A quartet of solid captains and the biggest roster in program history are just two reasons why Donnie Militzer is chomping at the bit to see his Our Lady of the Sacred Heart football team in action.
Militzer, in his ninth season at the helm, guided the Chargers to a 5-5 overall record and a fourth-place finish in the WPIAL Class 2A Allegheny Conference a year ago.
That was good enough to get OLSH into the playoffs, where they lost 29-8 as the No. 8 seed to ninth-seeded Riverside in the opening round.
“We hosted a playoff game, and that was a big accomplishment,” Militzer said of his 2024 team, which included players from two other schools – Eden Christian and Montour Propel – as part of a co-op arrangement.
“We had to balance having three schools together and bringing those cultures together was difficult. So we were pretty pleased to make the playoffs. We didn’t play as well as we wanted, but it was a good experience for our kids. Now the guys coming back have something to look at in terms of what it takes to be successful.”
This year, the Chargers will roll out a 52-man roster when they take the field at 7 p.m. Friday at Moon Area Stadium against Rochester. That will be the biggest roster in the 16 seasons that OLSH has fielded a football team. One of the benefits of such a large group is that the Chargers can once again field a junior varsity team. Players who performed at the JV level a year ago gained valuable experience, Militzer said, and a number of them are ready to contribute at the varsity level this season.
Militzer said this year’s group of co-captains – seniors Owen Tonery (linebacker), Chris Harris (linebacker), Aaron Massie (defensive line) and Owen Nestor (wide receiver/safety) — is “as good as I’ve ever had.”
“They’re good kids, hard workers and faith-filled people,” he said. “At OLSH, we strive for that. They’re great leaders – they’re focused on having big years. They want the program to be successful, and they’re doing everything they can to make that happen.”
In addition to the four captains, other key defensive returnees from last year are senior cornerback Talen Ellis, sophomore linebacker Kassius Gildon and junior defensive end Jacob Boehm. Offensive returnees are junior wide receivers TyTy Hawkins and John Anderson and sophomore running backs DeMar Chatfield and Christian Bush.
The Chargers will have to replace departed quarterback Vann Kavals, now at the University of Akron, as well as Iseia Fields-Shulz, Ethan Davis and Tristan Vojtecky.
“You can’t really replace Vann,” Militzer said of Kavals. “He’s an excellent player and that’s why he’s playing at the Division I level.
“You have to tweak things a little for the talent that you have. We’re looking forward to establishing the run game more than we have in the past. Since I’ve been at OLSH, we’ve made our living throwing the football.”
Militzer said the Chargers boast a “dynamic” stable of four running backs in freshman Jamie Samuels and sophomores Christian Bush, Damar Chatfield and Prentice Organ.
“All four would be starters on almost any high school team,” he said. “They’re young, talented and coachable. We’re excited to see them get rolling these next couple of weeks.”
Militzer said the four are a little different from one another in terms of their running styles. “But in our scrimmage you could see how talented each one is,” he said.
Militzer said he might utilize some three-back looks offensively to take advantage of those weapons, but he also said sophomore quarterbacks J.J. Hayden and Nehemiah Ichimura will give the Chargers an added dimension.
“One thing we’re trying to do offensively is show we can beat teams in multiple ways,” Militzer said.
Militzer said Ichimura is more of a traditional pocket passer with a strong arm “and J.J. has the ability to use his feet and create a little more.”
Although the offense has plenty of weapons, it is a young group, as only two seniors are expected to start. Defensively, OLSH is much more experienced, with six or seven seniors penciled in as starters. That experience showed in last week’s scrimmage, Militzer said.
“They were on point, flying around and hitting everything that moved,” he said. “Our philosophy is, our defense will keep us in games, and once we figure out our groove offensively, we’ll be in good shape.”
Be First to Comment