40 teams in 40 days – Day 39: Delone Catholic (3)

Written by: David Mika on Wednesday, August 29th, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

Delone Catholc finished the season with a 9-2 record and 8-1 in their league.

Brett Smith completed 66 of 112 passes for 1,380 yards and 21 touchdowns. His two favorite receivers were Tyler Smith and Cooper Ayers. Smith caught 17 passes for 428 yards and five touchdowns. Ayers caught 15 passes for 307 yards and seven touchdowns.

Colby McMaster rushed for 894 yards on140 carries and 11 touchdowns. Smith rushed for 870 yards on 81 carries and 10 touchdowns.

Q & A with Delone Catholic head football coach Steve Wiles

We sat down with Wiles and talked to him about his team for the 2012 season.

How is your camp going this summer?

It’s been a really good camp. We have practiced well the past couple of weeks. The scrimmages went well too. We are excited to start our games. We have a nice senior class.

What’s New

What are your thoughts as Delone Catholic drops from AA to A this season? “It really doesn’t change much. The truth is our enrollment is dropping. Our junior class we only have 11 players. Our freshman class is really small.”

On your schedule you are playing a couple of AAA teams and one AAAA team. “It does make it tougher when you play bigger teams when our numbers are dropping.”

Who do you have coming back on offense?

We lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team on the offensive line. We aren’t big by any means. We run a wing-t blocking scheme. Jack Nietz (5-11, 230) is our tackle. Josh Mackle (5-11, 240) is the other tackle. These two guys are key for us. Devin Smith (6-1, 195) is the only returning guard. We have two new guys at guard. They are Joe Post (5-9, 185) and Isaac Orndorff (6-2, 195). All three guards are going to rotate. At center is Mitch Houser (5-9, 195). He is a very athletic kid.

We return first team all-league tight end Austin Noel (6-1, 210). We are looking for a big year out of him. I think he is going to be a force in our league this year.

We have our quarterback back, Brett Smith (5-10, 170). He has been a starter since his sophomore year. He can do it all. He is a phenomenal kid. He has great feet and is smart. Last year he threw 21 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. We run the ball quite a bit and that is really good numbers. We think he is going to have a big year for us. It is nice having someone back like this with all his experience.

This is probably the biggest question I have at fullback since I have been at Delone Catholic. Hayden Bell (5-8, 175) is a senior for us and he is doing a nice job for us. He did well in scrimmages. Then we have a couple of juniors. They are Matt Guiffreda (5-10, 185) and Cody Kuhn (5-10,175).

Our halfbacks are Nick Braun (5-10, 165) and Lance Reneker (5-10, 175). Both backs are solid runners and played a lot last year. Braun has a lot of speed. Reneker is strong and quick.

We have two kids that are going to rotate in at wide receiver. They are Bobby Witt and Pat Staub (5-10, 170). Both of them are pretty athletic kids and run nice routes.

Who do you have coming back on defense?

Our defensive line is green. We lost both our tackles from last year. We are going to play more kids and get a rotation going. That will keep us fresh for four quarters. Jack Nietz and Josh Mackle will get the start. We have three or four kids that will get some playing time. We have Devon Smith at defensive end. We also have Issac Orndorff at the other end spot. We have two sophomores behind Orndorff. They are Justin Gobrecht and Jimmy O’Boyle. They are young but athletic.

We are solid at the linebacker spot. We have Hayden Bell back at inside linebacker. He made all the calls last year. We are moving Austin Noel to middle linebacker. He was a defensive end for us last year. He has looked good in the scrimmages. We lost our top three outside linebackers from last year. We aren’t sure who is going to start there. But we have Nate Miller, Zach Smith and Matt Guiffreda battling for playing time.

Our strength on defense is the secondary. We’ve got two of the three players back. Brett Smith is our safety and has a lot of speed back there. Nick Braun is one of our corners. Lance Reneker is the other corner.

Who do you have coming back on special teams?

Brett Smith did it all last year. He will defiantly punt for us and kick off. We have a sophomore that we hope steps up and kicks field goals. His name is Jay Strickland. That will give Brett some rest.

My return guys are Nick Braun and Lance Reneker.

League

We have one non-conference game and it’s against Trinity. It’s such a rivalry game. It is always a great game. Last year they beat us in a shoot out. It’s a major test right off the bat. They have some serious talent. It’s a great opening game for the fans.

Our league schedule is nine games. This is my sixth year here and from top to bottom this is going to be the most competitive it has been. Biglersville brings back a lot of experience. York Suburban brings back a lot of juniors. Littlestown and Bermudian Springs are always tough. York Catholic brings back a lot of kids. It’s going to be interesting. There are six or seven teams that can make noise this year. We will see what happens.

To have a successful season you have to?

We have to minimize mistakes and penalties. If we don’t beat ourselves, we have a chance to win a lot of games.

Home Opener

Delone Catholic opens at Trinity on August 31st

40 teams in 40 days

Day 1 – Mount Carmel Area (4) Day 11 – Scranton (2)

Day 2 – Manheim Central (3) Day 12 – Pottsville (11)

Day 3 – Delaware Valley (2) Day 13 – Cardinal O’Hara (12)

Day 4 – Southern Columbia (4) Day 14 – Shenandoah Valley (11)

Day 5 – Berwick Area (2) Day 15- Central Dauphin (3)

Day 6 – Easton Area (11) Day 16 – Scranton Prep (2)

Day 7 – LaSalle (12) Day 17 – Garnet Valley (1)