Prep-PR
- Thread starter MC1975
- Start date
Here's the PR Scoop:
Offense: Their offense is led by an outstanding all-senior line that averages about 280 across the board. The bell cow is RT Andrew Kristofic (6'6 280, ND Commit) who is dominant. At RG is Michael Katic (6'3" 290, Indiana Commit) who is a prototypical run blocker who is surprisingly nimble. Michael Dorundo (6' 270, D2/FCS kid) is an athletic mobile Center. Those three are three year starters. The are joined by two seniors - Brian Bails at LG (6' 300) and Tyler Rudduck (6'3" 270) at LT. Both those kids are very solid HS offensive linemen as far as I can tell who fit P-R's system well. At the WR positions, two sophomores lead the way at the slot positions with Luke Miller (most yards) and Eli Jochem (most catches) being the two primary targets. Miller (6'2" 170) is bigger and probably a little faster and Jochem (5'11 160) is shiftier and also has good speed. They are joined on the outside by another sophomore (D'avy Johnson 6'3" 195) and Senior Shane Cafardi (6' 160). Johnson is a deep threat receiver because of his size and Cafardi is a very sure handed players who figures big in their screen game. The QB is also a sophomore - Cole Spencer 5'10, 170 - who is a very very good athlete with a strong arm. He's has improved tremendously over the course of the season and is a threat in the passing and run game. At RB, Luke Meckler (5'9 170) is the speed back with legitimate sub 4.5 speed and has almost 1500 yards. He is a threat every time he touches the ball. Shockingly fast. Over the course of the last several weeks that have also used Anthony Cerminara (Sr, 5'9 205) as a runner and blocker and has provided a nice changed up to Meckler and is very effective between the tackles. Also, they have used Tyler King (6'1 215) as a Fullback and he has absolutely dominated people. All in all, they are a run first team that since NA has gone back to playing spread based football at a high tempo. Unlike last year, they are most effective spreading you out to run the ball. The two slot WR's can be home run hitters up the seams and have made several plays, but Meckler, the other RB's and the QB running behind their offensive line is where P-R makes their money.
Defensively, they are led by easily the two best LB's I seen in King and Cerminara. They play fast and downhill and really finish. Those two have multiple hits a game where the crowd just goes "oooohhhhhh". Its hard to explain how good they look compared to the kids I see playing the position out here. The interior DL is led by Kristofic and Dorundo, but it looks to me like a 4 man rotation with Katic and a couple other seniors joining in. The DE's are one way kids in Miguel Jackson (6' 210 sophomore) and Trent Miller (5'11, 225, Junior). Jackson is a dynamic, explosive player who can rush the passer, run down backs and play solid at the point. Miller is similar, but thicker at the point of attack, giving a little away in the pass game. Meckler plays one safety and the other is either Caden Schweiger (5'10 160 Soph) or Chance Boyd (5'11, 170 Jr.) Meckler is solid, all conference level kid who wins because of his speed. The other two are better tacklers, and were exposed a bit against State College. Corner are Connor Hetzel (6' 175) and Dylan Stenson (6'2 185). Both are tough as nails, solid cover guys who aren't afraid to hit. Somewhat limited in speed and ball skills, but will compete. Overall, the defense is built to stop the run and make you pass the ball. They seem to be willing to give up some things in the pass game and expect to either get pressure on the passer or make you make a great throw. Every piece of the front 7 is significantly better than last years championship team, and every piece of the secondary is worse. That's to be expected given the huge losses P-R suffered in the skill positions, but, I think they can win with who they have.
Finally, over the course of 5 years, I've come to believe that they have the best coaching staff in Western PA for sure. In the past two years since Kasper has gone to the defensive side, that group has gotten a ton better. He's got a guy from Woodland Hills that has 9 or 10 WPIAL championships coaching LBs. A fiery former P-R player coaching DB's and one of his friends from Pitt coaching the DL. All are excellent. On the offensive side, they have a young OC who coaches the skill guys (RBs and WRs) along with a former Navy player, a OL coach who has sent a couple klds to the NFL as well a college, and a QB coach who has developed DiNucci and Jurkovec, and now Spencer. I believe all these guys only coach one position, which really helps. (They say they do so I assume its true.) Biggest thing that a couple of them have told me is that its not a dictatorship and the best ideas win, subject to some overwhelming guidelines - like 4-3 base on D, and spread, tempo on O. I know many of these guys and they are diverse, smart, and modern thinking. That's probably what sets them a part from many of the dinosaur 6A coaches that insist on doing things the same way as they did it in 1990 or 2000. Great kids and great coaching is why they have been good. Since Kasper took over, they have winning records against both PCC and NA - which was the measuring stick in the WPIAL. (And amazingly, I hear people griping every week at the game! LoL)
Whew. That's all I got.
Offense: Their offense is led by an outstanding all-senior line that averages about 280 across the board. The bell cow is RT Andrew Kristofic (6'6 280, ND Commit) who is dominant. At RG is Michael Katic (6'3" 290, Indiana Commit) who is a prototypical run blocker who is surprisingly nimble. Michael Dorundo (6' 270, D2/FCS kid) is an athletic mobile Center. Those three are three year starters. The are joined by two seniors - Brian Bails at LG (6' 300) and Tyler Rudduck (6'3" 270) at LT. Both those kids are very solid HS offensive linemen as far as I can tell who fit P-R's system well. At the WR positions, two sophomores lead the way at the slot positions with Luke Miller (most yards) and Eli Jochem (most catches) being the two primary targets. Miller (6'2" 170) is bigger and probably a little faster and Jochem (5'11 160) is shiftier and also has good speed. They are joined on the outside by another sophomore (D'avy Johnson 6'3" 195) and Senior Shane Cafardi (6' 160). Johnson is a deep threat receiver because of his size and Cafardi is a very sure handed players who figures big in their screen game. The QB is also a sophomore - Cole Spencer 5'10, 170 - who is a very very good athlete with a strong arm. He's has improved tremendously over the course of the season and is a threat in the passing and run game. At RB, Luke Meckler (5'9 170) is the speed back with legitimate sub 4.5 speed and has almost 1500 yards. He is a threat every time he touches the ball. Shockingly fast. Over the course of the last several weeks that have also used Anthony Cerminara (Sr, 5'9 205) as a runner and blocker and has provided a nice changed up to Meckler and is very effective between the tackles. Also, they have used Tyler King (6'1 215) as a Fullback and he has absolutely dominated people. All in all, they are a run first team that since NA has gone back to playing spread based football at a high tempo. Unlike last year, they are most effective spreading you out to run the ball. The two slot WR's can be home run hitters up the seams and have made several plays, but Meckler, the other RB's and the QB running behind their offensive line is where P-R makes their money.
Defensively, they are led by easily the two best LB's I seen in King and Cerminara. They play fast and downhill and really finish. Those two have multiple hits a game where the crowd just goes "oooohhhhhh". Its hard to explain how good they look compared to the kids I see playing the position out here. The interior DL is led by Kristofic and Dorundo, but it looks to me like a 4 man rotation with Katic and a couple other seniors joining in. The DE's are one way kids in Miguel Jackson (6' 210 sophomore) and Trent Miller (5'11, 225, Junior). Jackson is a dynamic, explosive player who can rush the passer, run down backs and play solid at the point. Miller is similar, but thicker at the point of attack, giving a little away in the pass game. Meckler plays one safety and the other is either Caden Schweiger (5'10 160 Soph) or Chance Boyd (5'11, 170 Jr.) Meckler is solid, all conference level kid who wins because of his speed. The other two are better tacklers, and were exposed a bit against State College. Corner are Connor Hetzel (6' 175) and Dylan Stenson (6'2 185). Both are tough as nails, solid cover guys who aren't afraid to hit. Somewhat limited in speed and ball skills, but will compete. Overall, the defense is built to stop the run and make you pass the ball. They seem to be willing to give up some things in the pass game and expect to either get pressure on the passer or make you make a great throw. Every piece of the front 7 is significantly better than last years championship team, and every piece of the secondary is worse. That's to be expected given the huge losses P-R suffered in the skill positions, but, I think they can win with who they have.
Finally, over the course of 5 years, I've come to believe that they have the best coaching staff in Western PA for sure. In the past two years since Kasper has gone to the defensive side, that group has gotten a ton better. He's got a guy from Woodland Hills that has 9 or 10 WPIAL championships coaching LBs. A fiery former P-R player coaching DB's and one of his friends from Pitt coaching the DL. All are excellent. On the offensive side, they have a young OC who coaches the skill guys (RBs and WRs) along with a former Navy player, a OL coach who has sent a couple klds to the NFL as well a college, and a QB coach who has developed DiNucci and Jurkovec, and now Spencer. I believe all these guys only coach one position, which really helps. (They say they do so I assume its true.) Biggest thing that a couple of them have told me is that its not a dictatorship and the best ideas win, subject to some overwhelming guidelines - like 4-3 base on D, and spread, tempo on O. I know many of these guys and they are diverse, smart, and modern thinking. That's probably what sets them a part from many of the dinosaur 6A coaches that insist on doing things the same way as they did it in 1990 or 2000. Great kids and great coaching is why they have been good. Since Kasper took over, they have winning records against both PCC and NA - which was the measuring stick in the WPIAL. (And amazingly, I hear people griping every week at the game! LoL)
Whew. That's all I got.
New
New/Jacky - I am not as close as some to this program but have seen them a lot over the years, only seen them live once this yr due to my travel, etc... the teams they played early out of league and Freedom had size, they obviously did well. Technically they are absolutely solid on both lines. Linebackers are fast and will use their hands well. Trotter, Kim, Talley, Johnson... all fast and get to the ball very well. DL they are not as big but year in and out they are so good and sceme wise are always changing angles and gaps, penetrate the LOS well. This game should be very good!
As I stated earlier after the IMG-Pine-Richland game, the Pine-Richland passing game would struggle due to inexperience at QB and WR. It definitely showed during the Prep game, as they were 6-25 for 39 yards passing. Oh well, Spencer has a couple more years to grow and will be a force by the time he graduates (as will Prep's QB
. Hopefully these two teams meet again next year!
. Hopefully these two teams meet again next year!Just wondering what new and Jacky thought of Saturday's game. I felt a little sorry for PR--not the way a defending state champion wants to go out--and thought they must have been much better for most of the year than they were on Saturday. And maybe the game would have taken a somewhat different course if PR had scored on their first drive. But in the end, they weren't able to come close to stopping the Prep's passing attack and had far too little offense of their own.
Tulla,
Just got settled. Here's my take. First the positive.
I thought the P-R defensive front played very well. SJP struggled to run the ball in spite of trying quite a bite. King and Cerminara are great players and that showed in the run game. Also, DE's while undersized held their own. Both of those kids will be back next year.
The rest of the parts of the game were miserable. P-R's run game was non-existent despite being far bigger, having more experience, and being higher "level" kids than the SJP kids. (I was actually surprised how small SJP was with few exceptions). I don't think we had a run longer than 10 yards. The fake punt and QB scrambles were our best rushing plays I think. That part of the game was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. Same sort of stuff happened vs. NA. And SJP wasn't really loading the box a ton. P-R was in a ton of spread sets and still couldn't do much running.
The pass game was also non-existent. QB missed open WR's, was under pressure, and when he had time, there were a ton of drops. Wet conditions I know, but it didn't seem like SJP had any problems. IMO, if QB could have been protected early and made some completions, maybe they would have had a little more success. But it looked like he got skittish and then it was over from a confidence perspective.
P-R's pass defense was also very poor. I knew that they were going to be tested and the outcome was what I thought could happen. PR's CB's are very nice HS players, but they were over-matched. I thought that maybe a couple PI called were ticky-tak, but wouldn't have made a difference. Safety play was also bad. Meckler was OK, but the other kid was exposed again a couple times. He plays really hard, but better suited to fill the run than cover. Bright spot was Cafardi chasing down the RB to prevent a TD. That was impressive. But it is what it is..
So, in summary:
Run Defense: A+ and better than I thought.
Pass Defense: D and exactly what I thought.
Run Offense: C- and very disappointing
Pass Offense: D: And a little worse than I thought could happen.
Hats off to SJP - they weren't a dominant looking team and I thought P-R was bigger in 9/11 position on O and 6/11 on D. #1 and #54 and #19 on D are good looking kids though. Offensively, the QB is the real deal. Much better passer as a sophomore than any player I have ever seen, including Jurkovec. Not that athletic but could sling it. Those kids play hard and are coached well. I for one am rooting for SJP to win handily next week. This isn't a public vs. private statement, but I would like it if P-R did get some prop's for being the best Public HS Football team in PA 2 years in a row. Back to Back WPIAL champs is really awesome too.
On a side note, its amazing the crackpots that come to these games. Up and behind me the family of one of the prominent senior players on the team were screaming at the bench that the coaches were "idiots" and need to do X,Y,Z. I just shook my head. SJP was going to beat this P-R team 9/10 times or better. These kids and coaches just had the most successful two year span of any P-R program in history (I think), and they act like that. Some woman started yelling back at them, but it was a disgrace.
Just got settled. Here's my take. First the positive.
I thought the P-R defensive front played very well. SJP struggled to run the ball in spite of trying quite a bite. King and Cerminara are great players and that showed in the run game. Also, DE's while undersized held their own. Both of those kids will be back next year.
The rest of the parts of the game were miserable. P-R's run game was non-existent despite being far bigger, having more experience, and being higher "level" kids than the SJP kids. (I was actually surprised how small SJP was with few exceptions). I don't think we had a run longer than 10 yards. The fake punt and QB scrambles were our best rushing plays I think. That part of the game was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. Same sort of stuff happened vs. NA. And SJP wasn't really loading the box a ton. P-R was in a ton of spread sets and still couldn't do much running.
The pass game was also non-existent. QB missed open WR's, was under pressure, and when he had time, there were a ton of drops. Wet conditions I know, but it didn't seem like SJP had any problems. IMO, if QB could have been protected early and made some completions, maybe they would have had a little more success. But it looked like he got skittish and then it was over from a confidence perspective.
P-R's pass defense was also very poor. I knew that they were going to be tested and the outcome was what I thought could happen. PR's CB's are very nice HS players, but they were over-matched. I thought that maybe a couple PI called were ticky-tak, but wouldn't have made a difference. Safety play was also bad. Meckler was OK, but the other kid was exposed again a couple times. He plays really hard, but better suited to fill the run than cover. Bright spot was Cafardi chasing down the RB to prevent a TD. That was impressive. But it is what it is..
So, in summary:
Run Defense: A+ and better than I thought.
Pass Defense: D and exactly what I thought.
Run Offense: C- and very disappointing
Pass Offense: D: And a little worse than I thought could happen.
Hats off to SJP - they weren't a dominant looking team and I thought P-R was bigger in 9/11 position on O and 6/11 on D. #1 and #54 and #19 on D are good looking kids though. Offensively, the QB is the real deal. Much better passer as a sophomore than any player I have ever seen, including Jurkovec. Not that athletic but could sling it. Those kids play hard and are coached well. I for one am rooting for SJP to win handily next week. This isn't a public vs. private statement, but I would like it if P-R did get some prop's for being the best Public HS Football team in PA 2 years in a row. Back to Back WPIAL champs is really awesome too.
On a side note, its amazing the crackpots that come to these games. Up and behind me the family of one of the prominent senior players on the team were screaming at the bench that the coaches were "idiots" and need to do X,Y,Z. I just shook my head. SJP was going to beat this P-R team 9/10 times or better. These kids and coaches just had the most successful two year span of any P-R program in history (I think), and they act like that. Some woman started yelling back at them, but it was a disgrace.
Excellent analysis, New! Hats off to P-R as they’ve built an outstanding program and I have no doubt that they’re going to be a factor deep in the PIAA playoffs for years to come. The ‘17 PR team was one of the most complete teams I’ve seen in a long time. Jurkovec was a man among boys. I agree that McCord has a chance to be that special if he continues to develop. He’ll certainly benefit with having so many weapons around him given the amount of young talent at skill positions on the team.
I truly hope that they don’t separate private and public school playoffs in PA. I understand the arguments and frustrations from public school fans. However, the CB West teams of the late 80s/early 90s, Berwick, North Allegheny, North Penn, Neshaminy, Coatesville, Downingtowns, and Harrisburgs (among many others) in different years could play with anyone (public or private). Obviously, changing demographics, reduction in the number of overall players, the opening of new schools, and other factors have made it more difficult to be as consistent as some of the private school powers, but I really never want to always have to wonder ‘was the ‘03 North Penn team or the ‘03 SJP team the best in the state?’ Let them play...
I truly hope that they don’t separate private and public school playoffs in PA. I understand the arguments and frustrations from public school fans. However, the CB West teams of the late 80s/early 90s, Berwick, North Allegheny, North Penn, Neshaminy, Coatesville, Downingtowns, and Harrisburgs (among many others) in different years could play with anyone (public or private). Obviously, changing demographics, reduction in the number of overall players, the opening of new schools, and other factors have made it more difficult to be as consistent as some of the private school powers, but I really never want to always have to wonder ‘was the ‘03 North Penn team or the ‘03 SJP team the best in the state?’ Let them play...
Dex
Everyone on here has been very complimentary and shown a lot of love to the young NJ QB. Have not heard a single negative comment. Don't be so insecure, he may have a chance over the next 2 years to show how athletic he is or he may just be able to stay comfortable behind the well coached Prep O-line, which I'm sure will remain solid or improve. The kid has all the tools to be a great QB, no one cares if he dunked in 8th grade, I'm sure he has bigger goals. Best of luck Sat!!
Everyone on here has been very complimentary and shown a lot of love to the young NJ QB. Have not heard a single negative comment. Don't be so insecure, he may have a chance over the next 2 years to show how athletic he is or he may just be able to stay comfortable behind the well coached Prep O-line, which I'm sure will remain solid or improve. The kid has all the tools to be a great QB, no one cares if he dunked in 8th grade, I'm sure he has bigger goals. Best of luck Sat!!
Sorry. Was probably in my mind comparing him to Jurkovec. In which case, he’s not athletic. Like pretty much everyone else.
I actually find it funny that you bring up that line and just by pass the previous sentences...
No worries. He’s a great QB with a ton of great opportunities.
I actually find it funny that you bring up that line and just by pass the previous sentences...
No worries. He’s a great QB with a ton of great opportunities.
Chill out Dex. In the scheme of analysis he is a pocket passer and will be categorized as such. He is not going to be characterized on the top ring athletically. It's not a slight. Where he is going the 320 pound linemen can dunk a basketball. The whole next level thing may not be for you if you are going to let objective analysis bother you.
Sure thing Dex...I find that most of the people on here give solid info..better than the newspapers. You'll find that in the scheme of things the young man will not be as athletic as a lot of guys despite what our local eyes tell us. As a prep guy looking forward to your posts especially after this weekend. Be well my friend!