Gaige Guers is one of the senior leaders for Blue Mountain this season.

Blue Mountain

Head coach: Tom Gallagher

2023: 8-3

Blue Mountain looks to build on last season’s success

Blue Mountain had a breakout campaign in 2023, storming to an 8-2 mark in the regular season and a berth in the District 11 Class 4A semifinals. The Eagles hope for similar results in Tom Gallagher’s fourth year at the helm this fall.

To equal or better last year’s mark, the Eagles will have to replace a bevy of players responsible for that success. Quarterback Tyler Miller, leading rusher Payton Fasnacht, defensive leaders Vern Kleckner, Will Jacobson and Austyn Fields, tight end Carson Steinruck and linemen Trevor Manbeck, Logan Betz and James Bassininsky all graduated, leaving plenty of positions to fill by a strong and talented group of underclassmen.

Miller, a two-year starter at QB, threw for 1,001 yards and eight TDs while rushing for 898 yards and 13 scores. Fasnacht was seventh in the area in rushing yards with 1,159 yards, scoring 11 TDs. Kleckner compiled 100 tackles from his linebacker spot, while Jacobson was among the area leaders in interceptions with four.

Gallagher said the key battle in preseason camp will come at quarterback, where juniors Brady Strause and Max Heim will vie for the starting position. Neither player took a varsity snap last season.

Among the key returnees for the Eagles are wide receiver/defensive back Gaige Guers, two-way lineman Nick Beckfield and running back/linebacker Lukas Kauffman. Senior running back/linebacker Tyler Stahley, senior tight end/defensive lineman Brad Renninger and junior running back/linebacker Reese Miller were listed as breakout candidates.

Guers was the Eagles’ leading receiver a year ago with 35 receptions for 548 yards and two TDs. He also had four interceptions on defense.

Gallagher listed his team’s strengths as speed, strength, athleticism, age/experience and physicality. Those characteristics were on display in June when the Eagles repeated as overall champions of the Schuylkill United Way’s High School Football Challenge.

To be successful, Gallagher said, “We focus on what we can control and take care of each of our responsibilities. Don’t listen to the outside noise.”

Blue Mountain will compete in the big-school Red Division (Division I) of the Schuylkill/Colonial Football Cooperative along with Bangor, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, North Schuylkill, Northwestern Lehigh, Pottsville, Southern Lehigh and Tamaqua. The Eagles open their schedule at backyard rival Schuylkill Haven on Friday, Aug. 23, at 7:30 p.m.

For districts, Blue Mountain is in the 10-team Class 4A bracket, where eight teams qualify for the postseason. The Eagles have reached districts in six of the last seven years but have lost in the first round each year.

“It is a competitive schedule that forces our team to be focused each week,” Gallagher said of his team’s 2024 slate. “There are no ‘give me’ games. The schedule gets you ready for playoff football.”