OLYPHANT – While Montrose’s varsity football struggles continued in 2014, progress was being made on the freshman level.
The Meteors have won just five varsity games in the last six seasons, but the freshman team won six last season while suffering its only two losses to unbeaten opponents.
Players coming up from that team could play key roles in determining if Montrose can move forward after winning one game in Lou Cella’s first season as head coach.
“We have a really good group of sophomores,” Cella said during the August 11 Lackawanna Football Conference Media Day, pointing to a possible continuation of that trend with more than 30 players on the current freshman roster. “ … We’re going to keep getting better over the next several years.”
The Meteors return just two starters on offense and four on defense, but Cella believes the newcomers can be an improvement in many cases.
That is almost certainly the case with Derek Nunez, a transfer from Wilkes-Barre Coughlin where he was by far the team leader in tackles, sacks and fumble recoveries on a winning Class AAA team.
“That’s like finding gold,” Cella said. “Right now, he’s got (NCAA Division) II schools that like him.”
Nunez, a senior running back/linebacker, could also land a prominent role in the offensive backfield. At Coughlin, he had 61 tackles, 50 assists, 10 sacks and three fumble recoveries.
Joe Igo returns at linebacker and will take over at quarterback in Montrose’s triple option offense after serving as back-up last season.
“We have kids that return like Joe and Will (Purdy) who have gone through the triple option thousands of times,” Cella said. “They’re so good at it. … Joe’s very advanced.”
The other defensive returnees are Zack Summers in the line, Colin Mondi at linebacker and Tom VanNostrand in the secondary.
Tackle Devin Nash and 280-pound center J.J. Heft return on offense.
Mondi is back to handle the punting while Matt Saravitz returns as kicker.
“The interesting thing in our situation is we had kids in junior high, who if we had moved them up, would have started,” said Cella, who was too new to the program to consider determining which freshmen were ready to contribute to the varsity. “They may have benefited, though, by getting to play with kids their own age.”
Linemen Seth Bulkley and Caleb Fruehan, wide receiver Bryden Jerauld and defensive backs Maverick Tims and John Herman could be the first from the sophomore class to make an impact. Running back/linebacker Tyler Dovin could also make an early contribution.
Nunez will be joined at running back by some combination of Will Purdy, Zoey Casselbury and Connor Kojola. Kojola came off the bench last season to score the winning touchdown in Montrose’s only victory.
The Meteors expect to be more effective in the running game.
“This year, we know the plays so much better,” Igo said.
Anthony Cina and Mondi join Jerauld as the wide receivers.
Summers, a 265-pounder who was on the varsity as a freshman last year, will play offense as well to become a two-way starter.
Heft will join him in the defensive front.
Kojola is expected to start at linebacker in the 3-5 with Jerauld, Nash and Bulkley also seeing action in a deep group.
Casselbury will start in the secondary.
Jerauld adds depth to the kicking game.
“We can definitely improve,” Purdy said. “I feel like we’re going to do a lot better this year.
“At practice, the intensity is a lot higher.”
Dunmore is regarded as the clear favorite to repeat in Division 2 of the LFC with Western Wayne rating a slight edge over Lakeland as the top threat. Riverside ranks next with Montrose expected to pressure Honesdale in an attempt to get out of last place.
The Montrose schedule is: Sept. 4, WILKES-BARRE MEYERS; Sept. 11, at Carbondale; Sept. 18, LACKAWANNA TRAIL; Sept. 25, HOLY CROSS; Oct. 2, at Susquehanna; Oct. 9, LAKELAND; Oct. 16, at Western Wayne; Oct. 23, at Riverside; Oct. 30, at Dunmore; Nov. 6, HONESDALE.
The last five games are the LFC Division 2 games.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Greg Bird, a 22-year-old first baseman with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders earned International League Batter of the Week honors, then his first promotion to the parent New York Yankees.
Bird was selected by the IL after leading the league in RBI and slugging percentage for the week ending August 9. He drove in 10 runs and batted .348 with five extra-base hits for a .783 slugging percentage. Bird had two homers and a triple in one of the games.
The RailRiders remained hot with a four-game sweep of the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Official high school fall sports practices began Monday.
Football, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, golf, girls tennis, girls volleyball and field hockey all began.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The annual Jackman Boys’ Golf Tournament is scheduled for Friday at Scranton Municipal Golf Course.
Lackawanna League regular season golf starts Monday, August 24. In Class AA Division openers, Dunmore is at Elk Lake, Forest City is at Riverside, Mountain View is at Carbondale and Mid Valley is at Montrose.
The Jackman Girls’ Golf Tournament is set for Tuesday, August 25 at Scranton Muni.
In girls’ tennis, the Lackawanna League season gets underway Tuesday, August 25. Defending champion Abington Heights is at Montrose and Elk Lake is at Scranton.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
KENSETH IS THE MASTER AT MICHIGAN
Matt Kenseth wins at Michigan. Furnished by NASCAR
BROOKLYN, Mich.—Matt Kenseth took the lead on the last restart during lap 188 of Sunday’s 200-lap Sprint Cup race and held off Kevin Harvick.
“It was an unbelievable car,” said Kenseth, who led 169 laps. “The car had the speed and I could drive it almost anywhere on the track. The only problem I had was on restarts. It took me a couple laps to really get rolling.”
It was Kenseth’s third win of the season and the 34th of his career.
Harvick pressed Kenseth on the last restart, but was 1.72-seconds back when the race ended.
“We’ve got to do better,” said Harvick. “We had a good car, but we needed something a little stronger today.”
Martin Truex Jr. brought his No. 78 Denver Mattress Chevrolet home third.
“The restarts weren’t that good for us,” said Truex. “We passed a lot of cars today, but we never had the track position we needed. But I think it’s all going to work out by the time the Chase gets here. Our cars keep getting better and better.”
Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Chevrolet was fourth, his best career Sprint Cup finish.
Denny Hamlin was fifth, while his teammate Carl Edwards finished sixth. Joey Logano was seventh, with Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top-10.
Kyle Busch wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s practice and had to go to a backup car, finished 11th.
Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson were two Chase drivers that struggled.
Johnson and his team never got the handling right on the No. 48. He ran in the middle of the pack, spinning out once, and finishing 39th.
Bowyer spun and hit the wall on lap 164, and had to park it. He wound up 41st.
Top-10 Chase leaders after 23 of 26 races: 1. Harvick-866, 2. Logano-818, 3. Earnhardt-784, 4. Truex-755, 5. Keselowski-754, 6. Johnson-752, 7. Kenseth-751, 8. Kurt Busch-683, 9. Hamlin-670, 10. McMurray-663.
Note: The top-16 drivers will have their points reset after the Richmond race on Sept. 12th. Those will be the drivers in this year’s Chase for the Championship.
KYLE BUSCH TAKES TRUCK RACE
Kyle Busch won Saturday’s Truck Series race at Michigan. It was his second win of the season since returning from an injury that sidelined him from all racing activity from Feb. 21 through mid-May.
The remaining top-10: 2. Ryan Blaney, 3. Erik Jones, 4. Johnny Sauter, 5. Austin Dillon, 6. Matt Crafton, 7. Daniel Hemric, 8. Timothy Peters, 9. Tyler Reddick, 10. Cameron Hayley.
Top-10 leaders after 13 of 23: 1. Reddick-514, 2. Crafton-506, 3. E. Jones-505, 4. Sauter-4661, 5. Hayley-425, 6. Hemric-420, 7. Peters-416, 8. Townley-414, 9. Gallagher-394, 10. Kennedy-381.
REGAN SMITH WINS ON BUMP AND RUN
Regan Smith used the old bump and run routine to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series road course race at Lexington, Ohio. Smith was running behind the leader Alex Tagliani as the pair started into the last turn before the checkered flag.
Smith put the front bumper of his No. 7 to the rear of Tagliani’s No. 22, and pushed him to the outside of the track. This gave Smith the room he needed to get by Tagliani and take the win.
“We’ve had a lot of opportunities to win and came up short,” said Smith. “I got a chance to win, and I did just what I did with Tagliani.”
Tagliani regained control of his car and finished second.
“Well I never raced him dirty,” said Tagliani. “If I had known he was going to race me that way, I would have raced him differently.”
Ty Dillon was third, followed by Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott, Darrell Wallace Jr., Dylan Lupton, and Ben Rhodes.
Top-10 leaders after 21 of 33: 1. C. Buescher-765, 2. T. Dillon-741, 3. Elliott-740, 4. Smith-714, 5. Sadler-705, 6. Wallace-665, 7. Suarez-658, 8. Scott-643, 9. Gaughan-642, 10. Reed-587.
HORNISH AND STENHOUSE NEED TO WIN
Sam Hornish and Ricky Stenhouse are two Sprint Cup drivers that are in danger of losing their rides at the end of this season.
Last week Jack Roush said on Sirius Radio that Chris Buescher would be moving up to one of his Cup cars. For Buescher to move up, one of his 2015 drivers would have to go.
Currently, Roush fields three cars in the Sprint Cup Series with drivers, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne. Stenhouse is in his third year of a three-year contract and has no wins and only three top-five finishes in the No. 17.
Buescher, who drives in the Xfinity Series for Roush has two Xfinity wins and nine top-five finishes, in addition to his 2014 win at Mid-Ohio road course.
“I stop short of saying it’s 2016, but there is a consideration, discussion going on about the prospect of getting him in a car,” Roush said. “He may very well be in one of my Sprint Cup cars. It’s just a matter of sponsorship and business considerations.”
Buescher is a first-generation racer who started as a development driver for Roush in 2009. He began his career in the ARCA Series, then moved to Trucks, and finally up to the Xfinity Series.
Richard Petty Motorsports has made some great strides this year with Aric Almirola behind the wheel of the No. 43. It appears Almirola will make this year’s 16-driver Chase for the Championship.
The same can’t be said for Sam Hornish, who took over driving duties of the No. 9 at the beginning of the season.
So far, Hornish has scored just three top-10s; one in the Daytona 500 and the others in both road courses. He's currently 25th in the standings and has finished on the lead lap just seven times. Nine years in the series with a total of 153 starts, he's led less than 75 laps and finished in the top-10 only 12 times.
Unless these two drivers are able to win a race, their Cup careers are in jeopardy.
Weekend Racing: There are three night races at the .53-mile Bristol Motor Speedway.
Wed., Aug. 19; Truck Series race 14 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.
Fri., Aug. 21; Xfinity Series race 22 of 33; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: NBCS.
Sat., Aug. 22; Sprint Cup race 24 of 36; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: NBCS.
Racing Trivia Question: Four female drivers have competed at Michigan International Speedway in the Sprint Cup Series. Janet Guthrie, Robin McCall, and Shawna Robinson are three of them. Who is the fourth?
Last Week’s Question: Kevin Harvick currently drives the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet. Who did he previously drive for? Answer. Richard Childress Racing.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
