Beavers face emotional opener Friday at Girard

Scottie Frisina, who passed for a District 10 record 5,078 yards, has moved on to West Virginia University.

That puts sophomore Matt Cragg in the quarterback spotlight, trying to fill some mighty big shoes.

CAHS kicks off the new season at Girard on Friday night.

The Yellowjackets went 5-5 last season, losing 24-14 to Corry (7-4).

It should be a very emotional game, the first for Girard after the sudden passing of acclaimed coach Mina George.

“Every season you have a group of guys who have their own identity,” said coach Homer DeLattre. “We are not the 2009 football team, we are not the 1982 team, we are not the 1996 team. We are the 2010 team and need to be able to create our own identity.

“We want to set the tone early in the football game, which in turn could set the one for the entire season,” he stated. “If we come away with a victory against a very good team, that sets the tone for the next game, and the next game. It’s so important to get a good start.

“Every football coach wants to win every game, but most important you want to win that first one,” DeLattre admitted. “It’s tough playing there. It’s going to be one of the most emotional nights of any sporting event for a community, ever. The atmosphere will be something that has never happened before.

“All week long we’ve talked about getting a good start, and we are confident that we can,” he said. “We need to play above their emotional level.”

Jim Funk is Girard’s coach. He has quarterback Justin Zadorozny back after throwing for 478 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Jordan Dudas gained 416 yards in 2009 and scored three TDs. Receiver Joe Sobucki caught 12 balls and tallied three total touchdowns.

Corry not only must replace Frisina, also graduated are standouts Craig Marti, Braidy Westfall, Mitchell Anderson and Brandon Miller.

Adam Zimmerman, Cory Owens and Justin Miller are back along with linemen Alec Gluvna, Dalton Swanson and Dustin Taubert.

“We’ll do what we have to win, we won’t be afraid to throw the football as many times as we run it, or vice versa,” said DeLattre. “If we need to throw 80 percent of the time we will, if we need to run it 80 percent of the time we will. I feel confident doing both, running any play in our playbook.”

The speedy Zimmerman, who banged up his leg on the first play from scrimmage against General McLane, was back practicing on Monday. “He’s getting better each day,” said DeLattre. “He’ll just start on offense this week and be available if needed on defense.

“We moved some guys around at linebacker, Curtis Burkhart will start for Zimm. Justin Miller is back from last year. The other backer will be a combination of Ethan Redrup and Tyler Engle.

“We are real confident with that group,” he claimed. “On the defensive line we have some great depth. Pat Brown is back in the secondary, Brent Kaufman is back after injuring his ankle in the summer. Drew Dunmire is back from an injury, so we are as healthy as we’ve been.”

Corry has a different schedule this season, including two Thursday games.

There’s also two long road trips to Slippery Rock and DuBois.

The first home game is Friday, Sept. 10 against returning region champ and District 10 Class AAA runner-up, Grove City.