Heritage help?

[Crimson's Ghost]

Anybody have some info on a select few teams in the Heritage conference for this upcoming season?

Any info on United,Homer,Purchase Line, Saltsburg, and Blairsville.

[say_oww]

www.indianagazette.com should have archived stories on all of last year's games.

[HSfan]

The Indiana Gazette should have their "KICKOFF 2012" in the Thrusday Aug. 30 newspaper. Ligonier Valley lost a ton of good players.
Penns Manor has Danny Ferens and a huge turnout for this year's team. I have not looked at the other seven Heritage teams but will.

[WildCatz]

Blairsville- Lost some great players from last year. Biggest loss will be Andrew Izze who was a great back. This year the catz have a great young bunch coming with some good size. I expect them to hit a few bumps in the early stages but to compete late in the season. They may have a difficult time getting into the playoffs this year.

United- United will be young this year. They have lost some great seniors in the backfield and on the line. United will be led by backs Trevor Holupka and Oliver. This could be a tough year for the lions.

Saltsburg- This could be the year for the Burg. I believe they made it to the playoffs last year??? If they are going to make it, even with only 8 teams going this is going to be their year. I believe this team went undefeated in Jr. High. This will not be a Saltsburg team of the past. I look for them to compete with even the top teams in the Heritage this year.

Homer Center- Homer Center returns a handful of lettermen from last years team. They will have to rely heavy on Mike Newhouse to carry them. He will be one of the top players within the conference both on defense and offense.

Purchase Line- This is a new Era for the dragons. They have a new coach Overdorff who has been rumored to already been changing things up. The dragons bring back a lot of experience. Huey was a huge factor in their run game last year and is a very fast back. Price is a huge lineman and I believe they will look to him to open holes. The dragons have been working hard in the offseason and look to return back to their winning ways. This team has the potential to make its way into the playoffs and should be a well rounded team.

I think the Heritage will be a much more balanced conference this year. Of the teams listed above Saltsburg/Purchase Line might have the best shot and making it into the playoffs but it will be difficult. Northern Cambria, Lig Valley, and Penns Manor are the teams to beat this year. Northern Cambria returns almost all of its skill players including its QB, WR, and RBs and a great lineman and defender in Alex Atkins. Lig Valley has a good running back and a big lineman (not sure of the name) who is supposed to be getting some college looks. Penns Manor returns almost its entire line and one of the best players in Danny Ferens. Chris Henderson is also a powerful force on the defensive end. The comets have made an impressive 3 consecutive semi final showings and ran away with it all last year. If this team is healthy come playoff time they will be hard to stop.

[jayjay6218]

Do you believe Ligonier Valley is going to make the AA Playoffs and compete this year? They usually make a great run in the Heritage Conference and then get eliminated in the first round by a lower seed.

[WildCatz]

LV has had some really nice teams over the years but when it boils down to it, when only playing A teams all season they arent nearly as battle tested as even the lower seeded AA teams out there coming from the other conferences. I cant see them beating a Tyrone, Forest Hills, or Richland anytime soon until they play up in competition during the regular season.

[konjo78]

LV has had some really nice teams over the years but when it boils down to it, when only playing A teams all season they arent nearly as battle tested as even the lower seeded AA teams out there coming from the other conferences. I cant see them beating a Tyrone, Forest Hills, or Richland anytime soon until they play up in competition during the regular season.

I agree. Plus it didn't seem like PM had built themselves up until after their LV game last year so they weren't tested. PM will test them but thats it. I see this conference having a bunch of 5-4 4-5 teams and undefeated penns manor. Interesting to see who wins westpac heritage series this year

[WildCatz]

Maybe Ill be wrong but I dont see LV having much of an impact in the AA playoff race this year. I agree konjo there will be a lot of teams battling it out with each other from week to week.

[LionDad]

Two kids mentioned in the preview Trevor Holupka and Blake Brendlinger are not playing football this year for United. The best thing they did was hiring defensive coordinator Erik Foust and former Purchase Line head coach Dave Small as the offensive coordinator.

This team is very young, most of their impact players are sophomores or juniors. Not much size on the offensive/defensive lines Ben Mountan is about it, Jon Long is a tough kid and the Long family has produced some talent (Ryan, Jared and Jordan) were all standouts, now it is little brothers turn. The key to the team will be the development of sophomore Tyler Oliver the younger brother of former standout running back Kody Oliver. The younger Oliver is bigger and faster than his elder brother.

The Lions are probably a few years away from being contenders again in the Heritage Conference.


The Heritage Conference decided this year to move all incoming 7th graders who are 12 to junior high and forgoing their final year of midget eligibility in order to increase the numbers at the varsity level. This move would force each school to move all of their freshmen to varsity/JV. Junior High is now only made up of 7th/8th grade players. The move didn't help United as only (4) freshmen are on the team. Numbers are low for junior high as well with only roughly (21-23 players).

[WildCatz]

Dave Small as Uniteds o coordinator = interesting