Pennsville defense moving in right direction after offseason overhaul; Eagles show overall improvement in scrimmage with Buena
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – As a defensive coach at heart, it absolutely gored Pennsville head coach Mike Healy to see what was happening to the Eagles’ defense last year.
Since defense wins championships, Healy knew things had to change for his team to get back in a position to do just that.
He took things to the extreme, breaking down tackling technique to the most minute of details. He brought in new coaches to change the mindset and drill the concepts. Just as big a factor was the players, most of them freshmen and sophomore starters by the end of the season, got older.
“Last year we were not good on defense, or offense; it was just a frustrating year all around,” Healy said. “I knew for my own sanity in order to come back there had to be some changes in how we were going to do things. I brought guy in for the offense who does a great job and I had to rework things on defense to get us in a better position regularly.
“We changed up what we’ve done in practice, we’ve added some things. Schematically we changed some things we do to help us better and the way we practice it has helped us and made us much better. We’re still kind of toying with some things out there and seeing what works, what we like, but overall I’m very happy with the direction of our defense. We’re going in the right place.”
There was a marked difference in the Eagles’ scrimmage Monday with Buena. In three quarters of varsity action, Pennsville held the Chiefs to 164 net yards, out of the end zone in seven of eight possessions and made three fourth-down stops, including sophomore Hunter Hiles’ second interception in as many scrimmages.
The only thing that spoiled their day was a 60-yard burst in the second half shortly after the teams returned to the field from a simulated halftime.
Buena ended the Eagles’ season in last year’s regional invitational tournament, 28-14.
The offense, meanwhile, opened the game with a 80-yard touchdown drive, scored twice and moved the ball enough for more but stalled under the weight of some self-inflicted wounds. Sky Eppes rushed for 163 yards and scored both touchdowns, but lost the handle at the end of a 28-yar run that cost him another score. Quarterback Robbie McDade was 9-of-13 passing for 128 yards, but was intercepted on a pass over the middle that killed another drive.
“Overall we did better than we did in the first scrimmage (against Bishop Eustace and Pemberton); we had a lot of improvement on places,” Healy said. “We did good today the first two quarters and once we got to the third quarter we struggled. We’ve just got to understand we’re going to be playing four full quarters and we’ve got to be ready to go mentally.”
The Eagles were 1-8 last year, their worst year since 2004. They won their season opener by outscoring Lindenwold 34-26, but in the weeks that followed the offense had a hard time scoring and the defense continued giving up points.
“Last year, egos were a big thing,” 6-6 senior defensive end Daniel Saulin said. “The first game was fine, everyone was on the same page, then egos started getting in the way, stuff outside the team started getting in the way. This year we’re changing that. We’re all in the same spot. We’re all starting at the beginning. We’re all trying to work towards a goal and that’s going to the playoffs and win state. We want that state title.”
It didn’t take long for Hiles to notice the change.
“It’s gotten way better,” he said. “In the beginning of the season we were still trying to figure out alignment and assignments and this year when camp started we knew what we were doing for the most part. Over the practices we’ve gotten way better.
“Last year, we did a lot of it to ourselves. This year we’ve got that all figured out it seems like. It seems like everybody’s having more fun.”
The Eagles scrimmage again in three days against Group II Haddon Heights. It’s a game-like 6 p.m. Thursday scrimmage to keep the Eagles on track for their season opener the following Thursday.
“I’m excited because it’s another step up for us in competition,” Healy said. “We know if we can compete with them and play well then we’re going in the right direction for the season.”
Photo: Pennsville’s Perry Meranti (30) stops a Buena ballcarrier in his tracks during Monday’s scrimmage.
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