Cumberland Valley kept its winning ways going strong in 2010, posting a third consecutive season of 12 victories and winning a second straight District 3 AAAA championship in mercy rule fashion over Red Lion. And more than likely, come November, the Eagles will be right there in the thick of things in the District 3 AAAA bracket, but if they are, there will be plenty of new faces sprinkled in amongst a few key-returning pieces. Gone is 1,250-yard passer Eric Sawyer, a lefty who threw for 3,145 yards over the last two years. Gone also are the Eagles’ number two and three rushers – Kevin Snyder (Rutgers) and Dan Flynn – who combined to run for 1,842 yards and 29 touchdowns on 289 rushes. And five of CV’s six leading receivers have also departed.
What CV does have is a nice little sparkplug in senior athlete Jeremy DePietro (5-9, 170), who ran for 1,278 yards, added 160 receiving yards and returned 39 combined kickoffs and punts for 769 yards. DePietro is truly a versatile weapon in every sense of the game – he even returned a fumble 83 yards for a touchdown last year. In limited action, seniors-to-be Aaron Hinish (5-9, 165), Cole Johnson (6-2,185) and Cody Bush (5-10, 175) teamed up to run for 247 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Defensively, three linemen are back, including Temple recruit Kyle Friend (95 tackles, 6 sacks), Joseph Fencel (69 tackles) and Mick Straub (55 tackles, 7 sacks). Additionally, contributors who saw some defensive action beyond the three linemen and DePietro include Brian Aunspach, Bush, Hinish and Scott Maronic. On special teams, Lance Geesey did it all for the Eagles last year – averaging 34.3 yards per punt on 40 kicks; booted 30 touchbacks out of 85 total kickoffs (35.3 percent) and converted 57 PATs and six field goals, scoring 75 of CV’s 501 points, finishing as the team’s fourth-leading scorer.
