Paul Koontz faced a test right out of the gate. Koontz and the Derry Area Trojans opened the 2018 season on the road against Latrobe, a longtime rival.

“A lot of people at the game,” Derry coach Tim Sweeney said. “That’s a pretty nerve-wracking situation for any sophomore.”

Koontz and the Trojans beat Latrobe by 30 points, the first of 11 victories in a season that ended in a loss to Aliquippa in the WPIAL championship. Sweeney stressed the idea that last year’s results no longer matter, but also seemed pleased with the school’s continuity.

“We feel that we have a program now at Derry,” said Sweeney, who took over a year after the Trojans went winless and scored only 60 points in 2013. “Things are moving along in the direction that we envisioned back in 2014 when we were all hired. We hope to keep it going in that direction.”

Sweeney expects Koontz to be more comfortable leading the offense this year.

“Paul’s pretty poised,” Sweeney said. “He had some moments in that game, he had some moments, but I think the bigger plays that he made for us, particularly some moments, give us reason to believe that Paul has a great future ahead of him.”

Koontz completed 35 of 105 passes for 613 yards and 11 touchdowns, along with seven interceptions.

“He certainly wasn’t mistake-free, but I think any time a sophomore kid starts every game at quarterback, you’re hoping that pays dividends down the road,” Sweeney said. “I hope that starts paying dividends for us as far as running our offense and getting players in the right position, making the right calls at the line of scrimmage and those types of things. We expect, not only his ability to throw the ball and read pass coverages and those types of things, but to manage our offense, we expect him to be at a higher level this year.”

Justin Flack, the leading rusher from last season with 1,334 yards on 181 carries and 38 total touchdowns, graduated. He also led Trojans receivers with 10 receptions for 275 yards. Sweeney was careful to note how hard it is to replace that type of production.

“Being a smaller school, I don’t think it’s the case of next man up,” he said. “We have to re-evaluate every year what we have coming back and what we’ve lost. We’re not trying to fill shoes or we’re not trying to have the next player. We’re just trying to do what’s right by the kids and what fits in our system and what we think makes the most sense.”

The problem is, the four rushers behind Flack were also seniors. The returning rusher with the most carries, now-senior Justin Huss, had 22 carries for 127 yards.

“I think people pretty much know our MO is to run the ball,” Sweeney said. “We need to get better at running the ball, we need to get better at blocking, we need to get better at catching the ball and throwing it. That’s kind of the beauty of high school football, is it changes so much year to year. In some ways, it’s frustrating. In some ways, it’s refreshing.”

Derry’s defense shut out opponents three times last year and held four others to two touchdowns or fewer. Linemen Max Malis and Gavin Adams return, but the unit took a hit.

“It’s too early to tell, to be honest with you,” Sweeney said. “We just lose a lot of key playmakers on defense.

“We try to be that blue-collar, lunch-pail type of team, but we have big shoes to fill on defense at a lot of positions. We’re not trying to change things up but we’re trying to scheme a little bit to our personnel.”

Sweeney said the Trojans needed senior linebacker Seth Loughner, sophomore lineman Dylan Rhoades and junior outside linebacker Hunter Wack to solidify roles and make plays. If that trio, alongside Malis and Adams, makes enough plays and the running back situation sorts itself out, the Trojans could again challenge for a conference title.

“The personnel changes, the chemistry changes,” Sweeney said. “I would think even some larger schools have those types of issues as well.”

Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.

Coach: Tim Sweeney

Years at school: 6

2018 record: 11-2

WPIAL playoff appearances: 15

Returning starters: Offense 5, Defense 4

Key returners: Paul Koontz (5-10, 155, Jr., QB), Justin Huss (5-9, 155, Sr., RB), Max Malis (6-2, 240, Sr., DL)

Keys to success: Running back position needs to produce. Trio of defensive returnees need to step up.

Schedule

*Non-conference game

First Published: August 16, 2019, 10:00 a.m.