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Decade’s best No. 7: Van Fleet was a tremendous coach with Loyalsock in 2010s in football

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest in a series looking back at the top 10 football teams, coaches, games and players from last decade

Justin Van Fleet has been Loyalsock’s head football coach since 2012. He also is a high school social studies teacher. And past president of the District 4 Football Coaches Association. And a father of three.

One gets the idea. Van Fleet has a full plate and wears many hats, as do so many other coaches. Through it all, Van Fleet still finds the time to constantly network on his players’ behalves. He has put in countless hours opening doors and his players have sailed through them, many earning scholarships and several receiving Division I opportunities that once were so rare throughout District 4.

Oh yeah, Van Fleet can coach, too.

Under Van Fleet’s leadership, Loyalsock captured a District 4 Class AAA championship, won two league titles and played in three district finals from his first year in 2012 through last fall. He inherited a team coming off a 1-9 season, but immediately helped Loyalsock turn things around and the Lancers have reached districts each year.

Van Fleet’s only losing season came in his first year when Loyalsock made a four-win improvement and went 5-6. The Lancers have at least eight games in six of the last seven seasons and Van Fleet has a 61-34 career record, good for an impressive .642 winning percentage.

The Lancers been one of the district’s biggest winners over the past eight seasons and always have been among the area’s most explosive teams. Van Fleet has produced a 1,000-yard quarterback in all eight seasons and a 1,000-yard rusher eight times, with both quarterback Kyle Datres and running back Marty Clark, both topping that milestone in 2014.

Loyalsock began its upward climb in Van Fleet’s first season, returning to districts for the first time since 2009. A major step forward was taken the following year as Loyalsock went 8-4 and handed Montoursville its first loss in Week 10 to capture the HAC-II championship. The progress continued in 2014 as Loyalsock won nine games and reached the district final, dropping a 21-19 heartbreaker at Montoursville. The Lancers opened their playoffs at Mount Carmel, avenging a season-opening loss and winning, 20-6.

That late surge has been a staple of Van Fleet’s teams. Loyalsock often has been a whole lot better in October and November than in August and September. That especially became true in the decade’s final three years after Loyalsock won 16 games the two previous seasons and captured the 2015 HAC-III championship.

The 2017 team started 5-4, losing three games by six points or fewer. Instead of crumbling, Loyalsock rallied, closed its season with a convincing win at Montoursville and then overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to beat Lewisburg, 35-24, in the semifinals. A week later, Loyalsock pounded top-seeded Danville, 35-6, and captured the program’s first district championship. The Lancers nearly stunned District 2 power Scranton Prep in the state tournament, rallying in the fourth quarter before losing, 31-28 against a team which was 12-0 and which had steamrolled opponents all season.

“It’s not necessarily how you start anything in your life, it’s how you finish. This group finished as champions. They finished it as individuals who are role models in so many ways,” Van Fleet said following the Scranton Prep game. “Those characteristics are the characteristics I’m going to remember this season by.”

Those characteristics were on display again late in the 2018 season. All-state quarteback Conner Watkins was off to the best start of his stellar scholastic career but was lost in Week 4 when he broke his collar bone. Van Fleet turned to sophomore Chase Cavanaugh, who mostly had played wide receiver in high school. Ironically, Watkins became a starter as a freshman in 2015 when Marcus Williams tore his ACL in the season opener. Van Fleet was a calming influence and helped Watkins go over 1,100 passing yards.

It was a similar story with Cavanaugh. Van Fleet did not ask Cavanaugh to be Watkins. Few players can be. He simply asked that Cavanaugh be himself and play hard. Cavanaugh did just that and Loyalsock adjusted its offense. The Lancers were 2-4 following Cavanaugh’s first two starts and many were writing the team’s season obituary. But then Cavanaugh took off, becoming an outstanding dual threat and a 1,000-yard passer. The Lancers won their next our games, returned to districts and finished 6-5. It was not Loyalsock’s best record, but it represented one of Van Fleet’s best coaching performances.

“They showed so much mental toughness. There were so many individuals who were saying good luck next year because they had no hope for us rebuilding. With that in mind, so many individuals became more mentally tough,” Van Fleet said. “Individuals started to fight for each other and care for each other and because that mental process is what we learned and grew toward so much.”

They continued growing last fall. Loyalsock again started slow and was 3-3 after six weeks. Again, Van Fleet kept his team focused on the big picture and Loyalsock peaked at the right time. The Lancers won their final four regular-season games for a second straight year before beating Mifflinburg and Central Columbia to reach their second district final in three years. Montoursville defeated Loyalsock in the championship, but Loyalsock learned a lot and appears poised for more future success.

Van Fleet remains busy and the growth continues.

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