New coaches, schedule snafus: What we learned from YAIAA football media day

The York Daily Record and GameTimePA hosted YAIAA football media day on Tuesday, which presented the opportunity for reporters to become reacquainted with coaches and players.

However, it also provided a chance to acknowledge the fun, less noticeable quantifiable properties that make up players, coaches and their teams.

Here's what we learned from Tuesday's event, which marks the unofficial start of the high school football season.

New coaches, new faces

Bret Hertzog has been learning on the job what the step to head coaching entails. Most of it comes down to the additional responsibility.

But the first-year Hanover coach also sees in it the opportunity to build the Nighthawks up from their 4-6 season last year. Four returning offensive linemen and seniors filling into skill positions set his offense up well. A bevy of returning starters on defense doesn’t hurt either. With that talent on hand, Hertzog figures the only logical path is to build from those strengths as a unit.

“We're looking to build a team atmosphere,” Hertzog said. “Prior we might have been more of a individual atmosphere relying on individual performance. Now we're looking on team performance, and we're looking to build players of high character."

Hertzog is one of three head coaches stepping into their first years with their respective programs. All three will take control of Division III programs. Steve Duvall enters as the new head of York County Tech, and Gabe Jackson takes the reins at Fairfield.

Duvall's goal for the Spartans starts at the root. He knows many of his players already after serving as offensive coordinator the season prior, and he already has an idea of where their talent lies.

The big focus for him this year? Culture.

"We came up with some non negotiables, and one is commitment," Duvall said. "We really want to turn things around. We want to change the culture, and that's just getting back to fundamental football, physicality, attitude, effort and holding each other accountable for showing up and playing as hard as we can."

Jackson might be new to Fairfield, but he’s not new to the YAIAA.

The Knights’ third coach in as many seasons was part of a dynamic backfield that led Dover to the 2013 Division II title. He battled injuries as he moved through several Div. III college teams before starting his coaching career as a student assistant.

Before getting the Fairfield position Jackson was the running backs and junior high coach at Octorara in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. He hopes to use the determination that made him a college running back at 5-10 to turn around the program at the league’s smallest school.

“I saw myself as an underdog who could show up big in the big moments,” Jackson said. “I think Fairfield has the opportunity to that. I love their scrappy attitude.”

The Knights, who have just over 100 male students in grades nine through 12, won one game last year.

The calm and the storm

The most important part of football itself, aside from the games and practices, is the preparation that goes into the hours before teams take the field.

York Suburban's Elisha Dennis, for example, likes to get his adrenaline running. It's a way to psyche himself up before he takes the field. Though Dennis doesn't like to take it out on physical opponents until he needs to, however.

"I'd end up punching my locker just to get my adrenaline up," Dennis said. "It would just get me hyped up."

Some players, on the other hand, take a more zen approach to their pregame warmups. Hanover quarterback Gavin Trish undergoes breathing exercises to keep himself centered. The senior figures if his team is going to hype him up regardless, he might as well try and keep a clear head while he's under center.

"A lot of kids last year, they were dancing around me, but to me I was more chill just getting my mindset right," Trish said. "When I'm just chilling, if I focus on my breathing it helps me. That was my biggest thing last year, I always sat on the bench and with everyone around it made me look like I was sad or something. But I was just sitting on the bench, everyone's hyped, and I'm just sitting there trying to focus up and just get ready to play."

Keeping it in the family

Replacing a quarterback, wide receiver and running back who had “superstar-type” seasons is never easy.

Corey Bittle is making some of that transition in his second year at Littlestown by turning to his son, senior Brody Bittle. Brody is moving into the quarterback position filled the last several seasons by Alex Popoff.

Both say the father/son coaching relationship is easy to navigate.

“He coaches me on and off the field,” Brody said. “He’s been coaching me since I was a little kid. Sometimes he’s harder on me, but it makes sense.”

Corey said the bonus of coaching his son is the immediate feedback he gets on changes.

“He’s been a big help to me,” Corey said. “Over the last two years we’ve been changing our terminology. I run it past Brody, and if he understands it, if it makes sense, I get that feedback right away.”

Canners, Irish to meet twice this season

Both Biglerville and York Catholic lost games to Mid-Penn opponents after the league went through a divisional restructuring. The Canners were set to face James Buchanan in Week 2 but that became a conference week for the Rockets, who moved to the Capital Division after the Mid-Penn eliminated the Liberty Division .

Both teams were scrambling to find replacements.

"The options were, go to Brooklyn and play some team in New York," Canners coach Brett Smyers said. ... play Troy, from up around Williamsport, who was a district finalist last year, or play Jersey Shore. ... We just wanted to get a competitive game somewhere in the area, and that's what we were able to find (with York Catholic).

The teams meet on Aug. 30 and Oct. 4. The second game will count toward the YAIAA Division III standings.

Fewer officiating crews equal Saturday season openers

York County only has 10 officiating crews, so it is common for games to be moved off of Friday nights in the opening weeks of the season when there are more games than crews.

That's what happened to Red Lion and West York in their home openers. While most of the YAIAA opens on Friday, Aug. 23, the Bulldogs and Lions will wait until Saturday, Aug. 24 to play their L-L opponents. West York hosts Elco at noon and Red Lion hosts Ephrata at 1 p.m.

Bulldogs coach Ron Miller said it's a bit old school, going back to the days when most York-Adams games were played on Saturday afternoons because fields didn't have lights.

The intangibles: Best hair? Shoes? Tallest?

South Western's Austin Rollman leads our list for best hair with his surfer-esque brown locks. The running back previously wore his hair short but missed a haircut and let it grow. His secret to maintaining his wavy look? No product.

Tallest player at media day? That goes to 6-foot-7 Sean Tanner of Red Lion, who towered over the rest of Division I.

And once again, the coaches took the honors for best shoes. A trio from Division II sported some snappy kicks: Susquehannock's Joe Sorice with his bright-red sneakers, Kennard-Dale's Christopher Grube and his size 15 1/2 shoes and York Suburban's Josh Fry, who wore what Grube teasingly called "his custom-made Hey Dudes."

Sports Editor Lyzz Stallings contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: New coaches, schedule snafus: What we learned from YAIAA football media day