Moniteau adds coaches in hopes of positive results
CHERRY TWP — Late last season, Moniteau coach Bob Rottman called on the expertise of former Karns City and A-C Valley coach Ed Conto to help with a short-handed staff.
“He was telling me a lot of the times that his time at Karns City, they had enough coaches for a coach to be watching every kid on the field,” Rottman said. “I thought to myself, ‘Man, that’s never going to happen here.’
“But, here we are, a year later.”
Cecil Blauser, the Warriors’ head coach in 2013, returns after assisting with Slippery Rock High since. He’ll run the offense and coach the offensive line, which features just one returning starter, senior Jayden Keene.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge on the offensive side of the ball,” Rottman said of Blauser. “He’s been in multiple systems under the head coaches that he’s coached for — and when he was a head coach at Moniteau.”
Dylan Neal is a first-year defensive coordinator who brings energy to the mundane and will benefit from working with Mike Kelly, who was in charge of the unit a year ago. Bruce Pellitier will direct the defensive line.
Jarrod Sankey, Matt Campbell, and Travis Beachem each moved up from coaching the junior high level. Kevin Krause will oversee special teams. Glenn Hazlet, a 79-year-old Moniteau graduate, is volunteering, as well.
The numbers are a stark contrast to the three consistent coaches for the group last year.
“It’s nice to actually get one-on-ones with the coaches, instead of one coach going over (things) with seven different kids at once,” Keene said.
Limited numbers are nothing new on Moniteau’s hillside gridiron. Varsity time isn’t an unfamiliarity for the underclassmen that have grown mature for the Warriors, either.
“They believe they can be a playoff team — and I believe that, too,” Rottman said. “I believe that every year coming into the season. We’ve only got 30 kids, but I think we’ve got a good, quality group of kids in that 30 that lend us some depth, too.”
The team has six seniors — Logan Campbell, Brock Beachem, Peyton Kohlmeyer, Mathew Baptiste, Jayden Keene, Adam Grossman.
“It’s still a smaller senior class, but they’re a good group of kids that have worked hard over the years, so I think that is translating down,” Rottman said. “Last year’s seniors, they worked hard. I think that’s what got this group of seniors going, who are going to get the younger kids — who do have more numbers — going.”
Junior Trent Beachem started behind center in each of the last three contests in 2022 before breaking his femur in the finale. Sophomore Brendin Sankey will push Beachem for the job. Both are coached by Clay Kohlmeyer and the runner-up in that competition will play wideout with juniors Isaiah Thompson and Ashton Grossman.
Along with Campbell — who rumbled for 281 yards and five scores in 2022 — sophomore Kole Scott will tote the football.
Fellow junior Finley Thurner was penciled in as a first-string guard as a newcomer to the sport a season ago. He worked in the trenches for all of one half of action before tearing his ACL.
Scott and Campbell will also play at the middle linebacker spots.
“Our outside linebackers, our defensive line, we’re going to rotate them,” Rottman said. “We’re going to keep them fresh. We’re going to be big, we’re going to be quick up front. ... Everybody that played last year in the secondary is back.
“It should be better than last year on defense, even with the losses of those kids. As long as they play as a group, do their job, I expect improvement.”
“The kids have showed up all summer,” Rottman said. “We’ve had good numbers all summer. They’re excited about the potential this team has. We’re young, so it’s gonna be (about) how quick can those young guys get up to speed? And then get them used to varsity football.”
Traversing through a rough go of it last fall, Moniteau dealt with injuries — some of which kept guys off the field for a few weeks at a time.
“A lot of those younger kids as freshmen and sophomore got a ton of playing time,” Rottman said. “Coming into this year, you could almost consider them two-year starters. ... It just depends on how much they’ve progressed from last year to this year.
“A lot of capability, a lot of potential going forward. It’s just getting that out of them earlier than a lot of teams would have to.”
