Fast and physical the mantra as Mt. Lebanon gets down to business
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Connor Young works on his agility during a preseason football drill. The Mt. Lebanon senior is a Navy commit. He is expected to anchor both sides of the line for the Blue Devils.
Mt. Lebanon football coach Mike Collodi watches a play develop during preseason practice. Collodi is in his first season as head coach for the Blue Devils, having replaced Bob Palko, who retired in January.
By Eleanor Bailey
Mt. Lebanon’s Ezra Heidenreich takes hits during a drill replicating what is expected after he catches a pass. Heidenreich not only is a starting receiver but an anchor in Lebo’s defensive secondary.
In his first season as Mt. Lebanon head coach Mike Collodi adopted a business approach to football tryouts.
He told the team that is was a “clean slate” and that a player’s previous position could be totally different. As boss, he added that he will always do what is best.
“That is the first thing I told them. We do what’s best for our program and our team and being that it is a clean slate, it’s an evolution process. An interview every single day,” Collodi added.
Collodi comes to Mt. Lebanon with a diverse skill set and an impressive resume.
For starters, he played at Burrell High School and went on to play and captain the Muskingum University football team while earning a degree in secondary education. The 84 resident teaches physical education and health in the South Park School District.
For the past eight years, he has been the head coach at Elizabeth-Forward High School. He enjoyed seven straight winning campaigns, including an 8-1 showing and a WPIAL Class 3A runner-up finish in 2021. Collectively, he owns a 56-24 record.
Though he has stepped in to fill the shoes of Bob Palko, who won nine WPIAL and two PIAA championships while compiling a 249-87 record, Collodi’s players have embraced him. They love his “high energy” and star lineman Connor Young, who committed to Navy, says Collodi and Palko have “similar” mind sets.
“They both are about getting the little things right and perfecting them; being physical every play and out-toughing our opponents,” Young said.
While blown away by the acceptance, Collodi assured the Blue Devils will be ply their trade in a work-man like fashion.
“(Palko) is the GOAT. If there is someone to be compared to, I’ll take that any day,” he said.
“On the field and in our conference, we have to take care of business. We are going to play very aggressive. We are an attacking, downhill offense and attacking defense. That is what we do. That is what we will do.”
Because the Blue Devils return only four starters on offense and three on defense, they will be even more pugnacious. There are only 13 seniors on the roster and several underclassmen, even sophomores, will start or have key roles in helping Lebo improve upon last year’s 2-2 conference record and 5-6 overall showing.
“We are a young team but that is not necessarily a bad thing,” Collodi said. “Sometimes youth is great. They don’t know any better.”
Connor Young and Beckham Dee know about winning. They are two returning starters that had experience playing on Lebo’s district and state championship club in 2021. Young is a Navy recruit while Dee is committed to the Air Force Academy.
Young anchors both sides of the line with veteran Maddox Metzger. A Bowdoin College recruit, Metzger is a 6-3, 265-pound center and defensive tackle. “A heck of a player,” said Collodi. The duo will be joined by sophomores Jackson Kraemer and Joe Malone. “We expect a lot out of them. They are young but their ceiling is high,” Collodi said. Juniors Ben Taback, Lucas Bovino and Jeffrey Friedel will also be utilized as Lebo’s plans to “rotate” linemen in order to keep the personnel “fresh”.
Dee secures the middle of the defense. He is also a starter on offense at H-back. Dee was Lebo’s leading rusher last season with 326 yards on 86 carriers. Another sophomore Grayson Beck will also used at that slot on offense along with Malone. “Grayson is very athletic. He provides mismatches. We like to use those guys more than blockers.”
At inside linebacker, Dee will be joined by Marco Alandete and Kris Kambitsis, another sophomore.
On the outside are sophomore Patrick Smith, junior AJ Hyland and senior Fred Lasota. They will also play key roles on offense.
Lasota leads a hosts of tailbacks that run the ball “pretty effectively” for the Blue Devils. Kambitsis, Jimmy Green and Cole Gibbons will join Lasota in the backfield.
Smith and Hyland were embroiled in a quarterback battle with senior Michael Malone. They look to fill the vacancy created when 1,000-yard passer David Shields decided not to play football this fall. A junior, he is fast-tracking his education to graduate in June and be eligible for the 2024 MLB amateur draft.
“Each of our quarterbacks provide something different,” Collodi said. “Michael brings experience and he’s very cerebral and athletically dynamic. AJ is a heck of a lacrosse player and all-WPIAL. That tells you how tough he is. A drop back passer, he can sling it. Patrick is extremely intelligent like the other two. He’s big, physical and has a great arm. Plus, he has been playing quarterback for years.
“Any coach would be lucky to have all three of these guys,” Collodi added.
Ezra Heidenreich, who will anchor the defensive secondary, leads the list of targets for Lebo’s signal callers along with Noah Schaerli, who is also a corner back on defense. Marco Torchia and Matt Nguyen also add depth to the receiving corps.
“Ezra is an excellent route runner. He knows hot to read a defense and get to the open spots so the quarterback can hit him in stride,” Collodi said. “Noah has a ton of upside. He’s a big target, can jump high, has soft hands and runs solid routes.
“We have good receivers and a great backfield,” Collodi continued. “Our offense will depend on who we have at quarterback because they offer different things. In our offense, we distribute the ball all over the place and that’s important because when you are playing in 6A, you want to keep guys fresh.”
Lebo’s receivers double as the team’s top defenders in the secondary. In addition to Heidenriech and Schaerli, Torchia and Nguyen, Green and Cole Gibbons lend their talents to the group.
“Historically, and this is what we have prided ourselves on everywhere I have been, we are going to play fast and we are going to play physical. That will be our defensive strength,” Collodi said. “Our physicality can set us apart from other teams. We have kids who are so coachable and so intelligent and who are going to play hard and really fast and really physical. When you do those things, good things will happen.”
Positive things occur when Ben McAuley kicks the ball. The senior ranked as Lebo’s second-leading scorer in 2022. He converted 16 PAT and kicked seven field goals for 37 points.
With a scrimmage with defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Pine-Richland and an opener against Gateway, Lebo will discover what they are made out of real fast, says Collodi.
“We are 6A, the biggest in the state and there is nothing easy anywhere. We have to play mistake-free football and create turnovers if we are to achieve our goals and in all honesty, they are the same every year: first win our conference, second win the WPIAL and third take a state title and in that order. If you can win the special teams and turnover battle, then you are always going to have a chance to win the game no matter what. But once again, we have to play fast and physical,” Collodi emphasized.