South foursome provides Mounties with talent on both sides of ball
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Luke Winner is a four-year defensive starter and two-year starting running back. Austin Nash is a three-year, two-way starter as is lineman Dakota Hill. And running back Gannon Guerrisky started both ways last year, rushing for 1,245 yards.
Those four players who attended last Tuesday's District 4 Media Day form the foundation which South Williamsport will build upon this fall. They are the team's most experienced players and provide South four quality weapons on each side of the ball. The quest now is filling the gaps in around those players. If South does that, it could emerge as a serious District 4 Class A contender a season after a rash of costly injuries derailed those championship dreams.
"We have four multi-year starters here, but that's only like eight kids and you don't play football with eight guys. We have to get those other pieces over to join them and that's what we've worked hard to do. If we can get that number to 14 or 15 we've got a chance to do some good things," South coach Chris Eiswerth. "I think that's a realistic number of guys who can play each Friday night and not hurt us against AAA and AA teams. We have to go through this really challenging schedule which we have to embrace. We can' run from it. We have to accept it and be there at the end to have a chance in the playoffs and try to go after the districts again."
South started 4-1 last year before suffering a rash of injuries through a Murderers Row of games that included Southern Columbia, Central Columbia, Mount Carmel and Loyalsock. Backups' backups were receiving significant playing time in the District 4 Class A semifinals at Canton as South shuffled players into different positions and were down to their fifth and sixth running backs.
The silver lining through that all that pain and frustration was that so many young players, including several freshmen, who never would have seen much varsity time wound up playing critical roles in a playoff game. South also pushed the top-seeded Warriors hard, trailing 12-7 at halftime and by just eight in the fourth quarter against a 10-win team.
All those young players are back and have big-game experience. In that way, South is ahead of the curve. Combine that with a motivated group of seniors who have won two league championships and one has the nucleus for a potentially dangerous team.
"There's a lot of good young talent on the team," Winner, who ran for 507 yards and nine touchdowns last year, said. "We're just trying to lead them up and show them the right way and get them better. They'll be ready to go."
"That fueled a lot of hunger because they know what's been achieved here and we have guys that were on two PHAC championship teams and played in a district final so I think that kind put a chip on their shoulder," Eiswerth said. "They have felt those feelings of being a champion and last year kind of left a bad taste in their mouths thinking we fell a little short because I know I sure felt that way."
South has reached the postseason in seven straight seasons, winning six league championships and a district title while also appearing in four district finals. The Mounties consistently won games in those years by overwhelming opponents with a powerful offensive line and a dynamic running game. South had good quarterbacks like Tyler House, Matt Boone and A.J. Flick, but passing was limited in a ball-control offense.
The mistake some make when looking at South is thinking that the power-running game is the Eiswerth offense. They forget that he was an offensive coordinator for some dynamic Loyalsock and Williamsport offenses which were among the best at throwing the ball in District 4 before arriving at South. He and his staff are not against the pass. It's just that South was so dominant running the ball that passing was sometimes unnecessary.
There is no set South system. The system is whatever works and what is why South might feature a more wide-open look this season. Sophomore quarterback Landon Lorson threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns in five quarters against Loyalsock and Canton and has some good receivers at his disposal. Nash can stretch the field, Guerrisky and Winner are good coming out of the backfield and there are some intriguing young prospects who could make a strong impact in the passing game. This could be a new-look offense that remains every bit as effective.
"I'm very excited. I've been excited for a long while, winter, spring, summer," Nash said. "Landon looks really good and I'm excited to see what we can do."
"I had to take a step and look and see where we were as a program and see who we had. There's no use sticking a square peg into a round hole because that doesn't work," Eiswerth said. "I'm not saying we're not going to still try and be physical and do some of the things that kind of have become our staple. We have some guys that can do some other things now and I'm not naive enough to think I wouldn't have to get the coaching staff and the kids doing the things we can do to be a little more diverse."
The senior foundation is strong, but the young players are coming on strong, too. South might experience some growing pains, but if those younger players who showed flashes last year develop into consistent contributors both the present and future could be pretty bright.
"At halftime against Canton we were very encouraged because at halftime it was 12-7 and we were using some kids that didn't even start in JV games earlier in the year. We were thinking, 'that's pretty awesome,'" Eiswerth said. "The future looks good. We just have to get there."