ROCHESTER — For 39 seasons, Rochester head coach Gene Matsook has roamed the Rams sideline as a coach with the program. This season, it will be his 25th head coach as Rochester looks to remain consistent in 2024.
Even though the Rams' program has found its fair share of success over the Gene Matsook era, Rochester has been plagued with injuries over the past several seasons, which has not allowed the team to reach its full potential. Last season, the team lost running back Antonio Laure, who missed a large majority of the season due to an injury.
But through the trials and tribulations, the Rams have learned to deal with those issues and worked to find depth within its roster.
“It's frustrating, but you have to work through them,” Matsook said. “We have learned how to work through adversity and how to handle it, so you just have to keep going forward. At our level [Class A], we had six starters out in our quarterfinal game, and we still won a playoff game. You just have to have guys that can stay healthy through the year and work through the adversity when it arises.”
The Rams lost several key pieces on the offensive side of the ball heading into the season, including quarterback Jayden Norman and running back Dominic Guido.
More: Beaver County Times' 2024 High School football preview
Though Rochester lost a valuable piece in Norman, Matsook found the player to take over for him: junior quarterback Patrick Bable.
Having Patrick for the next two seasons under center will help the quarterback develop over time, and Matsook is looking forward to seeing his growth as the year progresses.
“Patrick played receiver for us last season, and he is a good athlete,” Matsook said. “He was primed and ready for the quarterback position, and he can do a lot of things under center for us. It is nice because you don’t have to develop him as much because he is such a good athlete, and to be a junior it is so much nicer because it is tough to develop a one-year starter, so it helps with his growth.”
Head coach: Gene Matsook (25th season 215-73)
2023 record: (6-5, 3-3 Big Seven)
Top players lost: Jayden Norman, Dom Guido
Top players returning: Antonio Laure, Patrick Bable, Nathan Bills, Logan Lyons
Offense: The offense brings back three key pieces from the offense unit in offensive lineman Logan Lyons, quarterback Patrick Bable and running back Antonio Laure. Laure, who was injured for most of the season last year, will be a key contributor to the offense this season and take some of the pressure off of Bable, who is playing in his first full season as the starting quarterback.
Defense: Defensively, the Rams will look to be versatile with a number of their players returning on that side of the ball who can play multiple positions. The defense was strong last season for Rochester, holding opponents under 20 points in eight of the team's 11 games.
More: Beaver County team-by-team football schedules for 2024 season
Classification: 1A
Last WPIAL playoff appearance: 2023
Last WPIAL title: 2004
WPIAL titles: 8
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Rochester looks to find success with several returning offensive starters in 2024
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