2024 Team Preview: Cocalico Eagles (3)

Written by: David Mika on Monday, August 12th, 2024. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

Head Coach: Bryan Strohl

Assistant Coaches:
Chris Laudenslager – Def. Coordinator and LBs – 31st year at Cocalico
Shawn Smith – WR/DB – 11th at Cocalico
Korey Eppinette – DB/RB – 2nd year
Jon Good – OL/DL/Strength Coach – 16th year
Jim Cage – Special Teams/OL/DL – 6th year
Chase Ochs – DL/OL – 2nd year
Tim Van Dalen – Character Coach – 7th year

Team Name: Cocalico Eagles

District: 3

Class: AAAAA

League: Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon League, Section 3

2023 Record: 12-2, L-L Section 4 Champion, District III 5A Champion, State Semi-finalist

8/25 @ Warwick (AAAAA) 7:00 pm L 14-17
9/01 Solanco (AAAAA) 7:00 pm W 49-14
9/09 Manheim Central (AAAA) 11:00 am W 48-28
9/15 @ Octorara Area* (AAAA) 7:00 pm W 49-14
9/22 Lampeter-Strasburg* (AAAA) 7:00 pm W 24-10
9/29 @ ELCO* (AAAA) 7:00 pm W 56-7
10/06 Wyomissing Area* (AAA) 7:00 pm W 34-14
10/13 @ Donegal* (AAAA) 7:00 pm W 37-0
10/20 Berks Catholic* (AAA) 7:00 pm W 42-14
10/27 @ Conrad Weiser* (AAAA) 7:00 pm W 24-14
11/10 Conestoga Valley (AAAAA) 7:00 pm W 42-10
11/17 @ Cedar Cliff (AAAAA) 7:00 pm W 31-13
11/24 Ephrata (AAAAA) 7:00 pm W 23-9
12/01 @ Peters Township (AAAAA) 7:00 pm L 9-14

Key Starters lost:
Aaryn Longenecker – RB/DB
Sam Steffey – FB/LB
Logan Brubaker – OL/DL
Adam Laudenslager – OL/DL
Hunter Frable – OL/DL
Ja’Den Hudgens – OL
Owen Weaver – TE/DE
Bryce Nash – DB
Derek Brubaker – C
Cole Hooper – OL/DL
Tim Porter – Safety
Aiden Williams – TE
Connor Sola – WR
Andrew Ensinger – WR
Todd Becker – kicker
Trent Dickson – punter

Offensive Starters Returning:
Josh Myer (6’1” 195) – QB – HM all-section QB
Dane Bollinger (5’7” 170) – RB (currently injured)
Brayden Eppinette (5’11” 170) – RB
Dane Horning (5’8” 185) – FB

Defensive Starters Returning:
Dane Bollinger (5’7” 170) – LB (currently injured) – all-state OLB, “Big 37” team
Brayden Eppinette (5’11” 170) – DB
Dane Horning (5’8” 185) – LB – HM all-section LB
Thomas Dattoli (5’10” 235) – DL – 2nd team all-section DL
Jerry McArdle (5’8” 180) – LB
David Betz (5’10” 145) – DB

Special Team Starters Returning:
Talen Popolis (5’10” 165) – Kicker
Brayden Eppinette (5’11” 170) – Kick Returner

Key Newcomers:
Zach Weik (5’10” 145) – WR/DB
Dylan Perera (6’0” 165) – WR/LB
Rylan Jenkins (6’0” 180) – TE/DE
Derrick Belzince (5’7” 280) – OL/DL
Wesley Sickmeier (5’10” 175) – OL/DL
Brendon Zimmerman (5’8” 150) – RB/QB/DB
Sawyer Martin (5’10” 225) – OL/DL
Nathan Laudenslager (6’0” 210) – OL/DL
Keegan Rendon (6’3” 240) – OL/DL
James Himelright (5’8” 155) – FB/LB
Chase Breneman (5’6” 135) – RB/DB
Rocco Rigney (5’10” 170) – RB/LB
Aiden Sola (5’11” 215) – OL/DL

2024 Returning Player Stats:
Offensive Starters Returning:
Josh Myer
363 passing yards (19-48)
4 passing touchdowns
820 rushing yards
147 carries
12 TD’s

Dane Bollinger
85 yards rushing
23 carries

4 catches
85 yards
1 receiving touchdown

Brayden Eppinette
262 rushing yards
32 carries
1 rushing touchdowns

Dane Horning
777 yards rushing
149 carries
11 rushing touchdowns

Defensive Starters Returning:
Dane Bollinger
129 total tackles
46 solo tackles
17 TFL
2 sacks
1 interception
6 PBU

Brayden Eppinette
29 total tackles
16 solo tackles
1 TFL
5 PBU
1 interception

Dane Horning
104 total tackles
36 solo tackles
15 TFL
2 sacks
1 PBU

Thomas Dattoli
37 total tackles
8 solo tackles
4 TFL
2 sacks
1 interception

Jerry McArdle
38 total tackles
13 solo tackles
5 TFL
1 sack
1 PBU

David Betz
11 total tackles
4 solo tackles
1 TFL

2024 Outlook:
Offense: We have a couple of key returners at several key positions including 3-year staring QB Josh Myer, FB Dane Horning, RB Brayden Eppinette, and RB Dane Bollinger who have been through back-to-back long postseason runs who we hope can carry us as we introduce a lot of newcomers to the lineup. Specifically, we need to replace our entire starting offensive line, so we will be young and have a lot of preseason battles for positions.

Defense: Our defense was tremendous last season, but we lost a group of 20 quality seniors, a lot of which played major roles on our defense. We look to build around returning starters Thomas Dattoli (DL), Dane Bollinger (LB), Jerry McArdle (LB), Dane Horning (LB), Brayden Eppinette (DB), and David Betz (DB) to try to replicate the success we had last season.

Special Teams: Talen Popolis returns, and he will handle all the kicking and punting duties. His younger brother, Breck, continues to work to challenge him and to take over when Talen graduates. We look for speedster Brayden Eppinette to be a major weapon in the return game as well.

2024 Cocalico Eagles
Interview with Head Football Coach Bryan Strohl#PAHSFB @hsfbamerica @LancLebLeague @CocalicoSports @coachstrohl @cocalicohs @CocalicoSD pic.twitter.com/o3UUfjG8vm

— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) August 2, 2024