After two injury-riddled seasons, Maples hope for progress
MAPLETOWN – It has been a very painful – literally – two-year fall for the Mapletown football team.
Since winning a school-record 11 games in 2022, the Maples have won only four of 20 contests and are coming off a 1-9 season. The common thread in both of those forgettable campaigns was an incredible and unlikely series of injuries that decimated the lineup at the WPIAL’s third-smallest football-playing public school.
At this time last year, Mapletown’s veteran head coach George Messich said, “In all my years of coaching, I never saw so many injuries” as he did in 2023.
Last month, however, Messich, who is in his 43rd year as Mapletown’s head coach, said, “Last season, the injuries topped 2023. It was just a freak thing. For example, we’re playing West Greene in the fifth game of the season. West Greene kicks off to begin the game and our starting running back returns the kick for a touchdown. He’s also our kicker, and we tell him to squib the ball down the field. He miss-hits the ball and was running downfield trying to cover it and a guy takes out his knee. That’s how the season went.
“We had linemen with sprained ankles and knees. One game, we had seven starters out. When you’re a Class A team and you lose seven guys in one week, you’re teaching young guys to play positions they have never played before, and you’re doing it during the week.
“You look back three years ago, when we were undefeated, we didn’t have one injury that hurt us,” Messich continued. “In Class A, I don’t care who you are, if you lose two of your top three players then you’re not the same football team. All those guys we had hurt last year were starters. You tell somebody this and they say there’s no way that’s happening. Heck, I was thinking this can’t be happening. It was crazy.”
This year, Mapletown is hoping for a healthy dose of wins. After all, the Maples had plenty of players who gained valuable playing experience over the last two years, some of them out of necessity. That valuable playing time leads to maturity, which is never forfeited.
“We had a lot of kids get playing time and hopefully it will help them this year,” Messich said.
Back on offense are four returning linemen, each of whom Messich says “should be pretty good.” Chase Taylor is a 6-3, 275-pound senior who anchors the line. Also back are seniors Coltin Halbert and Cam Shaffer, who will be three-year starters, and junior Kaeden Lotspeich, who Messich says has much potential.
The Maples have four players battling for the one open line spot. Two of those players are freshmen, Josh DeBolt and Landon Walker.
Juniors Carson Vanata and Ashton Walker are returning starters in the backfield, but where each player lines up Messich is not ready to say. He did say each player has looked good during summer work. Vanata was the team’s leading rusher last year with 441 yards.
Messich has praised two young players who will get time at running back, sophomore Matthew Howard and freshman Landon Johnson.
Seniors Colton McKnight, Wyatt Downs and Kaden Pauley give the Maples three experienced targets at wide receiver. Each receiver, like the linemen, will be two-way starters.
McKnight, a defensive back, was Mapletown’s leading tackler last season. When a defensive back is your top tackler, it shows you must improve on that side of the ball. Mapeltown gave up an average of 44.7 points per game last year.
“We have to find a linebacker and defensive end, but the rest of the guys had a lot of playing time — when they were healthy,” Messich said.
Messich’s only goal for his team is to show steady improvement in the Class A Tri-County South Conference.
“In our conference, I think California, Jefferson-Morgan and Bentworth are going to be the top three teams,” he said. “If I had to pick a fourth, I’d say Beth-Center. Everybody else in the conference is pretty even. A realistic goal for us is to go .500. That would get us in the mix for a playoff spot, which is what we’re hoping for. We have to be better.”