Back With A Vengeance
ADAMS TWP — Garrett Reinke admits that his junior season on the gridiron was disappointing.
Battling ankle injuries during the entire 2017 campaign, Reinke was held to 533 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. Both numbers led the team, but Reinke wanted more.
He wanted to get back to the form he flashed as a sophomore wingback in 2016 when he ran for 964 yards on just 131 carries.
“I didn't have the (junior) season that I or my coaches were expecting,” he said. “That made me super-eager this past off-season. I had a chip on my shoulder.”
Reinke came back with a vengeance this fall, chewing up 1,807 yards on the ground and scoring 22 total touchdowns to win the 2018 Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy with 132 points.
Freeport's Austin Romanchak finished second with 104 points and Knoch's Matt Goodlin was third with 90 points.
Reinke becomes the fifth Planet to win the trophy, following Paul Ferrese (2005), Bill Bair (2006-07), Josh Schultheis (2013) and Isaiah Johnson (2015-16).
Reinke topped 200 yards on the ground four times this season, including a season-high 229 yards in a win over Hampton Oct. 26. He scored four touchdowns in a game twice — in victories over Fox Chapel and Kiski Area. But the tone for his senior season was set in the heat of the summer.
“In our scrimmage against Knoch and then the season-opener against West Mifflin (166 yards), I felt like I was back to my normal self,” he said. “That's when I knew I could have a good season.”
Mars running backs coach Scott Pfeiffer admired not only the numbers Reinke put up, but the attitude with which he achieved them. His performance helped Mars to a 9-2 record.
“Everything Garrett does is at full-speed, whether it's working out, in practice or during games,” he said. “He never takes a play off. Honestly, it's things like that that make me want to coach. I couldn't be more proud of him.”
Reinke is the latest on a long list of Mars fullbacks to reach 1,000 yards in a season. His 1,800-plus total is the sixth-highest effort in a single season since Scott Heinauer took over as head coach in 1992.
“Our offensive line did really well at opening up holes and the wingbacks threw a lot of key lead blocks,” he said. “When you can count on those blocks, it just comes down to making a cut.
“I would say that's my biggest asset, lateral quickness. I would make a head fake or a jump cut. My goal was to make one guy miss and that would open things up for a big run.”
Reinke also contributed on defense. He began the season as a cornerback, but was switched to defensive end where he played well and tallied two sacks despite being undersized at 5-foot-8, 160 pounds.
This after not playing on defense last year.
Needless to say, Reinke came away from the season feeling he had redeemed himself.
“I was really happy with the way things turned out,” he said.
Year Winner (School) Points1990 Brian Kurn (Freeport) 1041991 Ron DeJidas (Freeport) 1141992 Ron DeJidas (Freeport) 1581993 Rick Belles (Karns City) 801994 Cory Hooks (Union) 1181995 Jeremy Scherer (Karns City) 841996 Jason Hackwelder (A-C Valley) 1321997 Steve Spiker (A-C Valley) 1241998 Mike Leach (A-C Valley) 1461999 Mike Leach (A-C Valley) 1982000 Josh Kniess (Slippery Rock) 1922001 Billy Graham (Karns City) 1862002 Matt Carnahan (Karns City) 1522003 Josh Fiscus (Karns City) andTravis Sarver (Slippery Rock) 1162004 Josh Fiscus (Karns City) 942005 Paul Ferrese (Mars) 962006 Bill Bair (Mars) 1502007 Bill Bair (Mars) 2042008 Jono Powell (Slippery Rock) 1022009 James Shope (Moniteau) 1362010 Wes Phipps (Grove City) 1142011 Wes Phipps (Grove City) 1442012 Forrest Barnes (Seneca Valley) 1522013 Josh Schultheis (Mars) 1322014 Jerome Turner (North Catholic) 1402015 Isaiah Johnson (Mars) 1082016 Isaiah Johnson (Mars) and Kaiden Powers (Karns City) 1322017 Dalton Beham (Karns City) 1202018 Garrett Reinke (Mars) 132
