Unionville

By PETER DiGIOVANNI

cpn11716@comcast.net

If you believe that the quarterback position is the most important in football, then for 2014, Unionville is in a better position than most teams.

Two-year starter Alex Pechin, who passed and ran for almost 1,500 yards last season. ran for over 500 yards and threw for over 900 yards last season. Pechin is a duel threat to run or pass and Unionville head coach Pat Clark is excited to have the senior back under center.

“The best thing about Alex is his overall athletic ability,” Clark said. “He can run with the football, pass the football and he is very accurate. He leads the team by example and is a very hard worker. He builds relationships with the rest of the players and they follow his lead. And he also is one of the best kickers in the county. Alex should have a real good senior season.”

Two of the big guys up front to protect Pechin and get the offense going is four-year starting center Andrew Jones and fellow senior, guard Paul Steffie.

“Jones is a four-year starter and he is very strong and he is the most physical kid we have had in 10 years at Unionville,” Clark said. “He has an offer from Army and he is one of the best players in the league. And Steffie is also one of the best linemen in the county.”

Clark says that with Pechin running the offense, the Indians should have a balanced attack with Austin Hoffman-Reardon and Brandon Boone very capable of producing in the running game. Boone is very fast and can get to the edge in a hurry. The Indians, defensively, will go with a 4-3 look that Clark says will allow them to do multiple things. They have enough size up front to replace parts of the line that was hit by graduation.

“We are a young football team with only 10 seniors, but I feel we have good kids that can step in and do a good job. The kids are working hard but experience is the key. A lot of the kids don’t have game experience, so you never know how they will react.”

The nonleague slate is a tough one with Garnet Valley, Exeter Township and a mandatory crossover game with West Chester Henderson.

“The schedule is tough, but we like that and the kids like that and are used to it,” Clark said. “The division is tough with West Chester Rustin being the team to beat. They have a big offensive line and Terry Loper at running back. They are a working team. I also think Great Valley would be in the mix. With Dan Ellis coming in, they are excited and they could win the Class AAA district title.”