Skilled players should make Blue Devils more exciting
Mark Marietta
BURGETTSTOWN – Though there is truth in the popular saying that defense wins championships, it is high-scoring offenses that put the fun in high school football and pack the bleachers on Friday nights.
There was a shortage of excitement at Burgettstown last year as the Blue Devils finished with a 1-8 overall record and were winless in the Class A Black Hills Conference.
One of the reasons Burgettstown was unable to meet expectations was the Blue Devils averaged only 11.7 points per game. The Blue Devils scored 23 points in a season-opening win over Bentworth, which went on to make the WPIAL playoffs, but Burgettstown’s offense topped 13 points only one time the rest of the season.
Head coach Mark Druga can attribute some of the offensive struggles to too much youth and too much inexperience at the skill positions, but many of those players are returning a year older and wiser. Those returning players should be able to pump some life and excitement into the offense.
“We definitely have skill players coming back,” Druga said.
“We have to do better. We need to and we should be better on offense. I think that with the skill coming back we will be able to do that.”
Burgettstown rushed for fewer than 800 net yards a year ago, which was very much unlike the Blue Devils. Colton County, the team’s leading rusher a year ago with 383 yards, is gone, but Brady Rightweiser returns and will move from fullback to tailback. Rightweiser ran for 299 yards and a healthy 4.3 yards per carry last season. He will be an important player on both offense and defense.
Blake Neal returns at quarterback and he will have a veteran group of receivers as targets. Bryce Speer was the leading receiver and a second team all-conference pick. Druga praised Speer’s pass-catching skills.
Speer leads the receiver group, which also includes returnee Michael Carrozza.
“We feel very confident with this group,” Druga said.
The Blue Devils plan to use Caleb Matalik, who Druga called the team’s “Swiss Army knife” in multiple ways.
Just how much improvement Burgettstown can make in the rugged Black Hills Conference will likely depend on its players on the lines.
“We have a few linemen coming back, but that is our question mark, again,” Druga said. “The linemen we did lose, are we going to be able to replace them? That’s going to be the key.”
Returning on the line are two starters, Wyatt Speicher and Cam Jackson. Cody Frank and Owen Bailey both had playing time last year as reserves and will move into starting roles. Bryson Grubb moves into the center position after drawing rave reviews from Druga for his offseason work.
“He wants to do well. Mentally, there’s nobody better at wanting to be a good player,” Druga said. “If everybody trained as hard as Bryson trains … I can’t ask anything more of Bryson. His commitment to getting better, I hope it pays off.”
The Blue Devils spent too much time playing defense a year ago, likely the result of the offense not controlling the ball long enough. Burgettstown gave up 29.6 points per game a year ago but Druga saw signs of improvement on that side of the football.
Rightweiser will be a key to the Blue Devils’ defense as he moves from middle linebacker to the outside, and Druga hopes he hopes the junior can be an impact player from that position just like the Pittsburgh Steelers have had on the edge for so many years.
The Blue Devils know the climb from winless in conference play will be a tough one, but Burgettstown is hoping its experience at the skill positions and better offense will lead to wins.
“Obviously, there’s nowhere to go but up,” Druga said. “We were close in a few games and just seemed to fall apart at the very end in a few games. Cornell beat us with seven seconds left and against Chartiers-Houston, which had a heck of a season and had a win against South Side in the playoffs, we were driving late in the game and we fumbled, then they had a big touchdown and that was all she wrote.
“Those were key games that made the whole season look different. We definitely had potential. We beat Bentworth and Bentworth took second in its conference. Even against Neshannock, we were in that game, in the third quarter we had an 11-minute drive and it stalled on the goal line. If we could have put it all together we could compete. Unfortunately, at critical moments ….”
Burgettstown opens the season at home Friday against Jefferson-Morgan. The Black Hills opener is Sept. 18 at home against Sto-Rox.
“We have to execute and be good football players,” Druga said. “We can’t make mistakes that some teams can get away with. We can’t miss blocks, we can’t fumble the ball, we can’t throw interceptions, and on defense everybody has to fly to the ball.”