High School Football: Crimson Tide reflect on season, prep for offseason program

Pottsville football head coach Mike Brennan looks over his roster during a season-ending interview Tuesday. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

POTTSVILLE — Year 1 of the Mike Brennan Era at Pottsville got off to a late start.

Hired in March, the veteran coach and his players missed the valuable offseason months of December, January and February together. They tried to make up for lost time once Brennan arrived and the players bought into the system, but that lack of continuity and progress in the weight room showed up on some game nights.

That led to an uneven 6-6 season. The Crimson Tide had one of the toughest openers in the state against District 4 champion and still-unbeaten Shamokin. For most of the year, it seemed, Pottsville found itself trying to rebound from a loss. To their credit, the Tide did that time and again this fall, traversing a schedule featuring 10-of-12 teams that went to the playoffs.

The Tide experienced the highest of highs — defeating rival Blue Mountain, then knocking off Allentown Central Catholic in the District 11 Class 4A quarterfinals — both on the road.

The Tide experienced some of the lowest of lows, too — lopsided losses to Northwestern Lehigh and North Schuylkill, and heartbreaking, nail-biting defeats to Tamaqua and Southern Lehigh (twice).

“We had so many learning processes. … We had our training wheels on for probably two-thirds of the year,’’ Brennan said Tuesday during a season-ending interview. “You saw that. You saw some really good things. You saw some fairly bad things. As the year went on, we got better. Every time we suffered a setback, we responded to it.

“For Year 1, starting this thing in March to where we are right now, we certainly have grown,’’ he added. “We certainly have laid the foundation for future success.’’

While Pottsville made progress in many areas, certain must-haves couldn’t be accomplished.

“We didn’t have enough time to get physically strong enough or big enough,’’ Brennan said.

Brennan praised his 16 seniors for their leadership, for buying into the program and setting a new standard in many areas. Senior starters Tsirell Curry, Letrel Montone, Luke Schane, Jacob Filiac, Derek Watkins, Averey Maroukis, Brayden Evans and Tahlil Flucker-White and other key contributors like Evan Galavage, Gage Hammer, Landon Templeton and injured captain Ryan Galen will be difficult to replace. Curry was the Tide’s go-to player in the passing game, making 46 receptions for 848 yards and 6 TDs. Montone added 34 catches for 409 yards and 5 scores.

On the plus side, Pottsville returns a solid mix of backs and linemen with starting experience. The Tide will have seven starters on offense and four on defense back next fall.

In his first year as a starter, sophomore Andrew Allen developed into a productive quarterback, completing 135-of-228 passes (59.2%) for 1,838 yards with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. As a kicker, Allen made 12-of-13 extra points and 3-of-4 field goals. Freshman Owen Holley will be back to provide depth and perhaps push for playing time.

Junior running back JuJu Bainbridge emerged as one of the best backs in the area. Despite missing some time due to injury, Bainbridge carried 201 times for 1,123 yards and 16 TDs. His combination of vision, speed and power made life difficult for opposing defenses.

Junior receiver Christian Alvarez (23-324) and sophomore tight end Max Clews (15-118, 1 TD) are back, as are three junior linemen — center Brody Baddick and tackles Logan Kessler and Cole Cesari.

Defensively, sophomore free safety Shay Strencosky (5 interceptions), junior inside linebacker Brody Herndon, Cesari (nose guard) and Clews (outside linebacker) will anchor that side of the ball. Junior Brett Holley and sophomores Brody Eroh and Eli Accardi saw significant time on defense as well. Curry, Evans and Flucker-White will be among the biggest losses defensively.

“These young kids have competed against the very best teams we’re going to play on our schedule next year. That’s really going to help us grow exponentially. … The process has begun to have success here.’’

Another focus of the offseason is adding to the overall numbers in the program. Pottsville’s varsity roster ended with 56 players this season, but Brennan said the culture the Tide are building is making the program attractive to more students at all levels.

“Kids want to play,’’ Brennan said. “Seeing the stadium more filled, the energy we had, seeing how our kids played. We’re going to add to the program next year. We have a couple guys we know can help.’’

Now the hard work begins, in the cold of the coming winter, with no cheering fans, no Friday night lights.

The offseason program will begin next month.

Some of the highlights:

**December — Weightlifting two days a week, with non-winter sports kids, opening the room on weekends for others to get their workouts in.

**Jan. 1, 2025-February — Weightlifting three days a week for anybody not involved in a winter sport.

** March-April — Changeover from winter sports to spring sports, as some will have more time to devote to football, others less. In April, six classroom sessions on Sundays in the Little Theatre, where all of the teaching, terminology and schemes will be taught, followed by a walk-through in the boys’ gym with no pads.

**May-July — On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, four days a week of voluntary workouts. As soon as school ends, the speed program and the 7-on-7 passing camps ramp up, and weightlifting continues.

Late July-August — Heat acclimatization, preseason camp, the scrimmage and finally … Week 1.

“We were playing catch-up all year as far as our physical development. We’ve got to catch up in the weight room,’’ Brennan said. “We’ve got to catch up in our offseason program, so when we hit the ground running next summer, we’re a different-looking team. When we get on the field next August, everybody can tell that we’re going to look physically different.’’