Led by line, Springfield is counting down to the new season

SPRINGFIELD >> Football players are fixated on scoreboards and clocks.

That’s pretty much the way it is for Springfield, witch is eagerly locked in on an online counter ticking off the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Friday’s season opener against Perkiomen Valley.

That game can’t come soon enough for offensive lineman Ethan Johnson, the goalie who helped lead the lacrosse team to the District 1 Class 3A championship last spring.

“It’s exciting,” Johnson said. “We’re waiting to play the game we love for however long it’s been. And it’s a lot of fun to have a regular season back with all the guys coming back for senior year. A full season and hopefully past the season, it’s really exciting.”

Johnson and his offensive linemates are among the keys to a successful season for the Cougars, who finished 3-3 in the COVID-shortened fall campaign. Johnson, Carlo Cantando, Raheem Stevenson, Gavin Boggs, Jack Lavery and Tyler Klambara are a combination of size, strength and quickness in the trenches.

In the skills department, junior quarterback Jake Rama can throw to wide receivers Robbie Longo, Aiden Kreydt, Matt Dickinson and Jack Tropiano. Running back Connor Roche is another guy to be reckoned with. Roche, among others, also plays lacrosse.

“We’ve got a big line, a strong line and guys in the backfield that really know what they’re doing,” Johnson said. “They carry the ball well. I think if we stick to what we do best then we can be very successful and go really far.

“I think we’re looking pretty good in both the skills and linemen positions. We’re going to be a fast team. We’re going to hit them hard up front and then get our guys offside and get them off the field.”

Defensively the Cougars can look for stops from first-team All-Central Brian Layton and an experienced line. Dickinson, who also plays safety and linebacker, and Colin Crawford figure to contribute heavily on defense.

With more than 25 players returning, Cougars coach Chris Britton is cautiously optimistic his team has enough experience to make a run.

“We had a new offense and defense last year,” Britton said. “Just their attitude while we were dealing with the COVID, of just being able to adapt, we appreciated because we were always changing fields. We only had one field because the other one was being built (at Springfield’s new high school). We were practicing at 7 o’clock every night. Rules were changing every day.

“They showed the ability to adapt, and they never complained about it. They would just deal with the situation and play. They’re resilient.”

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