BY JEFF FALK

SOUTH LEBANON – Today is Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday. Yesterday was Wednesday.

Local football teams have been preparing for the upcoming season for more than two weeks now. The start of the campaign is about seven days away.

So at what point does training camp end and individual game prepartion begin?

For the Cedar Crest footballers, Cedar Bowl Week is right around the corner.

As they continue to prepare for what they hope will be another successful year, the Falcons are currently honing their skills, paying attention to details, crossing their Ts and dotting their Is. Cedar Crest has prepared to the point where they’re just about ready to turn their full attentions to their rival.

“We worked all summer long,” said Falcon head coach Rob Wildasin. “We know who we are. Now it’s tackling and blocking, and who can break tackles. We’re about to go live. That’s what it’s really all about.

“When you walk off the field after Bishop McDevitt (Cedar Crest’s first and only scrimmage, on Saturday), it’s Lebanon Cedar week,” continued Wildasin. “We’re focusing on us until it hits us in the face. We’ll be ready. We’ll be ready as a staff. We’ll be ready as a team. We’ll be ready as a program.”

Cedar Crest will open its 54th year of football on Friday, April 24th with its 47th annual clash with rival Lebanon. The Falcons are coming off their best season yet under Wildasin, one in which they went 8-2 during the regular season and qualified for the District Three Class AAAAAA postseason.

Lebanon certainly matters, but the Falcons are seeking to use it as a springboard to season-long success.

“What I remember about last year was just the good group of kids we had,” said Wildasin, who’s in his fifith season as the head coach in South Lebanon. “We were balanced and we had the ability to make some plays. I don’t think there’s any carry-over from last year. We’ve been bad before and it didn’t seem to have an impact when we were good the following year.

“We’re in a good place,” added Wildasin. “Now that we only have one scrimmage, I think that first game will be sloppier than usual. We have to iron those things out now.”

Here’s the Falcons’ storyline for 2018: They have an esablished quarterback in four-year starter Logan Horn and emerging skill people. But just like the prospective for the season, they have the potential to be very good in the trenches – on both sides of the ball.

“Our goal is to get into the playoffs, and win a game,” said Wildasin. “I like setting realistic goals. It’s attainable, but it’ll be hard to achieve. It’s a challenge we want.

“We’ve got to beat the teams we’re supposed to beat,” Wildasin continued. “We’ve got to figure out how to win close games. We’re going to be in three or four close games this year. That’s where we hope our senior leadership will come in.”

The guys up front will be led by three-year starter Nate Shaeffer and anchored by fellow senior Nick Stout. The Falcons possess the ability to be both physical and athletic along each side of the line of scrimmage.

The Cedar Crest roster numbers 64 student-athletes and is made up of a near equal distribution of seniors, juniors and sophomores. The Falcons return five starters on offense and three on defense.

“That’s a little misleading,” said Wildasin, whose troops are back to competing in Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. “We’ve always had that number of returning starters. We’ll be alright. We’ve got guys who have taken snaps and gotten reps. They just have to take that next little step.

“The guys on our offensive line and defensive line, they’re physical,” Wildasin added. “They’re going to have to bring their ‘A’ game every night. If they do, we’ll have a chance every game.”

If the line can give Horn time and protection, he can make things happen. He is equally adept at running as passing, but his true strength may be in his quick decision-making.

Offensively, Cedar Crest is expected to build around Horn, Brody Dunlop, another versatile 12th-grader, and fleet senior Neisso Dorvil.

“He’s sharp,” said Wildasin of Horn. “He makes the right reads. He’s a gamer and a competitor. Every team on every level – from midgets to high school to college to the pros – needs a quarterback, and we’ve got ours. We expect him to lead our offense.

“I do have some concerns in the skill spots,” continued Wildasin. “But we’ve got some guys who are good football players. Brody Dunlop is a kid who’s never going to come off the field. We have guys who aren’t as experienced. They’re ‘The Guys’ now. They’ve got to step up.”

The improvements Cedar Crest has made under Wildasin have been incremental, measurable and systematic. It would seem winning a District Three Class AAAAAA playoff game would just be the next logical step.

“When I took over, I felt like there was a prevailing sentiment that you couldn’t win at Cedar Crest,” said Wildasin. “I took that personally. That was the reason I took the job. I think we’ve done that. We’ve made strides in our organization and the commitment from our players.

“Go Falcons!,” Wildasin added.

 

 

 

 

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Cedar Crest Football Roster

 

NO.	Name	GR.	Ht.	Wt.	Pos.(s)
1	Neisso Dorvil	12	5’3″	135	RB/CB
2	Tony Brewer	12	5’10”	150	WR/CB
3	Chris Rios	11	5’10”	173	WR/CB
4	Logan Horn	12	6′	185	QB/CB
5	Lawson Seyfert	11	6′	195	TE/LB
6	Trey Kalbach	12	5’10”	160	WR/FS
7	Kyle Poorman	12	6′	185	WR/CB
8	Jack Beasley	11	5’9″	145	K/P
9	Hayden Mease	10	5’11”	165	WR/DB
10	Gekye Hampton	12	6’2″	190	WR/CB
11	Zach Garrett	12	6′	190	QB/LB
12	Chris Danz	10	5’10”	150	QB/DB
13	Tyrese Stewart	10	6’1″	150	WR/DB
14	Dary Diaz	12	5’7″	140	WR/DB
16	Josh Donnachie	12	6’1″	175	K/P
17	Jake Arnold	10	5’5″	150	WR/DB
18	Ruddy Garcia	12	5’7″	165	RB/DB
20	Taylor Gehman	10	5’5″	130	RB/DB
21	Tyler Cruz	11	5’10”	195	RB/LB
22	Keon Grier	10	5’8″	160	WR/DB
23	Cole Miller	11	6’1″	175	WR/DB
24	Blake Hoke	11	5’10”	185	RB/LB
25	Chris Byler	11	5’10”	155	WR/DB
26	Aadyn Richards	9	5’9″	180	RB/LB
27	Brayden Koehler	9	5’9″	155	WR/DB
28	Essay Santos	12	5’9″	160	RB/LB
30	Dylan Stiver	10	5’10”	150	WR/LB
31	Jepel Gibbs Jr.	12	5’8″	140	RB/DB
32	Christian Morales	10	5’11”	165	WR/DB
33	Brody Dunlop	12	6’1″	190	WR/SS
35	Kasper Tanberg	11	5’9″	170	WR/LB
36	Eric Wawrzyniak	11	6’3″	215	TE/DE
39
40	Gage Ebersole	12	5’9″	190	RB/LB
41
42	Hunter Bojanic	11	5’10”	175	RB/LB
44
45	Robert Twardowski	11	5’9″	150	WR/DB
49
50	Travis Zang	12	6′	185	OL/LB
51	Andrew Foltz	11	5’9″	240	OL/DL
52	Ethan Beare	12	5’10”	220	OL/DL
53	Simon Gruber	10	5’7″	280	OL/DL
54
55	Owen Kreider	11	6′	245	OL/DL
56
57
58	Austin Bohr	12	5’10”	175	OL/LB
59	Gabe Ruiz-Roman	11	5’10”	190	OL/LB
60	Michael Boltz	12	6′	190	OL/DL
61	Ryan Howard	10	5’10”	220	OL/DL
62
63	Blake Sowers	10	5’10”	245	OL/DL
64	Cade Rambler	11	6’2″	235	OL/DL
65	Zak Claman	10	5’10”	250	OL/DL
66	Nate Shaeffer	12	5’11”	260	OL/DL
67	Derrick Via	12	5’7″	215	OL/LB
68	Cole Pennington	10	6′	230	OL/DL
69	Mike Stanilla	12	6’2″	315	OL/DL
70	Nick Stout	12	6’2″	260	OL/DL
71	Jaydon Showers	12	5’11”	230	OL/DL
72	Kyler Sloss	10	5’8″	240	OL/DL
73	TJ Moore	11	6’1″	225	OL/DL
74	Darren Garcia	11	5’10”	285	OL/DL
75	Billy Eddy	11	6′	235	OL/DL
76
77	Ian Bowser	10	6’2″	200	OL/DL
78
79	Owen Horst	10	5’11”	160	OL/LB
80
81	Max Scipioni	10	6’2″	210	WR/DE
82
83
84	Joe Castma	10	6′	195	TE/DE
85
86
87	Kyle Flowers	10	5’10”	180	TE/LB
88	Nick Achey	10	6’3″	195	TE/DE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Cedar Crest Football Schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017 Cedar Crest Football Outcomes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cedar Bowl History