Aug 22, 2021 4 min read

By Joe Tuscano

Staff writer

jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

It just wouldn’t seem like a football Friday night for Bentworth Bearcats fans if a Peternel was not playing wide receiver.

But everyone should enjoy this one because it could be the last for quite some time.

Caleb Peternel, a 5-10, 165-pound senior, is the last of three brothers to make their way to the outer reaches of Bentworth’s offense

“I play receiver because of my brothers but I’m a more defensive guy,” said Peternel who tied for the team lead among receivers with one touchdown catch last year. “I really chose to play wide receiver.”

Caleb Peternel was on the receiving end of six passes and gained 85 yards. Trent Cavanaugh (15 receptions, 147 yards, 5 touchdowns), Owen Petrisek (12, 259, 17) and Trevor Richardson (10, 96, 1) took up most of the oxygen for wide receivers. But they are gone, lost to graduation.

Unlike his brothers, Noah and Benjamin, Caleb Peternel prefers the defensive back position. Ben was a 5-10, 160-pounder who as a senior in 2017 and was fourth in Class 2A with 59 pass receptions for 960 yards and 10 touchdowns.

In 2015, Noah Peternel and Ty Mitchell combined for 97 receptions and 1,506 receiving yards.

“My brothers taught me how to catch the football,” said Caleb. “They were real good at making me a better player.”

Fortunately for Peternel, Seth Adams returns at quarterback for the Bearcats. There will be no learning curve with a new quarterback. It’s almost as if the two can read each other’s mind when it comes to pass routes.

Adams completed 48 of 97 passes for 555 yards and six touchdowns last year. But he needs to cut down on his interceptions. He had 10 of them.

“We have a good rapport,” said Caleb Peternel. “He’s good at making the reads and he’s good at getting the ball out of his hands.”

The other skilled positions? Well, that’s another matter.

The Bearcats lost Petrisek, who amassed more than 4,000 career total yards, better than anyone else who ever came through the program.

“I don’t know if he had more lateral yards or more up and down the field,” Bearcats head coach J.J. Knabb said with a chuckle. “He’s a special player and one who will be hard to replace.”

The Bearcats lost Trent Cavanaugh, who carried most of the load in the backfield and was a leader of Bentworth’s defense.

“Trent graduated with something like more than 400 tackles,” Knabb said. “He played 6 1/4 games because he was hurt in the Mapletown game. He still had 100 tackles. He was our inside linebacker and he stopped everything inside the box. So we’re going to miss him, too.”

The Bearcats lost Trevor Richardson, who missed only one extra point in his career and was an accurate field goal kicker from 40 yards and under good conditions. Last year, he was the football team’s placekicker, handled kickoff duties, was a starting tackle and started on the Bentworth soccer team.

“We lost, not a lot, but five important pieces on our team,” said Knabb. “We’re not going to replace them. We’re going to look different. Without going into detail, our offense is going to look different than it was over the last couple years.”

One of the big moves will be to switch Vitali Daniels, a heavyweight on the wrestling team, into the backfield from wide receiver. Knabb says he will fit in some freshmen and sophomores but that will be determined during camp. Daniels had similar numbers as Peternel: five receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown.

The offensive line will have what Knapp calls, “My two Ethans” returning at guard and tackle. Ethan Luketich (5-7, 195) is back at guard and Ethan Heinrich (6-2, 210) returns next to Luketich at tackle. Both are three-year starters.

Junior Cameron McGraw has played every position on the line and Knabb will start him at center.

The left side of the line will be jammed with new faces.

Knabb was disappointed with the play of the secondary last year but everyone returns. He is open to using freshmen and sophomores there, if they can win the job.