This column was originally published in the Oct. 21 edition of The Mercury.

One can only wonder if Dave Bodolus, or any of his Daniel Boone players for that matter, may have circled Week Eight on this season’s football calendar.

Maybe just as a reminder of last year’s carnage – or harrowing 42-0 setback to Governor Mifflin – the Blazers’ lone setback of the regular season and one that led to an eventual three-way tie for the Berks Football League Section One title.

Or maybe just to motivate the gang a bit…

“Not really,” Bodolus said earlier this week. “There’s no need to beat a dead horse.”
In other words, the unbeaten Blazers (4-0, 7-0 overall) aren’t looking back, only ahead to tonight’s section showdown with the visiting Mustangs (4-0, 6-1 overall) in a game that – before it kicks off, at least – is so eerily similar to last year’s affair.

“I think some of the kids remember last year a little bit,” Bodolus said. “But I think they learned from it, too. Things just kind of snowballed on us. It got ugly. But that happens every now and then.”
Neither Bodolus nor the Blazers intend on it happening again. Not tonight.

Except for Week Two’s non-league overtime win down at Spring-Ford, Daniel Boone hasn’t really been challenged this season, averaging over 400 yards a game while permitting just over 160 and outscoring its seven opponents by an average spread of 30 points. They have offensive weapons throughout its lineup, all centered around quarterback Tom Bodolus – who leads the area in scoring (17 touchdowns) and rushing (991 yards) while throwing for another 988 yards and 13 touchdowns. Darrell Scott – who ran for 1,517 yards a year ago – has added 607 thus far, but has become equally as productive as a receiver with area-highs of 36 catches for 570 yards and seven touchdowns.

There are other contributors, of course, all of whom are guided by a workhorse offensive line.
The unsung front men are center Rhett Glazer, guards Sean Covatta and Dom Erjavec, tackles Jesse Jones and Zach Robinson, and rotating tight ends Rich Kelemen and Pat Stone.

That group will need to take a stand, or make a statement, because Governor Mifflin’s defense isn’t exactly all that generous. The Mustangs allow just under 217 yards and 14 points a game.
“To be a good football team you have to have a good defense,” Bodolus said. “And I think that’s a reflection of both these teams. Both of us have done well so far this season.”

The Blazers sure have that good defense. They’re situated among the area leaders and are near the top or on top in the BFL against both the run (89 yards) and pass (77), and in scoring defense (10.9 points). No one is playing better on that side of the line than nose guard Zach Robinson, who has already bettered last year’s sack total of seven with an area-high eight to go along with his 45 tackles.
Robinson has gotten a lot of help from those around and behind him, too. The rotating threesome at end features Covatta, Kelemen and Covatta, with Ryan Bologa (39 tackles) and Jesse Orr (35 tackles) the inside linebackers and Ky Gauger and Jesse Kline are the outside linebackers. The outstanding secondary includes Tracey Wright and Scott (three interceptions, two sacks) at the corners, and Bodolus (team-high 47 tackles) and J.D. Okuniewski (two picks) as the safeties.
That defense has yet to surrender a single point in the first quarter, and no more than a touchdown in the second quarter of a game this season.

The Blazers have taken care of the ball, too. Offensively, Bodolus has thrown just one interception, and there have only been five fumbles lost. The defense, meanwhile, has come up with 17 turnovers, leaving the Blazers a very impressive plus-11 in takeaways.

Defense will be needed to slow the Mustangs. Quarterback David Clemens is quite proficient at running (528 yards) and throwing (573) the football. Feature running back Jake Snyder is just one yard ahead of him carrying the ball.

“They’re definitely a run-oriented team,” coach Bodolus said. “They don’t do anything different than we’ve already seen. (Clemens) can throw, too, if he has to.”

The Mustangs are coming off a strange 42-14 rout of winless Twin Valley. Strange in the sense they fumbled the ball six times (losing two) and got hit with 90 yards of penalties. But another strong defensive showing, anchored by Christian Jeznach and Dan Schlegel, was more than enough to offset those shortcomings.

Tonight, though, there’s little margin for error.

“No question this is our toughest game yet,” Bodolus said. “(Governor Mifflin) is the best team we’ll have faced yet this season.”

And it won’t get any easier over the next two weeks either, with trips to contenders Conrad Weiser (4-0, 7-0) and Exeter (3-1, 6-1).

“Our last three games are going to have that playoff atmosphere,” Bodolus said. “Every week from here on in is going to be very tough.”

* * *

Tonight’s game will have a bearing on the District 3-AAAA power ratings as well. Daniel Boone is No. 1 in that category, just ahead of Cumberland Valley (6-1) and No. 3 Governor Mifflin. Bodolus: “Everyone enjoys (the playoffs), but we can’t think about that yet. We’re just concerned with one game at a time.” … Among common opponents this season, Governor Mifflin has rolled up a 173-41 advantage, slightly better than Daniel Boone’s 159-49 advantage. … Conrad Weiser is at Exeter in tonight’s other big BFL game.

* * *

Upper Perkiomen wideout Ron Gillespie and Pope John Paul’s Jacob Gribb are only the sixth and seventh Mercury area players to go over the 1,000-yard receiving mark. With a minimum of three games remaining, PJP teammate Jared Siejk (713) could become the eighth. … Gillespie (1,357 yards) is now fifth all-time, while Gribb (1,063) is seventh. Both, as well as Siejk, would need strong finishes to join a short list of Mercury area receivers with 100 or more career catches. … Daniel Boone’s Tom Bodolus is currently eighth on The Mercury’s all-time total offense (rushing-passing-receiving) chart with 5,288 yards. The next three ahead of him are all Daniel Boone graduates – Chris Bokosky (5,297), Nate Romig (5,534) and former teammate Jon Monteiro (5,443).

This column originally appeared in the Sept. 24, 2010 edition of The Mercury.

BIRDSBORO – Daniel Boone is unbeaten through three games. That’s 3-0. Hip, hip hooray … but no big deal.

Except for one of the last six seasons, the Blazers have opened up with three or more wins, all of which kick-started a run to a couple of Inter-County Section One titles and six straight postseason appearances.

Now that is a big deal.

And an even bigger deal is how the Blazers have gotten to 3-0 this month considering graduation took quarterback Jon Monteiro and running back Brian Evans, or more than 3,000 yards, from its offense and all-state nose guard Mitchell Stead from its defense.

They’re unbeaten going into tonight’s Inter-County Section One opener at Twin Valley because of some new personnel and a few position changes here and there that haven’t only gone well but arguably above expectations.

On offense, Tom Bodolus moved from wideout to quarterback and has thrown for more than 200 yards and five touchdowns in two of the Blazers’ three games. Bodolus has completed just under 60 percent of his attempts for 669 yards and 12 scores, which alone is enough to energize an offense. And running back Daryl Scott, with his 429 yards and jaw-dropping 9.9 yards per carry, keeps opponents honest. Together, along with a small but proficient gang in front of them, Bodolus and Scott have helped the Blazers punch up over 40 points a game thus far.

On defense, which happens to get overlooked a good bit with all the game-breakers and record-breakers in recent years, Zach Robinson and Alex Downs have come out of relative obscurity and, with help from tackle-happy Ryan Stone and Jesse Orr and a veteran secondary anchored by Jared Stoffers, have provided some much-needed leadership in dictating what opponents are capable – or incapable – of doing against the Blazers.

And, for added measure, the fleet Justin Brown, a transfer from Plymouth-Whitemarsh, has proven to be a legitimate threat anytime he gets his hands on the football. He’s returned a kickoff 91 yards for one touchdown, returned an interception 93 yards for another score, and taken both of his pass receptions for 48 and 32 yards and, yep, two more touchdowns.

“We’re 3-0, but we need to get better,” said head coach Dave Bodolus, who put the Blazers in reverse the moment he took over the program in 2003. “We have a lot of new faces playing. We need to get that (game) experience, to keep working at getting better.”

That may be a tall step to make considering the Blazers have buried three straight opponents.

“We still have some concentration lapses,” Bodolus explained. “Part of that is our inexperience. Maybe the kids are thinking more than they have to. But we kind of expected that to a certain degree. The big thing is learning from the mistakes.”

Tom Bodolus has certainly learned well. He was a starter at both wideout and corner last season, but threw only seven passes as Monteiro’s backup. Still, he hasn’t been that big of a surprise to his coach, who happens to be his father, too.

“I was a little bit concerned about him before the season because he was going to be a first-time starter at quarterback,” coach Bodolus said. “But I got a little more time with him than most guys, and we used that time to give him a few more responsibilities. Playing both ways last year has helped him, too.”

Bodolus’ work, Scott’s running and yeoman work by an undersized line in front of them has thus enabled Daniel Boone to maintain the productive offense it’s been known for through the years.

“We’re not big up front, so we have to be very open-minded at times,” Bodolus said. “If the other team wants to put a few more people in the box to stop our run we’ll throw it. If they want to sit back and put a few more people in the secondary we’ll run it. It’s very important for us to recognize that, to be more balanced, to make a team defend the whole field.”

The Blazers have done a rather good job squeezing the field with their own defense.

Robinson (6-0, 205) and Downs (6-1, 210), both juniors who line up at nose guard and end, have unquestionably been the go-getters in that endeavor, too. Robinson has been in 29 tackles, Downs on 22. Stone and Orr have been in on a combined 51, and unsung Justin Kline has a team-high four sacks.

“I wasn’t really concerned about our linebackers or our secondary because we have a few people back from last year,” Bodolus said. “But our defensive line has been a pleasant surprise.

“We’re getting a lot out of Robinson at nose and Downs at one of our ends. Those two guys were both linebackers on the junior varsity team last year, so they’ve really come up big in new positions for us. They’re great kids, hard workers.”

Daniel Boone will need to work hard this evening against Twin Valley, which ended a season-opening 0-2 skid last weekend with a 14-0 shutout of Kennett. Quarterback Josh Kurtz (6-4, 210), who threw for more than 2,000 yards a season ago, is back. And despite not having near the experience or talent around him, is still capable of taking over a game.

Thus far, Kurtz is only 15 of 40 for 131 yards, and running back Trey Harges has 202 yards and two of the Green Raiders’ four touchdowns. That hasn’t been near enough to offset a generous defense, one that is allowing over 350 yards and 27 points a game.

“We have to get better because the competition is going to be getting better,” Bodolus said, choosing to look ahead rather than back at yet another strong start. “The road is getting tougher now.”

* * *

In Bodolus’ eight seasons at Daniel Boone, his teams are 20-4 through the first three weeks overall. … Daniel Boone leads the series with Twin Valley, 11-3. … Veteran head coach Mike Korom is in his first year guiding the Green Raiders, who had five sacks in last week’s shutout of Kennett.