Highlands is bringing back a lot of starters this season — seven on each side of the ball. It’s a welcomed departure from 2018, when inexperience was a big factor in a 2-8 record.
The Golden Rams’ losses, however, are noteworthy. To leverage their added experience into more wins, they’ll need to find a replacement for their leading passer and their leading rusher, who happened to be the same person.
Seth Cohen was an all-purpose threat at quarterback for the past couple of years. Last season, he finished in the WPIAL’s top 20 in passing yardage with 1,777. Add in his 679 rushing yards that came at a gaudy 6.5 average per carry and it’s a lot of production to replace.
Coach Domenick Girardi is considering five players from across the class spectrum for the job.
Senior Xavier Smith took the few snaps Cohen didn’t last year, completing 4 of 6 passes for 42 yards in very limited duty. He will be the veteran of the group competing and be joined among upper classmen by junior Tyler Brezinski.
Three younger players will also get looks: sophomore Elijah Coleman as well as freshmen Chandler Thimons and Nick McQuade.
Girardi is in no particular rush to pick among them, though he expects one or two will pull ahead in the race as the season draws closer.
“It’s high school football. They’re high school players. They’re going to have ups and downs,” Girardi said. “I feel like if you take your time and do your due diligence in making the decision on who’s going to be the quarterback, it gives you more faith in the up and down times. You know, a ‘this is our guy no matter what’ type deal.
“If you rush it, that’s when all of a sudden people start playing quarterback carousel. We don’t want to get into that.”
There is also a prominent hole to fill at running back. Departed senior Cameron Taylor rushed for 588 yards at an average of 4.9 per carry. No other back came close to those numbers, though a few returners saw legitimate action.
Brock White will be a sophomore and was dangerous when he touched the ball a year ago. His 6.8 yards average led the team among players with at least his 18 carries. Unfortunately, he missed a lot of time with injury, but Girardi is excited to have him back. Junior Kaeleb White is in the mix, too, after working with the receivers last year.
There’s typically a fair amount of experience beyond those spots, though. Speaking of receivers, they figure to be a strength for the Rams. Senior Johnny Crise will be the top target after putting up 40 receptions for 796 yards last year. Only South Fayette’s Mike Trimbur had better numbers in WPIAL Class 4A’s Northwest Eight Conference.
D.J. Loveland and Dashawn Holley join him as upper classmen who return after significant contributions, and Girardi hopes the group can help the winner of the quarterback derby along.
“It might not be the best ball, but they have to be aggressive and go after it and go get it,” he said. “And they’ve been doing a pretty good job of that this summer so far.”
Defensively, Girardi wants to see more aggression from a unit that gave up 358 points, the second most in the conference. He’s also stressing improvement with fundamentals — tackling, following assignments, etc. — and he’s leaning on leaders at all three layers in that effort.
Junior Jeremiah Nelson offers experience and size along the defensive line at 5 feet 9 and 250 pounds. Senior Darren Hildebrand, who’s also in line to start at center on offense, will be a focal point for the linebackers, and Holley will anchor the defensive backfield.
It adds up to what Girardi called a “nice mix” of veterans and fresh faces.
One thing they’ll have to find collectively is more consistency. The Rams lost six games by two or more touchdowns last season but also dominated in their wins. Their two victories against Beaver and Ambridge came by 40-19 and 56-16 margins, respectively.
The overall scoring margin of 268 points for and 358 against isn’t pretty, but blowout losses against non-conference opponents Plum (32-14) and Latrobe (39-13) accounted for a lot of it. In conference, the Rams were outscored by only a 238-199 margin, suggesting they were competitive. Just a bit uneven in terms of week-to-week performance.
Girardi hopes that the extra year of experience at a lot of spots will lead to a healthier balance in the year ahead.
“As coaches, you want to know what to expect on Friday night. What you can count on,” he said. “You’re always looking for consistency, particularly in blocking and tackling. Being aggressive. Tough. Physical. You want to see that day in and day out, so that’s something that we certainly are emphasizing.”
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
Coach: Domenick Girardi
Years at school: 3
2018 record: 2-8
WPIAL playoff appearances: 21
Returning starters: Offense 7, Defense 7
Key returners: Johnny Crise (6-6, 183, Sr., WR-TE-OLB), Darren Hildebrand (5-8, 180, Sr., C-ILB), Max Weston (5-11, 219, Sr., OL-DL)
Keys to success: Play physically on both sides of the ball, control the ball offensively and limit big plays defensively.
Schedule
Aug. 23 | Plum* | 7 |
Aug. 30 | Keystone Oaks* | 7 |
Sept. 6 | at Blackhawk | 7 |
Sept. 13 | Knoch | 7 |
Sept. 20 | at Beaver | 7:30 |
Sept. 27 | Ambridge | 7 |
Oct. 4 | at Montour | 7 |
Oct. 11 | South Fayette | 7 |
Oct. 18 | New Castle | 7 |
Oct. 25 | at Latrobe* | 7 |
*Non-conference game
First Published: August 17, 2019, 10:00 a.m.