{"id":17980,"date":"2013-08-29T13:11:38","date_gmt":"2013-08-29T17:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=17980"},"modified":"2013-08-29T13:11:38","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T17:11:38","slug":"indians-football-preview-2013-power-upfront","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=17980","title":{"rendered":"Indians football preview 2013: power upfront"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep roster of linemen should take pressure off inexperienced backs<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"UHSGV-1\"<\/a>

Strong-armed junior Alex Pechin takes over the reins at quarterback for Unionville in 2013, a season in which the Indians should again contend for the Ches Mont American Division title and a state playoff berth.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\nEAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 It might be an old bromide that football games are won in the trenches.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re a coach working in a lot of younger players at skill positions, as Unionville High School head football coach Pat Clark is, it is kind of nice to have a security blanket of a lot of large, experienced linemen, especially when you\u2019re trying to defend a Ches Mont American Division title.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of what you do on offense or defense, it starts upfront,\u201d Clark said, whose Indians posted an 8-3 record overall, while going a perfect 6-0 in the league in 2012.<\/p>\n

And it appears Unionville brings a lot back upfront, starting with senior Mark Caputo, a four-year starter and junior Andrew Jones, a three-year starter. Mix in seniors John McLaughlin, Len Johnson, Will Hart, Carson Ankney and junior Paul Steffi and the Indians enjoy depth and options upfront.<\/p>\n

And while many of the faces in skill positions are new, they\u2019re far from untested.<\/p>\n

Junior quarterback Alex Pechin takes over for the graduated Tom Pancoast \u2014 but comes to the position with some spot experience at the position in 2012. Clark used Pechin \u2014 who has a big arm \u2014 as a changeup to the more run-oriented Pancoast.<\/p>\n

\"UHSOcto102612-4\"<\/a>

Electric sophomore receiver Elan Nash could be a breakout player for Unionville in 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

While Clark isn\u2019t too worried that Pechin will be overwhelmed \u2014 the junior showed ice in his veins earlier this month, pitching for the KAU Kings on national TV \u2014 he grants there will be a few adjustments to the offense to reflect Pechin\u2019s skills. So, while that may mean a few more passes \u2014 don\u2019t expect to see the Indians coming out in a spread offense and adopting a throw-first offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a ton a potential there,\u201d Clark said of Pechin. \u201cI think we always adopt to our talent. But, we do have an overall philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that typically is a punishing run game. And while Brad Pechin (Alex\u2019s older brother) and John Stradling have graduated, seniors Dom DiBiaggio and Garrett Scargill are back and ready to handle what should be a strong ground game.<\/p>\n

\"UHSOxford10512-2\"<\/a>

Senior running back Dom DiBiaggio looks to build on a strong 2012 season.<\/p><\/div>\n

Receiver \u2014 with the loss to graduation of Tim Christopher and Patch Johnson \u2014 may have some growing pains. Sophomore Elan Nash, who saw time as a freshman, could be an electric option, while David Daly, a senior, is an experienced, steady option. Dan McClaskey, another senior, is a solid tight end.<\/p>\n

And if the offense \u2014 with the potential to be explosive \u2014 has some early growing pains as younger players step up, it appears the Indians defense should be stout, deep and be able to take pressure off to score in great numbers.<\/p>\n

Caputo, Hart and Ankney will anchor the defensive front \u2014 all experienced starters. Kevin Welch, a senior, will anchor the linebacking corps, while senior captain Mike Sarver will lead an experienced and deep defensive backfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of experience back,\u201d Clark said of his defense, a benefit of working younger players in last season to keep most players only playing on one side of the ball, something likely to continue in 2013.<\/p>\n

Put all together, the expectations for 2013, Clark said is not just a winning season \u2014 but to be right in the middle of the battle for the league title and a state playoff berth.<\/p>\n

With a tough schedule \u2014 including non-league games against rival Garnet Valley, the season opener, Friday night, as well as Souderton and West Chester Henderson \u2014 the Indians will be tested early and often.<\/p>\n

\"UHSRustin92112\"<\/a>

Senior running back Garrett Scargill should be part of a powerful 1-2 tandem with DiBiaggio in 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

Clark, now entering his 10th season at the helm of the Unionville program, has never had a losing season, something he doesn\u2019t expect to change in 2013. The program continues to set high standards \u2014 and looks poised for another strong season, in part because of the culture that Clark has instilled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it hard to believe that it\u2019s been 10 years,\u201d said Clark, who has notched 75 victories\u00a0\u00a0 as coach of the Indians. He deflected credit, though, citing the buy-in of players, parents and the community working to make the program a success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deep roster of linemen should take pressure off inexperienced backs By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 It might be an old bromide that football games are won in the trenches. But if you\u2019re a coach working in a lot of younger players at skill positions, as Unionville High School head football coach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[4108,31,32,7427],"class_list":["post-17980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","tag-ches-mont-american","tag-football","tag-indians","tag-unionville-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}