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Health the key word for Raiders

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WAYNESBURG – Last season, Waynesburg High School’s football team found itself in one of the best conferences in the WPIAL and making long road trips to fulfill its schedule.

To make that route even tougher, the Raiders suffered some injuries along the way, so much so that at one point in the season the lineup was missing seven players, each of whom had all suffered knee injuries

It couldn’t get any worse this year, right?

Guess again.

Waynesburg will play half of the season without its best running back. Nate Stephenson, who rushed for 817 yards and led the team with eight touchdowns, suffered an elbow injury during wrestling season.

There was hope and optimism that the surgery to repair the injury would allow Stephenson to return by the start of the season in football.

But that would’ve meant Waynesburg would have some good luck, and that just hasn’t happened for this team where injuries are concerned.

“Nate was supposed to be back for the start of football, but he just went to the doctors and it will be Sept. 28,” Waynesburg head coach Chad Coss explained. “He will be tough to replace, but we should have him back for the second half of the season.”

Stephenson’s injury has forced a move that most coaches don’t particularly like to make. Coss is moving last year’s starting quarterback, Caleb Shriver, to running back until Stephenson is healthy enough to return.

Shriver, who has experience at running back, rushed for 364 yards on 98 carries last season, an average of 3.7 yards per attempt. The Raiders did not pass very often as Shriver completed 16 of 46 attempts for 227 yards and two touchdowns.

Darnell Johnson will take Shriver’s place at quarterback until everyone is back to health again. Unfortunately, Johnson did not get any reps last season, and you can guess why.

“He was playing fullback for us and hurt his knee in the first scrimmage,” Coss said. “He never played another down the rest of the year.”

At the midpoint of last season, with Waynesburg in the throes of a seven-game losing streak, the injury situation hit its peak. Waynesburg, coming off two close losses to Ambridge and Hopewell, fell to South Park, 41-7, with seven starters out of the lineup because of injuries.

That’s a tough way to go in the rugged Class AAA Tri-County West Conference with teams such as Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Quaker Valley in Central Valley lurking. Of those four, the Raiders will play only Central Valley at home this season.

Waynesburg finished with an 0-7 record in the conference last year and went 2-8 overall.

Coss does have some hope for this season, if he can keep his offensive line healthy. It’s a veteran group and arguably the strength of the team.

“This year, I have 11 seniors on the team,” said Coss. “Usually, I have three or four seniors each year but this group has stuck together.”

Luke Maley, who stands 6-4 and weighs 270 pounds, returns to his left tackle position. Colton Slifko is a 6-2, 265-pound senior who plays left guard and Arran Hinerman is a 6-1, 265-pound senior, who is back at center.

Brandon Tretinik, who stands 5-11 and weighs 230 pounds, is the right guard and Kyle Cox, at 6-1 and 255 pounds, will play right tackle.

“If we can stay healthy,” Coss said, “then ourexpectations are higher.”

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