Cedar Crest

By Pat Huggins

phuggins@GameTimePA.com

@phuggsports on Twitter

The Cedar Crest football team has an ambitious goal to return to its one-time winning ways in 2014.

To accomplish that objective the Falcons will have to shore up a defense that has been extremely porous in recent years, as well as navigate a murderous schedule littered with one formidable opponent after another.

Simple, right? Not so much, but if the Falcons don’t succeed in that regard it won’t be for lack of trying.

First, the defense, which surrendered close to 34 points and 390 yards per game a season ago, negating a fairly potent offense (24 points per contest) and leading to a 3-7 record that extended its streak of losing seasons dating back to 2005.

“The defensive side was definitely our No. 1 issue coming in,” said Cedar Crest’s rookie head coach Rob Wildasin. “You can’t give up 390 yards a game and expect to win and have a successful season, and that’s what they gave up last year. Offensively, we’ll be all right, and defensively we’ll be all right, too, but (defense) has been my No. 1 focus since Day One.”

To that end, Cedar Crest has installed a more traditional 4-3 defensive look after the program had gotten away from that style in recent years.

Wildasin believes that will play more to his team’s strengths on defense, which also includes the presence of all-league junior safety Evan Horn.

“I think that’s important,” Wildasin said of the shift in defensive philosophy. “It gives us more guys up front, which we have, and allows us to play more games in the back (in the secondary), which we will.”

Some of those guys up front looking to control the line of scrimmage include seniors Tony Fernandez, Dean Ebersole and Chase Ocker, 300-pound junior Joe Radakovitz, and fellow 11th-graders Alex Flocken, David Maciel and Raymie Ferreira.

Senior Chuck Yost leads the linebacking corps, along with classmate Damon Edwards and junior Matt Mitchell, while Horn spearheads an athletic secondary that will also feature Kobe Bolanos and Dominic Garloff at the corners and an as yet undecided winner of the competition for the free safety spot.

If the Falcons can hold up defensively, they’ll have a chance to compete in Section One, where perennial champ Wilson and Penn Manor figure to be the big dogs again, and against a powerful non-league slate that includes Lower Dauphin and Manheim Central, as well as the high-intensity Cedar Bowl tussle with Lebanon.

“It’s the toughest challenge in the Lancaster-Lebanon League,” Wildasin said of locking horns with Section One foes, “and one of the toughest challenges in District Three and the state, as well. This is exciting to be a part of it. You want to challenge yourself. That’s what’s exciting about Section One play.”

On paper, at least, the Falcons appear to have the offensive weapons to hold their own in the section. That’s due in part to a potentially potent spread attack led by senior QB Josh Bucher and big-play slot backs Horn and Edwards.

In addition, playmakers can be found in the person of, among others, senior running back Marq Kinzter, wideouts Garloff, Landy Cruz and junior Iziah Trimble and tight ends Ferreira and David Santos.

“I think hard work will get the job done,” said Bucher, who shared the QB duties with Gage Ocker last season, of the offense’s potential. “I know I have the weapons, especially those two (Horn and Edwards).”

“He has experience from last year, which is big, I think,” Wildasin said of Bucher. “But he has the talent, too, and that’s the important thing. He can distribute the ball. He does it in basketball, too, as the point guard, and it’s something he’s good at.”