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Mapletown starting over with small roster

4 min read

CELESTE VAN KIRK

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There is a significant hole to fill in the Mapletown football team’s offense. It measures 5,762 yards. That’s how many yards the aptly named Dylan Rush ran for in the past four seasons with the Maples. The total includes a WPIAL single-game record 524 yards that was set last year.

For four seasons, the speedy and shifty Rush was a dynamic one-person wrecking crew at the Class A level. He scored 516 points. Last year, he scored 19 of Mapletown’s 20 touchdowns.

That’s a lot of production to replace and veteran head coach George Messich isn’t pretending that his team is going to do it in the immediate future. After all, Messich, who begins his 36th season as a head coach including each of the last 31 years at Mapletown, has been through this kind of situation before. He coached Derek Bochna, who left Mapletown after the 1989 season as the WPIAL’s all-time leading rusher.

It took the Maples seven years to make the playoffs after Bochna’s departure but Messich is hoping for a shorter waiting period this time, though he knows it won’t be easy. Running backs like Rush and Bochna don’t come along very often.

“I hope we have another one and soon,” Messich joked.

Mapletown got a glimpse of life without Rush when the record-setter missed the final three games of the 2017 season because of injury. The Maples lost all three games, to playoff-bound teams Fort Cherry, Jeannette and Monessen, and were outscored 119-6. The losses capped a disappointing 2-8 season that saw Mapletown miss the postseason for the second time in four years.

Messich, however, did pick out some good things in those late-season games. One bright spot was running back Zach Greene, who will be asked this season to provide the bulk of the ground game. Greene had only 30 rushing attempts a year ago but Messich has high hopes for the running back.

“We saw some good things we liked from Zach when Dylan was out,” Messich said. “He had some nice games.”

The Maples’ roster is smaller than it has ever been at the start of a season as only 20 players began preseason camp. Of those, only eight are upperclassmen and 12 weren’t on the team last year. Freshmen will have to play more than casual roles for the Maples but Messich sees that as a positive instead of a negative. Those freshmen were part of a 7th-and-8th grade team that suffered only two losses last fall.

“And there are 10 to 12 eighth graders this year who will move up next year, so we’re expecting our numbers to pick up,” Messich said.

Until then, Mapletown will have to get by with a small roster and hope to avoid a rash of injuries.

There are, however, some experienced players at hand. Ethan Carter will move from guard to fullback this year. J.J. Scott will be a four-year starter at offensive tackle, Blake Holbert started about half the games last year at guard and Chuckie Lash is back at wide receiver. On defense, Brandon Donley is a three-year starter at linebacker and will be counted on to produce if the Maples are to improve a unit that allowed 35 points per game.

CELESTE VAN KIRK

Head coach George Messich

Messich has high hopes for his freshmen. One of those is quarterback Max Vanata.

“For a freshman, he’s done a good job during the summer 7-on-7 competitions,” Messich said.

Another player who has caught Messich’s attention is Lance Stevenson, a wide receiver who hasn’t played football since sixth grade because of a medical issue but has finally been given clearance for his sophomore year.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise this summer,” Messich said.

Messich said California is the prohibitive favorite to win the Tri-County South Conference with West Greene and Bentworth close behind. As for his team’s outlook, the veteran coach thinks the Maples are capable of sneaking up on a few opponents and pulling some surprises as it begins a rebuilding project.

“We’re young and we have to stay healthy,” Messich said. “Our kids are taking the approach that people aren’t expecting much from us so we want to surprise some people. We should get better every week.”

Messich does see one positive that he thinks will pay dividends this season.

“Our upperclassmen have turned into leaders with the younger guys,” he said. “As for attitude, you always seem to have one or two players who don’t want to push themselves. That’s not the case with this group. We only have 20 players, but this is the hardest-working group I’ve ever had and with the best attitude.”

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