Week 2 Panther Pregame Football Focus: Saucon v. Pen Argyl

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The Panthers will take the field on Friday night against the Pen Argyl Green Knights

Are you ready for some more football, Saucon Valley? The Panthers will play at home again on Friday night against the Pen Argyl Green Knights. Saucon Valley soundly defeated Pen Argyl last season 41-3. Last week, Saucon Valley got off to a rough start and fell hard against Southern Lehigh. Hopefully, this week, the Panthers (0-1) will get back on track against the Knights (0-1). The Green Knights lost to the Salisbury Falcons last week 25-16. This will be a bruising battle between two programs looking to get a tally in the win column. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Things Worth Watching:

Saucon Valley Panthers

When the Panthers have the ball…..

Expect to see a blend of 4-3 and 4-2-5 defense from Pen Argyl. The Green Knights are no stranger to bringing pressure and will come at the Panthers up the middle and off the edges. They are not very big up front with three of their four starting defensive linemen averaging about 5’10, 190. However, Woodrow Kinlew who is listed at 5’9″,270 will skew those numbers a bit. Kinlew, a junior, represents a defensive squad that starts eight seniors and three juniors.

Offensively, the Panthers will lean on the running of senior Ramel ‘Rah-Rah‘ Moore (#2) and sophomore Damian Garcia (#30). Moore is a 6’0″, 205 no- nonsense downhill, power runner while Garcia is more of a speedster at 5’10, 165. Garcia flashed his speed last week with an 82-yard sprint for a touchdown. When Saucon Valley operates from their traditional “I” formation either Chris Mann (#28) or freshman Ty Pfizenmayer (#34) will lead the charge from their fullback positions.

Also blocking for the Panther runners will be a rather stout offensive line led by seniors Nick Warnke (#66) and Bobby Yovish (#67). Warnke is off to a great start this season while Yovish gets the nod again this week in place of injured senior Evan Deily (#65). Deily, who was a two-way starter on laster year’s 10-3 team, missed all of last week’s game and isn’t quite ready yet to jump back into the fray. Joining the seniors up-front this week will be juniors David Osman (#60) and Eli Deily (#76) along with sophomore Cody Swinney (#56) who will center the line. Being a three-year starter, Osman has played an awful lot of football for the Panthers. Eli Deily and Swinney will both make their second career start.

The 2019 Hogs: Week 2

Left Tackle: #77 Sr. Nick Warnke 6’3″, 235
Left Guard: #60 Jr. David Osman 6’0″, 245
Center: #56 So. Cody Swinney 5’11”, 250
Right Guard: #67 Sr. Bobby Yovish 6’0″, 190
Right Tackle: #76 Jr. Eli Deily 6’2″, 305

Sophomore Dante Mahaffey (#12) will, once again, call out the signals for Saucon Valley. Mahaffey is a dual-threat quarterback and has passed for over 900 yards last season while rushing for 400 more. Mahaffey struggled a little bit to put up good numbers last week against Southern Lehigh completing 5 of 10 passes for 72-yards. To his credit, however, Mahaffey did not throw any interceptions as he spent most of the game running for his life. Mahaffey was sacked five times. The Panthers will obviously have to be better with their pass protection this week. Good things usually happen with the ball in Mahaffey’s hands.

Saucon Valley certainly didn’t play their best game last week against Southern Lehigh, but it wasn’t all bad. Mahaffey did connect with freshman wideout, Alex Magnotta (#8) three times for thirty yards and a touchdown. Magnotta is a quarterback-friendly target standing 6’0″ with long arms and sure hands.

Magnotta may have to step-up again this week due to the suspensions of senior receivers Chris Orlemann (#3) and sophomore Ty Csencsits (#11). Both are penciled in as starting wideouts and both were tossed from last week’s game for an altercation that broke out with the Southern Lehigh Spartans. Three Southern Lehigh players were also ejected from the game and all five student-athletes, by rule, will need to sit out this week’s contest as well.

Senior tight end Aiden Renninger along with sophomores Anthony Orlemann (#9) and Eternal Aris (#18) will be counted on to pick up the receiving slack. Renninger and Aris are six-footers, while the younger Orlemann is only 5’6″. Orlemann, however, has made numerous acrobatic catches throughout the preseason.

2019 Panther Play-Makers

QB: #12 So. Dante Mahaffey
RB: #2 Sr. Ramel Moore, #30 So. Damian Garcia
FB: #28 Jr. Chris Mann, #34 Fr. Tyler Pfizenmayer
WR: #8 Fr. Alex Magnotta, #9 So. Anthony Orlemann, #18 So. Eternal ‘E.T.’ Aris
TE: #5 Sr. Aiden Renninger

The Pen Argyl defense plays hard with a notable blue-collar effort. The Green Knights did surrender a couple of big plays last week to the Falcons including a fumble returned for a touchdown. Saucon Valley will be looking to get their offense on track. The Panthers were inconsistent and fumbled five times last week. Look for the Panthers to try and take good care of the football and mix a little pass in with the run to try and keep the Green Knights defense on their heels.

When the Green Knights have the ball…..

Pen Argyl Green Knights

The Pen Argyl offense has little variety to it and this year they seem most comfortable with the smash-mouth approach. The Green Knights run the old “single wing” offense with an unbalanced line and two tight ends. A couple of times against Salisbury last week the Knights utilized wide receiver sets, but it is mostly going to be three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust time. Expect to see the Knights pound the ball with a steady diet of power running off tackle, toss-sweeps and wing-back counters. Against Salisbury a week ago the Green Knight offense started eight seniors, two juniors and a sophomore.

Pen Argyl’s rushing attack features Gavin Amerman (#32), Conor Fehr (#7) and Antonio Reto (#35) . Amerman is a junior who is listed at 5’10”, 200. Fehr and Reto are seniors. Fehr goes 6’1″, 170 while Reto stands a solid 5’8″, 150. Reto ran for almost 400 yards last season. Against Salisbury last week, forty-four carries were divided among the three Green Knights who, as a trio, gained 198 yards.

The Green Knights Up-Front

Tight End #80 Jr. Reese Karp 5’11” , 185
Guard #58 So. Dakota Graham 5’8″, 205
Center #77 Jr. Tyler Taylor 5’7″, 190
Guard #55 Sr. Jacob Kunsman 5’10”, 205
Tackle #56 Sr. Derek Herfurth 6’0″, 245
Tackle #78 Jr. Sean Rumsey 6’0″, 290
Tight End #81 Sr. Morgan Layton 6’1″ , 195

It looks like Pen Argyl attempted to throw the football only three times last week. Every pass attempt, however, ended up with broken protection and a quarterback scramble. It appears as if Pen Argyl’s offensive identity is run, run and run some more. For those of you who like three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust type football, this will be a very enjoyable evening.

This game will be no easy task for the Panthers. Pen Argyl has a football program that has a rich history. Pen Argyl has won multiple championships over the years and are looking to restore their proud tradition. The Green Knights will, no doubt, roll into Hellertown hell bent on getting back to their winning ways. Pen Argyl will believe they can win and will feel as though the Panthers are ripe to defeat. The young Panthers had better bring their “A” game to defend their turf, or 0-2 will likely come true.