Colonials optimistic as season approaches
Talk about baptism by fire. In his first season as Albert Gallatin football coach last year, Jeff Rush saw his Colonials on the short end of the score the first eight weeks of the season, when they were outscored 336-40 and shut out five times. But in week nine, the Colonials salvaged at least local bragging rights, ending the skid with a 41-34 win over rival Laurel Highlands.
But Rush, after serving as an AG assistant for seven seasons, is more optimistic this year as the Colonials prep for their season opener Sept. 2, a non-conference game at Steel Valley.
With six senior and seven junior lettermen returning, “much depends on how the upperclassmen perform to their potential and how fast our younger kids mature,” Rush said. “Despite the returning players, these kids realize we have a young team and a lot of sophomores are going to play. They know it’s going to be a challenge, but they aren’t going to back down. They are ready to go. Our older kids know it’s their team and they have taken control.”
Leading the way is 2010 all-conference linebacker Rashad Craig, an athletically talented defender who has a nose for the ball “and can find it,” Rush noted. “He has a knack for ending up in the right place at the right time.”
Despite an overall lack of team size, Rush won’t have any trouble locating a pair of offensive/defensive linemen in Jacob Horn (6-1, 245) and junior Tanner Cavaliere (6-3, 250). Horn brings strength, intelligence, and that coach’s dream, “football smarts, desire, dedication and heart” to the field, Rush observed. Horn is strong in the weight room and has demonstrated marked improvement since last season, when he started on the offensive line. With his experience, Rush may call upon Horn, from his guard slot, to anchor the OL.
A two-way starter as a sophomore last year, Cavaliere brings size, strength and athletic ability to the line. “Tanner is intelligent and dedicated and should provide stability on both sides of the ball,” Rush said.
Three sophomores lettered as freshmen last season and Rush expects youthful leadership from the trio, which includes quarterback Richie Ohler, and a pair of slot back/defensive backs in Brandon Dice and Collin Smith. “All three work well together,” Rush offered, “and their experience under varsity conditions should be a plus.”
Ohler started the Colonials’ final four games at quarterback last year and is “cool and calm, especially for a younger player,” Rush said. “He has leadership skills and can control the huddle and game.”
Dice and Smith may be the team’s offensive and defensive bookends: both are 5-9, 150, and their skills are identical. Both are athletic with speed and good hands and both know how to run good pass routes.
“Our overall numbers are not great (Rush has a roster of 34 players) and we are young, small and lack overall experience,” Rush said, assessing his squad, “and, except for some outside speed, we are not noticeably fast. But these players are ready to compete.” Albert Gallatin opens AAA Keystone Conference play Sept. 16 at Franklin Regional.
Albert Gallatin’s last playoff appearance was in 2005, when the current seniors were in sixth grade. In 1961, the second year of district consolidation, the Colonials won the WPIAL title, and followed with a second title in 1974.