Mount Union’s football team is learning that two halves don’t necessarily add up to a whole, especially when they are played on different Friday nights.
“We need to put four quarters together on game night,” cites Trojan first-year head coach Dave Hummel as he looks ahead to Friday’s 7 p.m. Inter-County Conference interdivisional home game against Moshannon Valley. The Black Knights are starting a grind of five straight road trips after starting the season with a pair of home losses.
Hummel continues, “We’re moving in the right direction and I can’t complain about the effort. We’re improving and doing a lot of good things, but negate those with penalties, turnovers and defensive breakdowns. We have to work on concentration, self-discipline and keeping our composure.”
The Trojans fell behind visiting Huntingdon 28-0 in the opener and hung with the Bearcats through the second half of a 35-13 loss. Last week, Mount Union led two different times in the first half, but faded over the final 12 minutes and lost 33-12.
After being routed 43-14 by visiting Southern Huntingdon in week one, the Black Knights jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter at Houtzdale last Friday only to watch the Warriors score with 2:19 remaining to play to pull out a 28-21 decision. Moshannon turned the ball over three times and shot itself in the foot with 11 penalties for 105 yards.
Murray Fetzer has stepped up from the assistant ranks to replace longtime head coach Howie Camberg, who retired at the end of last season. Fetzer has only three offensive and two defensive starters back from a 6-4 team that hammered Mount Union 46-0 a year ago.
The series dates back to 1958 and the teams have met every year since 2003. Moshannon has won all three games since the series was resumed, but Mount Union still holds an overall 6-4 advantage.
Split end and defensive end Bill Shives, who leads the team with eight pass receptions for 122 yards, sprained an ankle in practice this week and is listed as “possible” by Hummel. If he’s unable to go, he would be replaced by either Skyler Barcelona or Mark Russell.
The Trojans are also expected to start tight end Brandon Carper, tackles Kevin Seibert and Justin Morrison or Cy Burns, guards Mike Harkless and Eric Hoffmaster and center Joel Burger. Jimmy Smith is the quarterback with Zach Hicks at fullback, Cole Walters at tailback and Nick McConaughey in the slot. Shives is the punter and Will Hockenberry the placekicker.
Hicks has powered his way into the team’s rushing lead with 17 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. Smith has completed 12 of 24 throws for 140 yards.
The 5-2 defense also includes end Carper, tackles Harkless and Seibert, middle guard Tyler Todaro, linebackers Hicks and Hoffmaster, monster back McConaughey, corners Devon Smith and Phil Watson and safety Hockenberry.
The Black Knights have relied on a two-back attack as senior fullback Kyle Smith (6-0, 210) has 99 yards on 20 carries and junior tailback Shane Murarik (5-10, 165) has carried 18 times for 89 yards. Senior quarterback Eric Dudurich (5-11, 170) has completed 10 of 23 passes for 96 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Senior flanker Michael Zendek (5-9, 140) is the leading receiver with five catches for 36 yards, all in the Southern game.
Moshannon has an experienced line with some size, but had to replace almost every skill position starter from a year ago.
“Moshannon has a young team with a new head coach. They like to run out of the I-formation and go inside off tackle. We’ve also seen them with split backs, running dive plays and dive options. If they find something that seems to be working, they’ll stick with it until you stop them,” Hummel states.
“They run a 5-2 or 4-4 look on defense, similar to what we do, and will stunt their linebackers. West Branch was able to throw the ball on them. We hope our passing game continues to come along and that will help open up our offense”
Hummel concludes the keys to the Trojans getting their first win are controlling the football on offense and eliminating mistakes. “If we want to beat them, we have to stop beating ourselves,” Hummel stresses.
