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| Coach Paul Russick | Caleb Bryant | Caleb Dodson |
TEAM: Honesdale Hornets
COLORS: Red & Black
COACH: Paul Russick, 4th Season (11-18)
PIAA: Class 4A
2023 CONFERENCE: LFC Division II
2022 RECORD: 5-6 (2-3 in conference)
RECORD LAST FIVE SEASONS: 16-34
STADIUM: Honesdale Stadium
OFFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 8
DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 3
OFFENSIVE SCHEME: Pro
DEFENSIVE SCHEME: 4-3
2023 PREVIEW
The Hornets keep getting better as they increased their win total again last season. Above .500 is the next step. Honesdale should be better offensively, but their defense will have to replace some key losses. The Hornets could surprise some people in the division.
Aiden Collins begins his third year as the starting quarterback and has improved every year. Mason Avery took over the running back position mid-season and ended up rushing for 631 yards. Bradley Bibalo will be the new fullback while Cameron Hedgelon is back at wide receiver. Conlan Keast, Kobe White, Clay LeClere, Zach Gledhill, Zach Meagher, Landen Estus and Jakub Randolph will all be in consideration for playing time at receiver. Max Cummings, Donovan Davis, and Ethan Batzel will be the tight ends.
The offensive line is the strength of the team with four starters returning. However their best returning lineman Anthony Passaro is most likely out for the season. Wyatt Rutherford, Evan Funk, Caleb Bryant and Caleb Dodson all started last season. Nick DeNoie and Charlie Propst are being looked at to replace Passaro.
Jacob Garvey started at defensive tackle last year and will move to end. Donovan Davis, Bryant, Dodson, and Rutherford will compete for playing time at the other end. Logan Dieterich, Mason Parker, Jesse Scarpa, Gus Deron, and Denoie will be in the mix for the interior defense. Robert Quinn, Collins, and Neil Kline are possibilities at outside linebacker. Bibalo moves from the outside to inside linebacker. Cummings, Propst, Avery, and Batzel could also see time inside. Hedgelon is back as one of the secondary members. Keast, LeClere, Gledhill, Estus, Meagher, Randolph, and White will compete in training camp for the three spots.
Rylan Montgomery will handle the place kicking duties. Either Avery or Collins will be the punter. White, Gledhill or Bibalo will handle the long snapping.
QUOTE FROM COACH RUSSICK: We are a run-first team.We found our lead back at the end of year last year averaging over 6 yards/carry in Mason Avery. Replacing him will be a huge test for our team pre-season. We have a number of offensive lineman returning who have seen varsity action (Anthony Passaro, Wyatt Rutherford, Evan Funk, Caleb Bryant Jesse Scarpa & Caleb Dodson). We also have a great group who will compete for time (Charlie Propst, Gus Deron, Nick DeNoie, Mason Parker, Logan Dieterich). Having a returning 2 year starter signal-caller in Aiden Collins will be huge for our development this season. We will be breaking in some new receivers/tight ends. It will come down to how quickly we can get our new starters to mature and pick up the offense. Defensively – We need to continue to tackle. We will be replacing 8 starters on defense. Cameron Hedgelon is back as a 3 year starter to lead our secondary.. Bradley Bibalo is back to lead the defense and will slide to our MLB. We have plenty of guys with experience returning up front (Jacob Garvey/Mason Parker/Jesse Scarpa). Again it will come down to how quickly we can get our new starters to mature and pick up the defense. Rylan Montgomery was 7/8 in back up placing kicking duties last year. He will take over full time. We will need to find a new punter as well as long snapper. Special teams have done a good job for us. We need to find some role players for special teams and develop our young guys and I think success will follow.
RETURNING ALL-STARS – LFC Division II
Honorable Mention Offensive Line – Anthony Passaro
