Fundy, Lincoski give Bulldogs potent 1-2 punch
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Beth-Center seniors Dominic Fundy (left) and Bailey Lincoski return to give the Bulldogs one of the area’s best 1-2 punches on offense. Funday rushed for 1,527 yards and scored 104 points in 2017, while Lincoski passed for 1,082 yards and ran for 1,097 more while scoring 88 points.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Beth-Center coach Joe Kuhns (right) gives out instructions to his players during a Bulldogs practice.
Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard
Beth-Center quarterback Bailey Lincoski (22) looks for a receiver against Bentworth during last year’s game played at Washington & Jefferson College’s Cameron Stadium. Lincoski threw for 1,082 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2017.
Beth Center running back Dominic Fundy (4) fights for yardage against Charleroi during their game at Myron J. Pottios Stadium last season. Fundy rushed for 1,527 yards in 2017.
Joe Kuhns returns for his third season as head coach at Beth-Center.
Beth-Center head coach Joe Kuhns
Beth-Center quarterback Bailey Lincoski drops back to pass during a Bulldogs practice as assistant coach Jason House (right) looks on.
Beth-Center will sport a patch on its uniforms this year similar to this one shown on senior Dominic Fundy's practice shirt to honor former assistant coach George Lincoski, the father of Bulldogs quarterback Bailey Lincoski, who died suddenly in the offseason.
Beth-Center runs a misdirection play during practice. The Bulldogs are striving to improve on last year's 7-4 record.
DEEMSTON — Beth-Center had arguably the area’s best one-two punch on offense in 2017 with quarterback Bailey Lincoski and running back Dominic Fundy.
Lincoski turned in a rare 1,000-1,000 performance as he passed for 1,082 yards and rushed for 1,097 yards. Fundy rambled for 1,527 yards.
The bad news for Interstate Conference foes is both were juniors last year and thus are back for more this season.
In fact, the Bulldogs have a wealth of talent returning.
“We have most of the guys back from last year,” said veteran coach Joe Kuhns, who is in his third season at B-C. “This is their third year of doing what we do. As far as camp, we’re way ahead this year than where we’ve been in the past. We got a lot more in. They’re comfortable with some of the checks we do.
“I feel very comfortable about the program. I’m just like every other coach, I’m cautiously optimistic because of injuries. On paper, I think we can be pretty good.”
Lincoski was a virtual unknown when the 2017 season began.
“Bailey’s a special kid,” Kuhns said. “He came out of nowhere for us last year. He was a running back/receiver his sophomore year. We needed a quarterback last year and what he did, stepping up for us, was just amazing.
“He’s a very accurate thrower, he makes great decisions, he never put us behind the 8-ball at any time. Bailey is a real humble kid. He leads by example.”
Lincoski suffered through a tragedy in the offseason, though.
“He’s playing with his heart on his sleeve this year because he lost his dad about a month ago,” Kuhns said. “His dad, George, was one of my coaches.”
The Bulldogs will honor their former coach this season.
“We’ve got ‘G22’ on the sleeve, we’re going to have a patch on our uniform for him,” Kuhns said. “Collectively, these boys have played for George since they were about six or seven years old, so they kind of dedicated the season to him.”
Joining Kuhns on B-C’s coaching staff this year are Bill Balog, Gary Welsh, George Malanosky, Jason House, Tim Trump and Johnny Bercosky.
Bailey Lincoski was one of the top quarterbacks in the area last year. He completed an amazing 68 percent of his passes, connecting on 78 of 114 throws with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. As a runner, he found the goal line 13 times for touchdowns and five times for two-point conversions in totaling 88 points.
Fundy put up 104 points for the Bulldogs with 12 rushing touchdowns, two receiving TDs and one kickoff return of 86 yards for a score, and seven two-point conversions (five rushing and two receiving). Not only did he average 8.3 yards per carry, he also was Beth-Center’s second-leading receiver with 22 catches.
“Those are the two everybody is going to scheme for,” Kuhns said of Lincoski and Fundy.
“Dominic is basically a man-child. He’s 6-2, 220 and he runs a legitimate 4.6. I think he was the second-fastest kid at Cal U’s camp this year.
“He’s enough to worry teams by himself, but then you’ve got Bailey and we’ve got several good receivers, J.J. Green, Devin Dingle and Talon Balog. Those guys are all over 6-foot and can run pretty good and catch everything.”
Dylan Dingle is another returning offensive threat who, like Fundy, is a versatile running back who can run and catch.
“We’re going to be a pretty hard team to defend all across the field,” Kuhns said.
Lincoski and Fundy will have help in the trenches as well.
“We’ve got four of the five back on the offensive line,” Kuhns said. “Evan Dreucci and Jacob Baker are our guards. They both have two years experience. Jacob Housel, all 5-9, 160 pounds of him, is our center. I’d put him up against anybody, pound for pound. Our left tackle, Chris Pohill is back. The only hole we had to fill was right tackle and Dalton White, a first-year kid who blocks out the sun he’s so doggone big (6-5, 260), is doing a pretty good job for us there.”
On defense, the Bulldogs have found a couple smaller but rugged nose tackles.
“We’re going to us a combination of a bunch of guys on defense, and we also have a guy who’s playing pretty good at nose, J.J. Berrish,” Kuhns said. “Two years ago he was a corner. He kept working until he found a position to where we had to put him on the field. He’s 200 pounds now and he’s hard to block. He’s a good wrestler and he uses that leverage to his advantage at nose.
“Backing him up is another little guy, Zach Hayden, who was a linebacker last year. We put him down and he looks pretty good there, too.”
Kuhns feels he has a solid trio at linebacker.
“Dylan Dingle is probably our hardest hitter on defense. He plays the Sam backer for us, and the Mike linebacker is Drake Zellie,” Kuhns said. “They’re two really hard-nosed kids. Fundy plays our Will backer.”
The Bulldogs have a pair of defensive backs returning who started all 11 games last year in Green and Devin Dingle.
“Those two are the corners,” Kuhns said. “Balog is the free safety and right now Blayze Vilcoss will probably be our strong safety. He’s a sophomore and he got a lot of playing time last year.”
The Class 2-A Interstate has changed a bit since last year as Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston and Bentworth have moved out with Carmichaels, Southmoreland and McGuffey moving in to join B-C, WPIAL defending champion Washington, Charleroi, Brownsville and Frazier.
The Prexies, coached by Albert Gallatin graduate Mike Bosnic, are still the team to beat.
“Wash High has won 38 (conference) games in a row,” Kuhns pointed out. “So they’re the king of the hill until somebody can knock them off.”
“Charleroi, we played them in that game last year where nobody played any defense and we lost 49-44 and both teams have everybody back, so that’s going to be a battle. McGuffey is coming down from 3-A and Ed (Dalton) is a great coach so he’ll have them ready. Frazier is always good because (Mike) Steeber has a good program.
“If you look at it, our schedule is probably the toughest one Beth-Center has had in 20 years. We play East Allegheny, Imani Christian and California non-conference, so there are absolutely no breaks whatsoever for us.”
Keeping everybody on the field, especially premier skill players such as Lincoski and Fundy, will be one of the keys to B-C’s success, according to Kuhns.
“First and foremost, health,” said Kuhns, who also is hoping for a better second half of the season than the Bulldogs had in 2017.
“We’ve got to finish better. Last year we were 6-0 and finished 7-4. We’ve got to stay consistent the whole way through. We want to use as many bodies as we can during the season so if we do make the playoffs, we’re healthy enough to make a little bit of noise.”
The postseason hasn’t been kind to B-C, which has lost in the first round in each of the last seven years.
“It’s been a long time since they’ve won a playoff game around here,” Kuhns said. “We want to end that this year.”