Finishing will be Chartiers Valley’s key to success
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Griffin Beattie
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Dan Knause
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Dan Knause directs drills during Chartiers Valley’s training camp.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jordan Demus
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Socrates Boulis
HEIDELBERG – After flirting with success last year, Dan Knause has commanded his Colts to finish this football season. Winless in the Allegheny Eight Conference and 3-7 overall last autumn, Chartiers Valley looks to turn those defeats – four of them by seven points or fewer – into triumphs by holding onto their fourth-quarter advantages in 2019.
“Honestly, we’ve got to get better at finishing,” said Knause, who enters his third season as CV’s coach. “We want to be in a position to win every Friday night.”
Knause noted that last year the Colts were in position to win seven or eight times. They held leads in the fourth quarter, even on the final series, but lacked the ability to finish off their foes. CV lost to conference rivals Baldwin and Upper St. Clair by seven points each and it was a one-score game until Woodland Hills won the finale, 28-14. The Colts also lost four-point decisions to Armstrong and Norwin.
“We’ve got to learn how to win,” said Knause, who accomplished that feat in four years at Cornell when he turned that program into a WPIAL playoff squad. “Definitely winning those close battles will put us over the hump. We need to get better at finishing drives and avoiding catastrophic mistakes.”
Knause acknowledges a team does that with experience and knowledge and his 2019 squad possesses plenty of both, particularly at the skill positions.
The Colts are excited about the return of Griffin Beattie at quarterback. A standout in baseball and basketball, Beattie completed 42 of 94 passes for 649 yards and six scores last fall. He also rushed for 440 yards and five scores.
Noting Beattie amassed 300 or more all-purpose yards in four games, Knause said, “Griffin is a very athletic and dual-threat kid. We are looking for consistency from him. He has shown that he is capable of that every week. He has a ton of potential.”
Socrates Boulis is also a capable quarterback. He shared time with Beattie last season.
“Socrates got a lot of snaps last year. He’s very athletic, too. In fact, he’s too good an athlete to not be on the field for us somewhere. He will be a major contributor,” Knause predicted.
Boulis will lead the Colts’ receiving corps along with Anthony Mackey, a sophomore who is also a backup quarterback and a defensive back.
“Quarterback is a tough position and only one can play but it’s nice to have depth. All those guys are great kids and we look for them to be on the field and to contribute.”
Caleb Nelson and Dammion Bundridge join a “cluster” of other receivers, including newcomer Abe Ibrahim. Sean Banas is back at tight end. He had 25 receptions and four scores last season.
Antonia Zambrano and Andre Thomas are experienced running backs. Zambrano rushed for 224 yards. Thomas had 37 yards rushing and 10 in receptions before injuring his shoulder.
“Antonio and Andre are are elusive, quick kids but they can bring physicality when needed. They are not timid at all,” Knause said.
Despite lacking experience, the Colts won’t be shy up front. During the offseason, they prepared in the weight room and honed their skills.
Chase Bruggeman, a starter as a sophomore last season, anchors the line with Banas, who was first-team all-conference at tight end, and Jayden Davis, a senior tackle.
“Those guys will be the key, but we feel we have a lot of young guys with a lot of potential. We are excited about them,” Knause said. “To be honest, we have a handful of sophomores and juniors who need to get ready and have shown promise. We’ve had to grow up faster than normal and we need to be physically ready because we hope to develop more depth on both fronts so that not too many have to go both ways. Even if they give us 20 snaps on one side of the ball that will be a relief.”
Knause added that the development and cohesion of the line are critical to this season’s success.
“How the line goes will determine how successful we will be. We need to close the physicality gap between us and other teams. We have grown as a program but you have to develop consistency at a high level in order to compete against the upper-tier teams in our league.”
Defensively, the Colts are “new” up front as they graduated most of their line. However, Davis, Bruggeman and Seth Bauman have experience. Aidan Krieg, along with Kendall Sanford and Chris Slaven, provide added talent.
At linebacker, the Colts need to replace Barrett but Knause says players like Donvan O’Malley are “up to the task of joining Banas on the inside.” Zambrano and Thomas are veterans on the outside. In the secondary, Demas and Nelson return at cornerback and Anthony Collura anchors the safety slots, which will be manned by a number of “talented young guys” competing for the job.
Jack Radzanowski returns to handle the placekicking.
With its plethora of scholarship-caliber athletes, Peters Township is the team to beat, says Knause, but he notes the conference is as competitive as ever.
“Peters is special, for sure, but the league’s competitive and you have to embrace that. … If you are not prepared, then you are going to be embarrassed. There is not one easy game in this division because the coaches are excellent and the players are great. It’s the best conference from top to bottom.”