EPC South Preview
1. Freedom Patriots
Why They’re Here: The Patriots return the best player in the Lehigh Valley (two-way lineman and Virginia Tech commit Braelin Moore), the leading returning rusher (Deonte Crawford), the best receiver combo in the Valley (Owen Johnson and AJ Fletcher) and have two really good options at quarterback (Brian Taylor won the job out of camp last year, but had to sit out for an eligibility issue and Ethan Nedling took them to the D11 title game in his place). Lots of talent here, plus Jason Roeder has proved to be one of the best coaches in D11.
Why They Could Stumble: Moore and Juan Feliciano are the only returnees on the offensive line – they’ll be big, but they’ll need to block up front. The quarterback battle also could be an issue, because I am a firm believer in “if you have two, you have none”.
2. Whitehall Zephyrs
Why They’re Here: They bring back virtually their entire team from the D11 5A champs. Now, they won that title without having to play East Stroudsburg South (COVID) and dropped their only two EPC South games, but they’ve got experience and talent to spare. Quinn Wentling was an All State pick after finishing second in the conference in both passing yards and rushing yards in 2020 and accounting for 23 touchdowns in eight games. He’ll have really good skill guys in tailbacks Damonte Foreman and Nigel Linton and wideouts Tommy Buskirk and Bryce Bashore. They also bring back the entire offensive line. Defensively, they bring back nine starters, where Foreman, Linton, Wentling, and Buskirk are all conference returnees and Brayden Marrero anchors the defensive line.
Why They Could Stumble: It’s a LOT of guys going both ways. Even Wentling gets snaps at safety. And for all of their postseason success, it has been two years since they’ve beaten a fellow EPC South opponent. They’ll need to handle the 6A portion of their schedule just to qualify for playoffs, but they will be the most seasoned and ready team once they get to November.
3. Parkland Trojans
Why They’re Here: The Trojans are always a safe bet to be good, and if they’re in a talent upswing they can be great. Not quite sure how that falls – Ty Tremba will be in his third year as a starter at QB, he’s a throwback, option type but if he’s developed as a passer could really open up the offense. His brother Trey and Dahlir Adams is one of the best one-two punches at running back, and they’ll once again be huge on the offensive line. They also have the most back of defense of anybody (seven starters) to a unit that is consistently excellent.
Why They Could Stumble: Is there a gamebreaker here? Parkland hasn’t ascended to the levels of their 2012-17 run over the last few years because they haven’t had any “wow” skill guys to go with their physicality on defense and the offensive line.
4. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks
Why They’re Here: Jared Richardson is back from his broken collarbone and gives the Hawks a dynamic run/pass threat under center. They also welcome back head coach Kyle Haas, who took the Hawks to a state final four in his one season as the interim head coach and had Northampton turned around and heading in the right direction. A crisper Bethlehem Catholic team has a chance to be dangerous. They also have one of the major talents in the league in offensive tackle and North Carolina commit Justin Kanyuk (6’7 315), who leads an offensive line where the smallest guy is 6’3 280. All of that leads to a top 5 team in the state in 4A.
Why They Could Stumble: Rahmel Terry is out for the season after tearing his ACL, leaving a hole for the Golden Hawks at running back. That will put even more pressure on Richardson to carry the running game, which is a tall order for a quarterback.
5. Easton Red Rovers
Why They Could Rise Up: The Red Rovers return eight starters on offense and five on defense. Marcus Williams is the headliner at running back, though they’ll try to get the ball to him on the perimeter as well and let him use his speed (he’s a two-time D11 champ in the 100 and 200). He’s also a monster in the return game, with five punt/kick return TDs in last year’s abbreviated season. Quarterback Cole Transue is in his third year as a starter, and if he can regain the trajectory he showed as a sophomore, he’s as good a QB as there is in the league. The offensive line should have some serious size, led by junior left tackle Sean Wilson (6’4 265), a likely FBS recruit. Defensively, leading tackler Mike Hynes is back at middle linebacker, while Williams, Javion Thompson, and all conference safety Kyle Evancho are all back in the secondary.
Why They Could Stumble: If Transue repeats his struggles as a junior, it takes a lot of options off of the table for this offense. When they’ve had big offensive fronts the past few years, it seems as though they’ve traded size for mobility wit middling results. They need to replace their entire defensive line, and while Wilson and Matt Cruise seem like solid options, that’ll be a lot of snaps for the big guys going both ways. They also have lacked a real identity for years.
6. Emmaus Green Hornets
Why They Could Rise Up: Docking the Hornets a little here with the news that junior QB Jake Fotta is out for the year with a torn ACL. Still, Emmaus has been trending in the right direction under former Allentown Central Catholic boss Harold Fairclough. This group will be led by senior linebacker Jared Groller, the leading tackler in the league and one of the best returning defenders period. He also may see some carries on offense as they try to replace 3,000 yard career rusher Brandon Camire. And while Josiah Williams is green, he’s a very talented back-up who could leave Emmaus just fine at quarterback.
Why They Could Stumble: They did lose their QB to a major knee injury days before their first game. They also are replacing the EPC Offensive Player of the Year in Camire, who was their major offensive weapon the last three seasons, plus their entire receiving corps and secondary. That is a lot to ask. And while they should be pretty good on the offensive and defensive lines, it’s a total rebuild of the skill guys.
7. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings
Why They Could Rise Up: The returning D11 4A champions return the third major candidate for best player in the league in defensive tackle Lavon Johnson. He’s a monster (6’4 325) who was an all state pick in 2020 as well as the EPC Defensive Player of the Year, has a bevy of scholarships offers (he’s thought to be a Michigan lean), and this year has improved his conditioning enough to the point he’s expected to play both ways. Johnson is one of six returnees on defense and if that unit can keep them in games, they can upset some of the teams ahead of them.
Why They Could Stumble: They are replacing virtually their entire offense, with just two starters back. They’ll need to replace Michael Rauscher, now at Lehigh, at quarterback and all state running back Jayden Williams, four offensive linemen, their all league tight end, and their two leading receivers. That is a lot. And while they have some young talent coming in (including 6’4 300 pound freshman tackle Braheem Battle, who should be a star down the line) it lookings like a rebuilding year on 4th Street.
8. Nazareth Blue Eagles
Why They Could Rise Up: It’s probably stupid to pick the two-time defending D11 6A champs to finish in eight, but they get absolutely crushed by graduation for the second year in a row. If they make me look dumb (not out of th question), it’s because Tom Falzone again finds a way to plug and play kids into his system and coaches them up to be better than the sum of their parts. The key on offense is Tyler Rohn, who comes back at running back and should be the focal point of the offense, the first time in years Nazareth will expect to be a run-first team. I like Sonny Sasso to win the QB battle and if he does, it gives the Blue Eagles a great athlete running the show. He’s got Division I size (6’4 210) and is one of the best wrestlers in the country (a state medalist at 170 as a sophomore before earning double All American honors in Fargo this summer at 195 in the Olympic styles). Fellow blue chip wrestler Sean Kinney (So. 6’3 280) will be protecting his blind side.
Why They Could Stumble: It’s an entirely new football team, which is really hard to do in high school. I have no idea who Sasso will throw the ball to, and while they return some talent at linebacker, the entire secondary will be new.
9. Liberty Hurricanes
Why They Could Rise Up: They’re building up in Bethlehem! First year head coach Shawn Daignault has assembled a really interesting coaching staff, with a mix of old, longtime respect Lehigh Valley veterans (Joe Bottiglieri, Frank Lane, Dave Brown) and some young guys with NFL experience (Levi Brown, Tevrin Brandon). (Side note: the fact that Tags and Frank Lane are both back in coaching and neither are at their alma mater -same as mine - is only mildly upsetting to me…)
Why They’re Here: The Hurricanes went 0-6 in 2020 and are 6-24 in conference play since 2017. They are going to need to pretty much bulid this from scratch.
Preseason All League Team
Offense
QB: Jared Richardson, Bethlehem Catholic (Sr. 6’3 200)
RB: Marcus Williams, Easton (Sr. 5’11 185)
RB: Deonte Crawford, Freedom (Sr. ’59 185)
WR: Eric Wert, Bethlehem Catholic (Sr. 5'10 175)
WR: Owen Johnson, Freedom (Jr. 6’2 215)
WR: Trey Tremba, Parkland (So. 5’10 170)
OL: Justin Kanyuk, Bethlehem Catholic (Sr. 6’7 315; North Carolina)
OL: Sean Kinney, Nazareth (So. 6’3 280)
OL: Sean Wilson, Easton (Jr. 6’4 260)
OL: Dylan McHugh, Emmaus (Sr. 6’3 275)
OL: Marko Galetovic, Parkland (Sr. 6’3 270)
Defense
DL: Braelin Moore, Freedom (Sr. 6’3 305; Virginia Tech)
DL: Lavon Johnson, Allentown Central Catholic (Sr. 6’4 325)
DL: Brock Boyer, Parkland (Sr. 6’3 245)
DL: Stephen Hattala (Sr. 6’3 235)
LB: Jared Groller, Emmaus (Sr. 6’1 210)
LB: Mike Hynes, Easton (Sr. 5’11 205)
LB: Demonte Foreman, Whitehall (Sr. 5’11 180)
LB: Broc Bender, Nazareth (Sr. 6’3 195)
DB: Kyle Evancho, Easton (Sr. 6’3 175)
DB: AJ Fletcher, Freedom (Jr. 5’10 175)
DB: Tommy Buskirk, Whitehall (Sr. 6’2 175)
DB: Quinn Wentling, Whitehall (Sr. 5’10 200)
1. Freedom Patriots
Why They’re Here: The Patriots return the best player in the Lehigh Valley (two-way lineman and Virginia Tech commit Braelin Moore), the leading returning rusher (Deonte Crawford), the best receiver combo in the Valley (Owen Johnson and AJ Fletcher) and have two really good options at quarterback (Brian Taylor won the job out of camp last year, but had to sit out for an eligibility issue and Ethan Nedling took them to the D11 title game in his place). Lots of talent here, plus Jason Roeder has proved to be one of the best coaches in D11.
Why They Could Stumble: Moore and Juan Feliciano are the only returnees on the offensive line – they’ll be big, but they’ll need to block up front. The quarterback battle also could be an issue, because I am a firm believer in “if you have two, you have none”.
2. Whitehall Zephyrs
Why They’re Here: They bring back virtually their entire team from the D11 5A champs. Now, they won that title without having to play East Stroudsburg South (COVID) and dropped their only two EPC South games, but they’ve got experience and talent to spare. Quinn Wentling was an All State pick after finishing second in the conference in both passing yards and rushing yards in 2020 and accounting for 23 touchdowns in eight games. He’ll have really good skill guys in tailbacks Damonte Foreman and Nigel Linton and wideouts Tommy Buskirk and Bryce Bashore. They also bring back the entire offensive line. Defensively, they bring back nine starters, where Foreman, Linton, Wentling, and Buskirk are all conference returnees and Brayden Marrero anchors the defensive line.
Why They Could Stumble: It’s a LOT of guys going both ways. Even Wentling gets snaps at safety. And for all of their postseason success, it has been two years since they’ve beaten a fellow EPC South opponent. They’ll need to handle the 6A portion of their schedule just to qualify for playoffs, but they will be the most seasoned and ready team once they get to November.
3. Parkland Trojans
Why They’re Here: The Trojans are always a safe bet to be good, and if they’re in a talent upswing they can be great. Not quite sure how that falls – Ty Tremba will be in his third year as a starter at QB, he’s a throwback, option type but if he’s developed as a passer could really open up the offense. His brother Trey and Dahlir Adams is one of the best one-two punches at running back, and they’ll once again be huge on the offensive line. They also have the most back of defense of anybody (seven starters) to a unit that is consistently excellent.
Why They Could Stumble: Is there a gamebreaker here? Parkland hasn’t ascended to the levels of their 2012-17 run over the last few years because they haven’t had any “wow” skill guys to go with their physicality on defense and the offensive line.
4. Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks
Why They’re Here: Jared Richardson is back from his broken collarbone and gives the Hawks a dynamic run/pass threat under center. They also welcome back head coach Kyle Haas, who took the Hawks to a state final four in his one season as the interim head coach and had Northampton turned around and heading in the right direction. A crisper Bethlehem Catholic team has a chance to be dangerous. They also have one of the major talents in the league in offensive tackle and North Carolina commit Justin Kanyuk (6’7 315), who leads an offensive line where the smallest guy is 6’3 280. All of that leads to a top 5 team in the state in 4A.
Why They Could Stumble: Rahmel Terry is out for the season after tearing his ACL, leaving a hole for the Golden Hawks at running back. That will put even more pressure on Richardson to carry the running game, which is a tall order for a quarterback.
5. Easton Red Rovers
Why They Could Rise Up: The Red Rovers return eight starters on offense and five on defense. Marcus Williams is the headliner at running back, though they’ll try to get the ball to him on the perimeter as well and let him use his speed (he’s a two-time D11 champ in the 100 and 200). He’s also a monster in the return game, with five punt/kick return TDs in last year’s abbreviated season. Quarterback Cole Transue is in his third year as a starter, and if he can regain the trajectory he showed as a sophomore, he’s as good a QB as there is in the league. The offensive line should have some serious size, led by junior left tackle Sean Wilson (6’4 265), a likely FBS recruit. Defensively, leading tackler Mike Hynes is back at middle linebacker, while Williams, Javion Thompson, and all conference safety Kyle Evancho are all back in the secondary.
Why They Could Stumble: If Transue repeats his struggles as a junior, it takes a lot of options off of the table for this offense. When they’ve had big offensive fronts the past few years, it seems as though they’ve traded size for mobility wit middling results. They need to replace their entire defensive line, and while Wilson and Matt Cruise seem like solid options, that’ll be a lot of snaps for the big guys going both ways. They also have lacked a real identity for years.
6. Emmaus Green Hornets
Why They Could Rise Up: Docking the Hornets a little here with the news that junior QB Jake Fotta is out for the year with a torn ACL. Still, Emmaus has been trending in the right direction under former Allentown Central Catholic boss Harold Fairclough. This group will be led by senior linebacker Jared Groller, the leading tackler in the league and one of the best returning defenders period. He also may see some carries on offense as they try to replace 3,000 yard career rusher Brandon Camire. And while Josiah Williams is green, he’s a very talented back-up who could leave Emmaus just fine at quarterback.
Why They Could Stumble: They did lose their QB to a major knee injury days before their first game. They also are replacing the EPC Offensive Player of the Year in Camire, who was their major offensive weapon the last three seasons, plus their entire receiving corps and secondary. That is a lot to ask. And while they should be pretty good on the offensive and defensive lines, it’s a total rebuild of the skill guys.
7. Allentown Central Catholic Vikings
Why They Could Rise Up: The returning D11 4A champions return the third major candidate for best player in the league in defensive tackle Lavon Johnson. He’s a monster (6’4 325) who was an all state pick in 2020 as well as the EPC Defensive Player of the Year, has a bevy of scholarships offers (he’s thought to be a Michigan lean), and this year has improved his conditioning enough to the point he’s expected to play both ways. Johnson is one of six returnees on defense and if that unit can keep them in games, they can upset some of the teams ahead of them.
Why They Could Stumble: They are replacing virtually their entire offense, with just two starters back. They’ll need to replace Michael Rauscher, now at Lehigh, at quarterback and all state running back Jayden Williams, four offensive linemen, their all league tight end, and their two leading receivers. That is a lot. And while they have some young talent coming in (including 6’4 300 pound freshman tackle Braheem Battle, who should be a star down the line) it lookings like a rebuilding year on 4th Street.
8. Nazareth Blue Eagles
Why They Could Rise Up: It’s probably stupid to pick the two-time defending D11 6A champs to finish in eight, but they get absolutely crushed by graduation for the second year in a row. If they make me look dumb (not out of th question), it’s because Tom Falzone again finds a way to plug and play kids into his system and coaches them up to be better than the sum of their parts. The key on offense is Tyler Rohn, who comes back at running back and should be the focal point of the offense, the first time in years Nazareth will expect to be a run-first team. I like Sonny Sasso to win the QB battle and if he does, it gives the Blue Eagles a great athlete running the show. He’s got Division I size (6’4 210) and is one of the best wrestlers in the country (a state medalist at 170 as a sophomore before earning double All American honors in Fargo this summer at 195 in the Olympic styles). Fellow blue chip wrestler Sean Kinney (So. 6’3 280) will be protecting his blind side.
Why They Could Stumble: It’s an entirely new football team, which is really hard to do in high school. I have no idea who Sasso will throw the ball to, and while they return some talent at linebacker, the entire secondary will be new.
9. Liberty Hurricanes
Why They Could Rise Up: They’re building up in Bethlehem! First year head coach Shawn Daignault has assembled a really interesting coaching staff, with a mix of old, longtime respect Lehigh Valley veterans (Joe Bottiglieri, Frank Lane, Dave Brown) and some young guys with NFL experience (Levi Brown, Tevrin Brandon). (Side note: the fact that Tags and Frank Lane are both back in coaching and neither are at their alma mater -same as mine - is only mildly upsetting to me…)
Why They’re Here: The Hurricanes went 0-6 in 2020 and are 6-24 in conference play since 2017. They are going to need to pretty much bulid this from scratch.
Preseason All League Team
Offense
QB: Jared Richardson, Bethlehem Catholic (Sr. 6’3 200)
RB: Marcus Williams, Easton (Sr. 5’11 185)
RB: Deonte Crawford, Freedom (Sr. ’59 185)
WR: Eric Wert, Bethlehem Catholic (Sr. 5'10 175)
WR: Owen Johnson, Freedom (Jr. 6’2 215)
WR: Trey Tremba, Parkland (So. 5’10 170)
OL: Justin Kanyuk, Bethlehem Catholic (Sr. 6’7 315; North Carolina)
OL: Sean Kinney, Nazareth (So. 6’3 280)
OL: Sean Wilson, Easton (Jr. 6’4 260)
OL: Dylan McHugh, Emmaus (Sr. 6’3 275)
OL: Marko Galetovic, Parkland (Sr. 6’3 270)
Defense
DL: Braelin Moore, Freedom (Sr. 6’3 305; Virginia Tech)
DL: Lavon Johnson, Allentown Central Catholic (Sr. 6’4 325)
DL: Brock Boyer, Parkland (Sr. 6’3 245)
DL: Stephen Hattala (Sr. 6’3 235)
LB: Jared Groller, Emmaus (Sr. 6’1 210)
LB: Mike Hynes, Easton (Sr. 5’11 205)
LB: Demonte Foreman, Whitehall (Sr. 5’11 180)
LB: Broc Bender, Nazareth (Sr. 6’3 195)
DB: Kyle Evancho, Easton (Sr. 6’3 175)
DB: AJ Fletcher, Freedom (Jr. 5’10 175)
DB: Tommy Buskirk, Whitehall (Sr. 6’2 175)
DB: Quinn Wentling, Whitehall (Sr. 5’10 200)
