SPORTS Sunday, August 18, 2013 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 9 Dallas will field very young team ® year of changes, Mountaineers Prepare to work for second-year coach Zaruta TOM ROBINSON For The Dallas Post The Dallas High School football program will fol- low up a year of changes on the sideline with a sea- son of new personnel on the field. The Mountaineers need- ed time to adjust with new head coach Bob Zaruta tak- ing over for Pennsylvania High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame inductee Ted Jackson a year ago before running off a seven-game winning streak that carried over until their elimination in the playoffs. The challenge for Zaruta’s second season will be how quickly the new yyers can adjust with My three starters return- ing on each side of the ball and another demanding early-season schedule. Experience is bunched into two position groups, with all three returning offensive starters in the line and all three returning defensive starters playing linebacker. “There’s a lot of players contending for those other openings,” Zaruta said. Ryan Monk, Rocky Rutkoski and Luke Edwards return as start- ers in the offensive line. Mike Mihal, Bill Gately and Logan Brace are back at linebacker. Monk, a 6-4, 260-pound tackle received all-star recognition last year as a sophomore. Rutkoski is a 6-4, 250-pound senior cen- ter. Edwards is a 6-1, 225- pound senior guard. All three returning line- backers are seniors. Mihal is a 225-pounder who can also play tight end. Gately and Brace both gained experience at run- ning back last season and are likely to wind up shar- ing the tailback position. Mike Olenginski could be at fullback. While the runners and lineup have some experi- ence, the passing game will fall into entirely new hands. Junior Justin Mucha and sophomores Matt Harrison and Ryan Martin went into the first full week of practice trying to land the starting position after all-star quarterback Ryan Zapoticky graduated. “Whoever gets that nod is not going to have any varsity experience,” Zaruta said. “We're going to be very young there. The same with receiver. We got hit there with graduation pretty hard.” Monk became a bigger factor on defense in the line as the 2012 season progressed. Seniors Mark Michno, an end, and backs Chris Behm and Aaron Napkora earned letters last year while filling in on defense, along with junior defensive back Mike Shutlock. “All have played,” Zaruta said. “They got some good action last year and they're going to need to step up.” The remaining lineup spots will have inexperi- enced players, including the possibility of some stepping in directly from last year’s winning fresh- men team. “The first-year play- ers have some significant promise to them,” Zaruta said. “The key will be how quickly these young ath- letes can mature in terms of varsity experience.” The players who have been in the program for the past two seasons do not have to go through the experience of learning a new coaching system and playbook. “It was easier from the standpoint of installing this year than it was last year,” Zaruta said. “Because of the returnees, we're that much more ahead. “If you asked the younger players, they would say it’s just like a firehouse with every- thing flowing at them.” The Mountaineers open the season against the same three opponents they lost to by a total of 106-35 last year before picking up seven straight wins. They play consecutive road games at Wyoming Valley West and Abington Heights Aug. 30 and Sept. 7 before the home opener DALLAS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Aug. 30 - at Wyoming Valley West, 7 p.m. Sept. 7 - at Abington Heights, 1 p.m. Sept. 14 - BERWICK, 1 p.m. Sept. 20 - at Coughlin, 7 p.m. Sept. 28 - WILLIAMSPORT, 1 p.m. Oct. 4 - at Pittston Area, 7 p.m. Oct. 12 - HAZLETON AREA, 1 p.m. Oct. 19 - CRESTWOOD, 1 p.m. Oct. 26 - TUNKHANNOCK, 1 p.m. Nov. 2 - at Lake-Lehman, 2 p.m. Left: The Dallas junior high football team and coaches are preparing for the 2013 season. Bill Tarutis photos | For The Dallas Post Dallas linebackers Bill Gately, left, Mike Mihal and Logan Brace. Sept. 14 against the “It looks like Berwick is Berwick team that Zaruta loaded with talent, very said could be the division deep with a very large ros- favorite. ter,” he said. Experience tops Black Knight’ S roster Dustin Jones, Pete Borum lead lengthy list of returnees at Lake-Lehman TOM ROBINSON For The Dallas Post Depending on which of the multiple formations Jerry Gilsky places his Lake-Lehman football offense in and which rotation is being used, Gilsky says he has as many as 17 “starters” for 11 posi- tions. “‘m uncomfortable with the word ‘starters’ because we run so many packages,” Gilsky said. “I have groups of guys I look at.” Fortunately for the Black Knights, they are loaded with layers who gained experience a ago on a team that advanced ‘the District 2 Class AA playoffs. “It’s a luxury,” Gilsky said. “And the crazy thing is that we only have six seniors. We're still young. “We have a very good junior Two-way, all-stars Dustin Jones and Pete Borum lead a lengthy list of returnees from a team that went 6-4 in the regular season before falling to eventual cham- pion Wyoming Area in the district SPORTS BRIEFS semifinals. Jones is a 6-foot-1, 250-pound senior fullback and defensive line- man. Borum is a 6-7, 315-pound senior two-way tackle. Jones and Borum are part of a physical presence that puts the Black Knights in position to be a feared running team. Gilsky has spent part of the preseason trying to build a stronger passing game around a new quarterback. “We're always going to run the ball,” Gilsky said. “We have to have two sides of the coin. We have to be able to pass the ball. “I felt like last year we really didn’t have many options throw- ing the ball. This year, we do. We made sure we worked on that in the offseason.” Juniors Josh Sayre and Antonio Ferrari, already starters in the defensive backfield, have been working at quarterback where Sayre may have the inside track on the position. Jones and Butler return at run- ning back. Josh Winters and Jacob Yaple RAIDERS INVITE PARTICIPANTS Kingston Township children between the ages of 5 and 11 are invit- ed to attend Kingston Township Raiders football practices between 5:30 and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Center Street Park. For more information, call Stacy Wydra at 301-8841. FATHER- SON TOURNEY SCHEDULED The Cook's Pharmacy Second Annual Father Son Baseball Tournament and Home Run Derby to benefit the Dallas Foundation will be held on Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Back Mountain Little League Field. Games times are 10 a.m. for 9-10 year-olds, noon for the Home Run Derby and 1:30 p.m. for 11-12-year olds. egistration fee is $50 for each father/son team which includes a hirt for both father and son. Children must be league age 9, 10, 11 or years old to participate. Registration deadline is Aug. 24. Registration forms may be dropped off or mailed to Cook’s Pharmacy, 1909 Memorial Highway, Shavertown. . are back at wide receiver. Kyle Romanofski, a starter as a sopho- more before being hurt last sea- son, will be in the lineup at both wide receiver and tight end. Zach Brucher, a 6-5, 250-pound sophomore, is another tight end along with Trevor Space. Bobby Wright and Joey Vigil are wingbacks for Lake-Lehman, which often operates from a wing- T or double wing. Kody Pachamovitch will be a utility player. He has experience starting at tight end and may spend time at running back. Borum and guard Cory Hoyt return in the offensive line along with three players who started at times last season. Phil Hettes is a guard, Mason Little a tackle and Connor McGovern a center on an interior line that averages 249 pounds. The front of the 4-4 defense is made up entirely of veterans with Hettes and Alex Major joining Jones and Borum. “We're only replacing one line- backer, one outside linebacker and one safety from our defense,” Gilsky said. Butler is back at one linebacker spot and could be joined by Space and/or Pachamovitch. Winters, who started last year, will join Wright and Long in filling the two outside linebacker spots. Gilsky plans to use four players in a rotation at the three second- ary spots. Sayre, who started at corner- back last season, may spend most of his time at safety. Ferrari is back at the other corner. Vigil, a corner, and Yaple, a safety, are the other defensive backs. Gilsky expects Wyoming Area, GAR and Meyers, which all fin- ished .500 or better, to remain tough among Wyoming Valley Conference Class AA teams because of the large number of returning athletes in the confer ence this season. “Northwest always finds a way to return 11 starters,” Gilsky said of his Week 7 opponent. “(Carl Majer) is the only coach who finds a way to do that.” Vandaun gets victory at [rem Temple Championship Joanne VanSaun posted a five- stroke victory in the Irem Temple Ladies Club Championship Aug. 10-11. VanSaun shot the best round of the 36-hole tournament with an 89 Aug. 10 for a seven-stroke lead at the midway point. She added a 95 for a 184. Diane Kocik had the best sec- ond-day score with a 91 to fin- ish second on a tiebreaker with Susan Fronzoni after both shot 189s. Fronzoni was second after one day with a 96. Joann Freeman was fourth with a 194. Freeman won the low net with a 75-69-144. She won by three strokes over Kocik and five over Fronzoni. Joan Moran led after one day and finished fourth with a 70-80-150. The Irem Temple men’s club championship is being played this weekend. - Tom Robinson SPP i i LAKE-LEHMAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Aug. 30 - at Old Forge, 7 p.m. Sept. 6 - at Montrose, 7 p.m. Bill Tarutis | For The Dallas Post Lake-Lehman football seniors, from left: Bobby Wright, Brady Butler, Dustin Jones, Kyle Romanofski, Pete Borum, and Josh Winters. Sept. 13 - at Wyoming Area, 7 p.m. Sept. 20 - HOLY REDEEMER, 7 p.m. Sept. 27 - at Meyers, 7 p.m. Oct.4- GAR, 7 p.m. Oct. 11 - NORTHWEST, 7 p.m. Oct. 18 - at Nanticoke, 7 p.m. Oct. 25 - HANOVER AREA, 7 p.m. Nov. 2 - DALLAS, 2 p.m. Three holes in one recorded at Huntsville Three golfers recorded holes in one at Huntsville Golf Club in Lehman recently. Justin Saraka, of Shavertown, recorded a hole in one on Thursday, Aug. 8 when he aced Hole No. 5 from the white tee markers using an 8 iron. Saraka’s shot was witnessed by Kasey Corbett. Jim Sperling, of Dallas, recorded his third career hole in one on Wednesday, Aug. 7 when he aced Hole No. 15 from the green tees, a distance of 177 yards, using a 7 iron. Sperling’s shot was witnessed by Joe Sulivan. Jason Moore, of Shavertown, recorded his second career hole in one on Wednesday, Aug. 7 when he aced Hole No. 5 from the green tees, a distance of 180 yards, using a 7 iron. Moore’s shot was witnessed by Chris Wade. 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