan Forse and Garrett Brain – graduated.
“You’re going to go with your best weapons, and that is Matt and our receivers,” Knee said. “He has a great arm. But at the same time, I think it’s very important to establish a running game to help our passing game.”
Zauzig doesn’t know much about Laurel Highlands, but he knows about Humbert.
“His arm hasn’t fallen off has it?” joked Zauzig. “Obviously, he is a major concern to us. We’ll try to get 12-15 people on the field to try to cover everyone. Seriously, I’m very impressed with him and the vertical threat they present.”
Although it will be the first time in history the teams have met, Zauzig is slightly familiar with the Fayette County area. From 1980-1995, he was the head basketball coach at Juniata College and he made several recruiting trips to the area.
“I used to recruit the area a lot and my best friend from college lives in Masontown,” Zauzig said. “I’m looking forward to seeing Mark John again. I met him about 10 years ago. I was never able to get one of his players, though I did get a kid from Uniontown.”
Huntingdon’s offense will center around senior tailback Jon Riley, who rushed for 778 yards on 143 carries and scored 11 touchdowns. The five-foot-seven, 160-pound Riley is an instinctual and quick runner.
“He’s been seeing limited action so far because of a pulled muscle, but he should be OK,” Zauzig said. “He’s one of our leaders. He got a start because of an injury when he was a sophomore and showed us what he could do. The rest is history.”
Junior Geoff Kozak has moved from wideout to quarterback, and has great moves, is quick and has very good hands according to Zauzig.
“Geoff’s a different style quarterback than Matt,” Zauzig said. “Matt stays in the pocket and he’s so disciplined when it comes to finding open receivers. Geoff looks at the No. 1 and then maybe, the No. 2, and he’ll be off to the races. He’s more of a Fran Tarkenton type quarterback, if you want to go back that far.”
Defensively, Huntingdon was a force last season, allowing slightly more than nine points per game. That defense lost nine starters, however, and the two returning players are learning new positions.
“Huntingdon has been a five-front team forever,” Zauzig said. “Even when I took over six years ago, I was a 5-2, 5-3 kind of guy. Last year, we went to the four-four because we had so many linebacker types and we decided to stay with it this year because of our personnel.”
The game, both coaches agreed, will basically come down to who makes the least mistakes.
“Offensively, they’re doing the same things as us,” Knee said. “We’re looking at film, so are they. It’s just a matter of execution. They might have lost a lot of players, but their coach has a strong program going and they don’t rebuild, they just reload.”