Published: August 24, 2008 11:37 pm            

CORY ISENBERG | Football is back in season

Where did the summer go?

It seems as though the high school year just wrapped up and suddenly it’s time for the new season to begin. A new group of athletes is set to emerge as the heroes of the fall.

On the football fields, 27 area squads will open play this weekend and fellow reporter, Mike Mastovich, will be out to defend his title as the king of the pickers. Mastovich edged guest picker Frank Mikesic by one game last year.

Included among the gridiron athletes returning on offense are Portage junior Mike Sinosky, Bishop McCort senior Eric Lowry, North Star seniors Luke Zellem and Cory Kaltenbaugh along with Forest Hills junior Zack Glessner and senior Tyler Rosenberger.

Sinosky rushed for 1,320 yards on 165 carries while Lowry had 1,300 yards on 246 carries, second and third, respectively, behind the area’s leading rusher, Johnstown’s Antwuan Reed.

Zellem, the area’s second-leading receiver last year, had 802 yards on 32 receptions while Rosenberger had 510 yards on 34 catches.

Kaltenbaugh and Glessner are the top returning quarterbacks from last year. The Cougars signal-caller had 1,351 yards, going 71-of-141 while Glessner was 77-of-166 for 1,134 yards.

The area’s top two kickers last year, junior Dane Domonkos of Bishop McCort and senior Matt Beckman of Ligonier Valley, are also back.

On defense, the top tacklers returning from last year are senior Jason Reynolds of Bishop McCort, Windber senior Kevin Erickson and Rockwood senior Elliot Huston. Reynolds had 113 tackles while Erickson and Huston each had 101.

Looking at the conferences – the Laurel Highlands Athletic, WestPAC and Heritage – there should be a great deal of parity.

Portage and North Star should be the favorites in the WestPAC, and if they both run the table, it makes their Week 8 confrontation in Boswell a key game.

In the Laurel Highlands, Bishop McCort and Central Cambria will try to equal their successful runs of 2007. The Crushers and Red Devils are scheduled to clash in Week 9.

Blairsville, Laurel Valley and Homer-Center are the teams most talked about in the Heritage.

The Pennsylvania Football News preseason poll lists Forest Hills and North Star as teams to watch in Class AA. Bishop McCort is ranked seventh in Class A with Portage and Windber as teams to watch.

Steelton-Highspire out of District 3 is the preseason No. 1 in Class A, with Dunmore out of District 2, the top Class AA squad. District 7’s Thomas Jefferson is listed as the top team in Class AAA while the WPIAL’s Gateway tops the Class AAAA rankings.

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I was mesmerized by the Summer Olympics.

I watched as much of the spectacle on television as I could, including Michael Phelps’ history-making eighth gold medal.

I was screaming and hand pumping as though the Steelers had just won the Super Bowl.

God bless the USA.



Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.

        

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