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93.7 The Fan High School Football Preview 2016 Class 5A: Penn Trafford

Penn-Trafford
Big East Conference

The good news for John Ruane and the Warriors is that there is no chance they will be knocked out of the WPIAL playoffs by Central Catholic for the fifth year in a row as the Vikings are now a 6-A team while the Warriors are a 5-A team.

The bad news is that the Warriors only five starters returning from last year's squad – which went 12-1 and lost to Central at Heinz Field in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game – so it could be a long climb just to get to the playoffs.

But if Ruane has proven anything during his six seasons as the Warriors coach it is this – they are now one of the best programs in the WPIAL and that means they just reload, they never rebuild.

The Warriors will have to dig in deep to replace many of the skill position players they lost but they had one of the best offensive lines in the region last season and four of the five starters return.

That group is anchored by all-conference center Will Schumacher, guard Josh Maglicco and tackle Logan Hawkins and all three of them started at least seven games.

Running back Christian Jantz led the team in rushing last season and halfback Brendan Kelly, who doubles as a linebacker and is the only returning defensive starter, is a versatile player so the Warriors should have a strong running game again.

Brett Laffoon was one of the most prolific passers in school history and one of the top quarterbacks in the state but he graduated but his little brother, Cam, will step in as the starter.

The Warriors may have a different cast of characters than they have the last two seasons, but the program is strong and their strength has been their depth so there is no reason to believe they won't be in the hunt for yet another conference title.

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