Mirror photo by Michael Boytim From left: Central coach Jerry Albright and quarterback Eli Muthler look on as Lukas Black is interviewed.

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis both played their first seasons in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference last season, but the rivals entered Tuesday’s conference media day at Tiger Stadium with something else in common.

Both are trying to overcome major offseason injuries.

One of the few bright spots of last season’s 2-8 campaign for the Blue Devils was freshman running back Alex McCartney, who carried the ball 215 times for 1,162 yards (a 5.4 yards-per-carry average) and 12 touchdowns.

But McCartney will not play during his sophomore year due to a recent injury.

“He was one of those kids that never missed a lift,” Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich said. “I think he was 107 out of 107. One of the hardest workers we have. For him to go down with an injury in a 7-on-7, it was just a freak thing. There was no contact. He kind of just hit a rut, his knee buckled, and it’s really unfortunate. We feel really bad for him.

“It’s going to be a hit, but we have talked all offseason about getting better as a team. It’s not just Alex out there on Friday nights trying to beat Penns Valley or Tyrone. It’s our whole football team. Our guys got better, and I think that’s going to pay dividends.”

Bellwood’s “Backyard Brawl” rival Tyrone will be without star lineman John Stanton, who was injured earlier in the offseason.

“That’s part of it,” Tyrone coach John Franco said. “It’s deflating, especially when he’s one of your top linemen and top players coming back on both sides of the ball. But it’s like everything else. You accept it, you move on and adjust. That’s what we have to do. Somebody has to step up, and you hope that the team will become better when that happens.”

Stanton isn’t the only Golden Eagle hobbled this offseason.

Franco himself entered media day with a crutch.

“I am 100 percent fine,” Franco said. “I had a medial meniscus tear, and it was a hairline fracture of the femur. They think the tear is going to be fine, that was going to be the main problem. The fracture is healing. I can’t run yet, but I’m almost back to 100 percent. It has not changed my preparation one bit. The only difference is that I have been using crutches instead of walking normally.”

Franco said while losing a player to injury is certainly never a positive, having time to work in a replacement before the season begins helps.

“It’s a big plus when you do have that time as opposed to when you lose somebody in the first game or early in the season,” Franco said. “The one bright spot is that we have time for someone to step up and make the adjustment and we’ll be fine in the long run and be better because of it.”

The loss of McCartney is a blow to Bellwood-Antis, who Lovrich said was prepared to make a big jump in its second year in the LHAC.

“We had a really good offseason, probably one of the best we’ve ever had,” Lovrich said. “The number of kids who were in the weight room, it was like perfect attendance. We have kids that have over 100 lifts and 100 workouts since last season. The kids are really determined. They saw what the Laurel Highlands was like, and they want to change how things were. They did all the work they need to do. They sacrificed to be there, and I think they are pretty positive about how things are and excited about what this year turns into.”

Despite their injuries, both Stanton (a junior) and McCartney (sophomore) should still have plenty of high school football ahead of them.

“Football is (McCartney’s) first love and it’s what he wants to do in his future,” Lovrich said. “It would have been so difficult to have that happen to him as a senior. Luckily he’s a sophomore and will have two more years to be able to make his name for Bellwood and whatever he wants to do in his future. That’s the silver lining.”

SUBHED: Freshman concerns

Unlike the Mountain League, which allowed seventh, eighth and ninth graders to play junior high football, freshmen join the varsity rosters in the LHAC.

Some coaches are concerned that policy is keeping some freshmen from coming out for football.

“I’m concerned right now with having ninth graders up in the varsity program,” Philipsburg-Osceola coach Jeff Vroman said. “I have done this for a long time, 34 years, and I don’t know if that is the answer if they let it go too long. People say it doesn’t hurt this school or that school. That’s fine. But if it’s hurting some, that’s not good. (In the Mountain League) we had junior high that was seventh, eighth and ninth. That’s just a concern of mine. It’s not going to hurt me, because I’m on the back end of it, but when you look long term, I don’t see it being an answer. I honestly don’t.”

SUBHED: Front and Central

New Central coach Jerry Albright has some big shoes to fill taking over for the recently retired Dave Baker, who led the Scarlet Dragons to District 6 championships in each of the last four seasons.

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure,” Albright said. “We have had great teams for the last 15 years. But we have always lost players and had to find players to fill in those roles. We had the same thing last year. We lost our receivers and a core group of linemen, but we have the players who can step in so we have success again this year.”

Albright isn’t shaking things up much, and as a member of Baker’s staff last year, retained most of the coaches players were already familiar with.

“There’s a lot of excitement, and there’s been a lot of work being put in,” Albright said. “The nice thing is we kept the coaching staff pretty much the same, so we’re not putting anything new in offensively or defensively. We’re just trying to keep the Central tradition going and getting ready to roll.”

SUBHED: Positive review

Richland lost to fellow LHAC foe Bald Eagle Area in last year’s District 6 Class 2A championship game. The Rams, a longtime member of the LHAC, were happy with the new format of the league last season.

“I loved it,” Richland coach Brandon Bailey said. “I think it’s great. It’s great football in the center part of this state, and in all sports, not just football, you’re going to have some teams out there competing for state championships. I would think that it will be the same here this year in football.”

SUBHED: Lights on

For the first time, Westmont Hilltop played home games under lights last season instead of Saturday afternoon home contests.

The change was well received.

“It was awesome,” Westmont Hilltop coach Pat Barron said. “Crowds were great. It was long overdue. I’m just thankful to the school board and the administration for pushing that through.”

SUBHED: Building momentum

Central Cambria won its first-ever District 6 high school baseball championship last spring, and one of the Red Devils best players in both baseball and football, Grady Snyder, will be among the Central Cambria players trying to lead a similar turnaround in football.

“They had a tremendous season, and that’s going to be something they can build off of,” Central Cambria coach Don Fyfe said. “They learned that hard work and preparation leads to success, and that is something we hope to carry over to our season.”

SUBHED: Back to 1A

Bishop Guilfoyle Academy, which won six of the eight District 6 Class 1A championships from 2014-2021, before being moved up to 2A due to the PIAA’s success factor after winning the 2021 state title, is back down to 1A.

Defending Class 1A champion, Cambria Heights, is up to 2A.

“We’re really excited to be back in 1A again,” Bishop Guilfoyle senior Michael Cacciotti said. “We have a pretty good senior class coming up, and we know we have a good opportunity to compete with the teams in 1A after we get through our really tough schedule.”