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By MIKE MORRISON
NEW MATAMORAS -- With two-thirds of their roster made up of underclassmen, the Frontier Cougars will go to battle in 2017 with a young, yet battled tested squad.
With seven seniors and three juniors on their roster, Frontier returns 10 sophomores who all saw playing time last season as rookies.
Third-year head coach Johnny Schmidt hopes his team can find a balance in an attempt to improve upon last season's 1-9 record.
"These kids have done everything that we have asked of them and they have been coming to practice every day and getting after it," Schmidt said. "There is just something about this group of kids."
First and foremost for Schmidt and his staff will be deciding on a starting quarterback with senior Eric Tidd (5-foot-8, 160 pounds) and sophomore Lane Snyder (5-9, 175) vying for the job.
While Snyder may well be the better passer of the two, Tidd can throw the ball as well and may be the better runner.
"Eric has put in a lot of time this summer and was our quarterback in the 7-on-7 scrimmages and has had a really nice summer," Schmidt said of Tidd, who played running back last season. "Lane has a very strong arm. I expect great things out of both kids."
Joining either Snyder or Tidd in the Cougars backfield figures to be some combination of senior Reese Amos (5-8, 160), juniors Michael Rutter (5-8, 160) and Cody Pickens (5-9, 200), sophomores Kaylb McQueary (5-8, 150) and Logan Brookover (6-2, 190) as well as freshman Noah Barnhart (5-10, 180).
After using a running back by committee last season, Schmidt would like to see at least one out of the group to step up and take over the featured back role.
"We are going to have to figure out which one of these guys can carry the ball 20 times in a game for us," Schmidt said. "We have a lot of talented kids that can do a lot of things, we just need to find out who we can count on to gut it out."
Sophomore Maty Lang (5-9, 150) may well become the No. 1 target for whichever quarterback ends up behind center after a strong summer.
"The sky is the limit for this kid as he can really play the game," said Schmidt, who also looks for senior Tanner Weddle (6-1, 160) and sophomore Jansen Stewart (5-10, 160) to have strong campaigns.
Sophomore Briar West (5-9, 155) also will be counted on as a receiver in addition to continuing his punting and kicking duties after a strong freshman season.
Seniors Steven Ward (6-4, 200) and Shon Howell (6-6, 190) provide big targets at the tight end position as does sophomore Arron Leasure (6-1, 210).
Schmidt has been quite impressed with the potential his offensive line possesses and feels he will have numerous options to man the trenches when the season opens Friday.
Senior Michael Smith (5-9, 239) and sophomore Wade Smitley (6-5,310) will likely open at tackles with junior Ashton Rush (6-4, 240) and freshman Austin Brooker (5-9, 180) at the guard spots.
Sophomore Jake Seevers is penciled in to replace All-PVC center Wyatt Smitley, while senior Mathias Steele (6-2, 210) along with freshmen Andrew Shapley (5-11, 185) and Wyatt Oliver (5-11, 235) provide depth on the line.
Schmidt feels that the battles among his squad for playing time will translate to positive results on the gridiron.
"They are a bunch of hungry kids and they are all wanting to play," said Schmidt, whose defensive line will be made up of the same group. "Competition for jobs may well be our greatest asset this season."
Defensively, the Cougars need to show a lot of improvement over last season when they allowed their opponents to score an average of more than 40 points per game.
Jesse Barnhart takes over as defensive coordinator and Schmidt hopes a different defensive strategy will yield better results.
"He's a good football coach with a very sharp defensive mind and I think with the talent we have he will be able to help us a lot," Schmidt said.
West, Howell, McQueary, Lang and Brookover figure to be mainstays in the Cougar secondary while Tidd, Amos, Rutter, Seevers, Snyder, Leasure, Stewart, Barnhart and freshmen Tanner Smith (5-8, 180) will compete for the line backer positions.
Schmidt and his team will begin the 2017 campaign with the same goal they begin each season with and that is to advance to post season play.
"Coach Russ Morus set the standard high when he said you need to play in week eleven to have a successful athletic season," Schmidt said. "This is a great group of kids and there is just something about them…..they just get it."