34 · SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017 TRI-COUNTY SOUTH MONESSEN GREYHOUNDS (MEMORIAL STADIUM) 654-358-47 ALL-TIME NEW COACH, SCHEMES GIVE MONESSEN HIGH HOPES Thaddeus King SCHEDULE Coach: Mike Blainefield 2016 record: 1-9, 1-6 Date Opponent Time 8.25 at Charleroi 7 9.1 at Carmichaels* 7 9.8 Jefferson-Morgan* 7 9.15 at Fort Cherry* 7:30 9.22 at Clairton 7 9.29 California* 7 10.6 at Northgate 7 10.13 at West Greene* 7 10.20 Avella* 7 10.27 Mapletown* 7 *CONFERENCE GAME STATISTICAL LEADERS Passing Cory Fleming 19-55, 371 yards, 4 TDs Receiving Jadon Altmore 8-201 yards, 2 TDs Rushing Jaron Youngblood* 82-435 yards, 8TDs *GRADUATED For the past few seasons, the Greyhounds have resembled the long-distance bus company more than living up to the reputation of the speedycanine. That’s all about to change. Coming off the worst season in Monessen football history, firstyear coach MikeBlainefield hopes if everything goes right, the Greyhounds will be partying like it’s 2003. That so happens to be the year when Blainefield, a senior at the time, helped lead the Greyhounds to an undefeated regular season. “I was always interested incoming back toMonessen as a coach,” said Blainefield, who played at Georgetown. “As a player, I was considered a coach on the field, and I always took pride in that. Once Igot to see the program,Iwas interested in getting involved.” Last season marked the third season in a row Monessen (1-9, 1-6) missed the postseason. Blainefield wasted no time bringing his players together to set the tone. It was shortly after last season ended when Blainefield had players in the weight room putting the past behind them and preparing for a season more than nine months away. “Before I even became the head coach, as soon as the season was over, I gave the kids two weeks to rest, and we went right to the weight room, and that’s when we started the offseason,” said Blainefield, who was hired in January. “We had a huge response from the underclassmen, which was huge because they were the most optimistic. … That made it easy for me.” Not only was it necessary to get the players in the weight room for team-building and conditioning, but it helped the players get on the same page with Blainefield and get a head start on the new playbook. Gone are the days of 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Blainefield plans to tap into the Monessen’s greatest resource — speed. “We thrive on athleticism and being able toexpose that and being able to put points on the board,” Blainefield said. The Greyhounds averaged 16.3 points last season, good enough for fourth in the WPIAL Class A Tri-County South, but it didn’t produce enough wins. Four-sport standout Cory Fleming will lead the new spread offense. “Ideally, I would love to just be able to run the ball, like we did in years past, but we don’t have the personnel for that, and we have to be realistic about it,” Blainefield said. “I think with us having a surplus of athletic guys, we want to try and spread the ball around a little bit.” Junior Vaughn Taylor will get the bulk of the carries at running back. The 6-foot, 180-pound Taylor finished last season with 282 yards on 67 carries, good for second on the team behind Jaron Youngblood, who graduated. “(Taylor) will be a star both offensively and defensively, and we’ll try to get the ball into his hands as much as possible,” Blainefield said. There will be plenty of fresh faces at wide receiver, including junior Darnel Howell and senior Nate Simms, whowill play an “essential” role in the new offense, the coach said. Ondefense, the Greyhounds will transition froma3-4 toa4-4, meaning more man-to-man coverage in the secondary, again to utilize the team speed. Ultimately, Blainefield hopes to keep his offense on the field and force turnovers on defense. The Greyhounds gave up an average of 29.2 points last season, which again, was fourth in the conference. “Our advantage is speed, and we want to put ourselves in position to out maneuver our opponents as opposed to out powering them; we don’t have that luxury,” Blainefield said. “I have confidence in our matchups and a ton of confidence in our athletic kids that we have here.” WilliamWhalen is a freelancewriter. by WILLIAM WHALEN Nate Simms Name Pos. Cl. Isaiah Allums WR/DL Sr. Isaiah Beltram WR/DB Fr. Jay Bonacci OL/DL Jr. Jalen Brice OL/DL Fr. Dontae Cook OL/DL Sr. Elijah Davis RB/LB Fr. Luke Farmer OL/DL Sr. Cory Fleming QB/K Sr. Taki Frezzell OL/DL Fr. Gage Hayden WR/DB So. Lyndon Henderson WR/DB Jr. Steven Holmes RB/DB Fr. Darnel Howell WR/DB Jr. Dwayne Howell QB/DB So. Dishon Howell WR/DL Jr. Thaddeus King WR/DB Jr. Jamec Kizzie OL/DL So. Shania Lakin WR/DB So. Demari Lawson OL/DL Fr. Austin McWilliams RB/LB So. Mark Mizerak OL/DL Fr. Antonio Rhome OL/DL Sr. Nate Simms WR/DB Sr. Marquell Smith WR/DB So. Darius Stevenson RB/LB So. Vaughn Taylor RB/LB Jr. Dominick Tineri RB/LB So. Justin Towler RB/DB Jr. ROSTER WITH YOUR WINNING C HARPER TEAM! CHarper.com • 724.929.8000 adno=6499139
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