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By TRACY WATSON
LISBON -- After a season off from coaching, Mike McKenzie has found his whistle again after taking over the reins at Beaver Local High School.
McKenzie, an assistant principal at Weir, was the offensive coordinator for the Red Riders from 2013-15 after a seven-year stint at Edison High School.
"Last year was actually the first year that I didn't either play or coach football since I was in the fifth grade," McKenzie said. "But I took a year off and did a lot of stuff with my two sons.
"I really missed two-a-days and being on the football field. And I am very fortunate to have a great family that is willing to put up with me doing this again. I made sure to get all of their blessing first.
"My son really missed being on the field and in the locker room as well, so I know he is excited about this new challenge. The biggest thing for me is the time management challenge. I would never do this if I couldn't be certain that neither Weir High or Beaver Local would be cheated in any way."
McKenzie takes over a Beavers squad that finished 3-7 a season ago, but has plenty of returning starters and lettermen and will be back to playing a mostly OVAC schedule.
Senior Luke Call (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) was slated to be the starting quarterback last season, however, ended up sidelined after tearing his ACL on the first day of contact in 2016. The other three quarterbacks on the roster are sophomore Ethan Lewis (5-10, 165) and freshmen Hunter Brooks (5-9, 150) and Tanner Johnston (5-10, 160).
Senior Michael Clendenning (6-2, 215) returns at tailback with junior Garret Givens (6-1, 230) the fullback. Sophomore Jacob Kane (5-6, 160) could also see plenty of action. The remainder of the running back stable includes senior Damien Emmert, juniors Beau Smith (5-8, 170), Jared Wright (5-7, 165), sophomore Skyley Lasure (5-7, 160) and freshmen Tommy Warrick (6-0, 180) and Devon Salsberry (5-7, 140).
A strong group of receivers will be led by seniors Chris Yanni (5-8, 155), Isaac Ream (5-10, 175) and Torey Calio (5-9, 190). Others are senior Tim Wirth (6-2, 170), juniors Donovan Garcia (5-10, 170), Nate Rawson (5-11, 140), Matt DeBacco (5-9, 150), Hunter Saltsman (6-1, 165) and Clayton Gourley (5-9, 150) and sophomore Gavin Long (5-11, 155). Freshmen are Logan Krulik (6-0, 160), Trey Pancake (5-9, 145) and John Woodburn (5-6, 115).
Senior Noah West (6-2, 215) returns at tight end along with juniors Christian Lerussi (5-9, 170) and Zach Smith (6-3, 200) as well as freshman Payne Allen (6-1, 185).
There are plenty of battles going on with the offensive front. Returning starters include senior tackles Chad Mays (6-1, 220) and Zach Thomas (6-5, 285) along with classmates Parker Summers (6-2, 245) and Andrew Gibson (6-2, 305) at guard. Senior Jacob Morgan (6-4, 240) and sophomore Nick Wookatich (5-11, 220) are battling at center while juniors Eddie Pennicuff (6-4, 270), Alec Post (5-10, 260) and Jackson Lewis (6-3, 250) will all see playing time on the line.
Other linemen are senior Westley Simon (6-0, 220), juniors Kobi Ream (5-8, 180), Andrew Solansky (5-10, 200) and Michael Young (5-11, 230). Sophomores and freshmen are Ray Baker (6-1, 210), Austin Nolder (5-9, 155), Dylan Czech (5-9, 190), Dakota Warrick (6-1, 195), Mitchell Grady (5-9, 300), Damien Jones (6-1, 190) and Alex Solansky.
"Our offensive scheme is going to be a drastic difference, going from the Wing-T to the power-spread," McKenzie said. "And right now we are still a step slow getting used to it. The kids are working very hard and buying into everything.
"The top three running backs are returning with Torey Calio moving to wide receiver, but still getting some carries. Michael Clendenning is a powerful inside runner also.
"Luke Call has a strong enough arm and teams are going to have to respect that, even though these kids are not used to throwing the ball the at much. It is a process, but the kids continue to work and are getting better every day."
Mays and West lead the defensive end group with Wookatich and Smith both seeing action. Wirth and Solansky are also available. Tackles find Thomas and Gibson back with Post and Lewis both rotating in
Others are Baker, Morgan, Czech, Pennicuff, Grady, Young, Simon, Jones and Summers.
Emmert returns at outside linebacker with Clendenning and Givens back on the inside. Isaac Ream, Lasure and Saltsman will all see playing time on the outside with Wright a top back-up on the inside. The remainder of the linebacking corps include Smith, Lerussi, Warrick, Krulik and Salsberry.
Garcia is back at one corner with Yanni on the other side while Calio moves from outside linebacker to safety. Rawson and Call are the main reserves at corner with Kane at safety.
The remainder of the defensive backfield includes DeBacco, Lewis, Johnston, Brooks, Pancake, Long and Woodburn.
Senior Drew Theiss (5-10, 150), a soccer player, is back to handle kickoffs and placements with Garcia pushing him for the punters job.
"I have been impressed with how the defense is swarming to the football early on," McKenzie added. "They are really clicking pretty good."
Beaver Local opens the campaign welcoming Wellsville before traveling to West Branch in week two. The remainder of the schedule is filled with fellow OVAC schools.
"Beaver played a lot of OVAC teams back in the early 2000s, but got into a conference with mostly Youngstown teams," McKenzie said. "But the last couple of years there have been more and more OVAC schools back, and we have nine this year."