Scouting Hersey: Revamped Huskies intend to show their mettle
Hersey was good as gold last year. Now the Huskies will be looking to polish it up.
Hersey, which was 9-2 last year, is coming off its best season in 30 years. The Huskies won the MSL East for the first time since 1991 and went to the second round of the playoffs before bowing out.
After last season, coach Joe Pardun and his group are hungry for more.
"We are excited to start for sure," Pardun said. "Replacing a guy like Owen Goldsberry will be difficult for us. Everyone knows we are young this season."
Pardun expects to have nearly 75 percent of his starting lineup to be comprised of juniors this year.
"It is a talented class of juniors," Pardun said. "And we have some game-changers in our seniors as well. We definitely have some strong senior leadership."
Pardun says the summer revealed the lack of varsity experience in his team.
"We saw that a lot throughout the summer," Pardun said. "I think the fun part of the season will be what we grow into. We are making some strides this summer."
The first spot the Huskies will need to grow into is to find a way to replace Goldsberry. The Michigan-bound Goldsberry accounted for nearly 2,500 yards of offense for the Huskies last season.
Goldsberry was so good, in fact, that Pardun is looking at two players to replace him.
Ryan Justice, who is a senior and backed up Goldsberry, most likely will be inserted in passing situations. Jordan Hansen, who is a junior and started at safety, will be used in other situations.
"Between the two of them, it is not like we are doing a split system," Pardun said. "They are both still competing for it, and they both do different things."
Running back will be by committee for the Huskies. Kacper Rutkiewicz and Vince Carso, will be getting some action in the backfield along with junior Luke Picchiotti, who got lots of carries last year.
Rutkiewicz and Carso will also see action at the wide receiver spot along with Justin Fauci, Caleb Havel. Jimmy Matanovic and Thomas Quirk will be playing an H-back for the Huskies.
The offensive line should have good size and that should help the offense. Jack Blumenfeld (6-1, 220), Austin Korba (6-1, 240), Campbell Brieler (6-1, 235), Dylan Riley (5-11, 230) and Matt Mysza (6-2 245) are a nice mix of juniors and seniors.
The Hersey defense was superb last season, allowing under 10 points per game while posting 3 shutouts.
Nick Steger, who was all area last season on the defensive line, returns to anchor that group. He will be joined by Jason Messer, Conrad Twardowski and Trevor Schutz. All have good size, which should help control things for the Huskies.
Steger may also find himself at linebacker at times. Jimmy Matanovic, Blake von der Lippe, Alex Kaburov, Hunter Luke and Tommy Cortese should all see some action there.
Picchiotti, Sam Mayo, Anthony Cardi will be working at corner while Hansen, Carso and Rutkiewicz will be patrolling at safety.
"The great thing for this team is that we are consistent in our schemes on both offense and defense," Pardun said. "It is the same schemes and they all have a year under their belt."