Tornadoes face tough opener
MOUNT CARMEL - Five different times Mount Carmel has had the pleasure of opening its season after winning a PIAA state title, although it's been eight years since the last time.
Tonight, Selinsgrove will experience its first season opener as a defending state champion.
Game time, however, also brings a first for the Red Tornadoes - Carm DeFrancesco's first game at the head of his alma mater.
Ever since DeFrancesco saw the Tornadoes' schedule, he knew that he had to gear his team's offseason toward the singular goal of coming out with a good showing against the Seals.
"We've been practicing for Selinsgrove; that's the smart thing to do," DeFrancesco said. "When you come in as a new coach and a new staff and you have an opening game like that, you want to get off to a good start and our kids understand that. We have been practicing and everything we've been doing in the minicamps and camp has been geared toward Selinsgrove."
This year's Selinsgrove team will look a lot different than the squad that hoisted the championship trophy last December in Hershey.
Quarterback Cory Briggs is off to Harvard. Wideout and defensive back Ryan Keiser was an invited walk-on at Penn State, while two-way lineman Spencer Myers accepted a scholarship to wrestle at the University of Maryland.
But the biggest loss to this year's team is Seth Lauver, last year's fullback, who was severely injured in a car accident in May.
Still, the Seals list over 60 players on this year's roster, including Kyle Reinard, who rushed for 1,221 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Stopping Reinard will be the Tornadoes' foremost concern when the Seals have the ball.
"The running backs are impressive," DeFrancesco said. "We're expecting the same old Selinsgrove, and we'll have our hands full.
"Reinard is at top speed. The yards after contact is what we've noticed. You don't bring him down with one tackler."
At quarterback, Justin Keiser takes over. Last year in mop-up duty, Keiser completed 24-of-39 passes for 280 yards and two touchdown tosses.
After Reinard, who caught 18 passes for 165 yards, the next best returning pass catcher is senior Dan Baussinger, who had eight grabs for 95 yards and a touchdown.
To ease the transition, the Seals have focused on quickly-timed passing patterns, which DeFrancesco said plays right into the Tornadoes' hands.
"We feel the strong point of our defense is our secondary," he said. "If we can man up on the outside and just put a free safety back, we can really send the blitz after them."
The Seals' defense, which gave up just 96 points in 16 games last season, and shut out the Tornadoes to open last year, will be in for a test from a Mount Carmel team with a host of returning skill players.
Eddy Stewart leads the offense at quarterback, and has been working with his receivers to master DeFrancesco's routes and terminology all offseason.
Up to six running backs will see carries for the Tornadoes, who have had two good outings during preseason scrimmages according to their coach.
But inconsistency on the offensive line plagued the Tornadoes through the team's scrimmages against Schuylkill Haven and Williamsport.
"We were inconsistent," DeFrancesco said. "We were not pleased with the Williamsport scrimmage. We busted a couple of big plays, but we're still moving people around on the offensive line. We've been trying to get to a platoon system with the lines, experimenting with that, but I don't know if we'll be able to pull that off. We may need some kids to play both ways."
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