2023 Season Preview Laurel Highlands

Laurel Highlands is coming off an 8-4 season last year after the previous season ended with an 8-3 record. Head Football Coach Rich Kolesar just finished his 4th season as Head Coach. His 1st two seasons ended in losing records, but in the last two years he won 8 games each season. Kolesar has turned the program around and I expect them to be good this season.   Top prospects:    [player_tooltip player_id='91593' first='Billy' last='Barton']. Barton played defensive line last year. He is an impressive athlete that moves well for a defensive lineman. Below is what my colleague Avery Hawkins wrote about Barton earlier this year:   Billy's only been playing D-line for a season, but it's very hard to tell from watching his film from 2022. The first thing that jumped out at me was his athleticism for being 280 pounds. He fires off the ball very well and shoots the gaps aggressively, allowing him to consistently get TFLs. His mobility and low pad level are especially advantageous when he's splitting double teams made in his honor. Billy's hand violence, mixed with his quickness, is a recipe for disaster when he pass rushes from the interior. I think he has the potential to play at the FCS level and still has a couple of months left to reach that goal. At a minimum, PSAC schools better stay ready to offer if Barton doesn't receive any D1 love soon. He's been in talks with FBS-D3 programs alike along the recruiting trail.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Billy4Barton/status/1671661720874483720?s=20 </div></figure>    [player_tooltip player_id='598815' first='Antwan' last='Black']. Black is one of the best prospects in the 2025 class. He is a good athlete that can do it all on the football field. He currently has several Division 1 Offers and I expect more to come his way. The 1st play on his film was nuts, he got a pitch and was surrounded by defenders, but found a way to run by all of the players. Below is what my Colleague [player_tooltip player_id='1156407' first='Vic' last='Castillo'] said about Black earlier this year:   I wanted to stamp this kid as a Power Five lock last January, yet I second-guessed myself and placed him at a modest top 125. Since doing so, prestigious schools have gone to validate how wrong I was on the awesome two-way prospect out of Laurel Highlands. The prestigious programs being Penn State, Pitt, and Toledo. Those schools have already extended offers to the sophomore, giving me the go-ahead to place him inside the top 25 at the very least. I wish I stuck with my gut when evaluating this kid, yet I missed. His ranking on the site will reflect accordingly in July. Expect Marshall, Miami (OH), and other programs to extend offers before the season begins.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/AntwanBlack6/status/1669009729220214789?s=20 </div></figure>     John Pletcher Jr. Pletcher played defensive tackle last year. He shows good athleticism at the defensive line position. He is a force that disrupts the other team's offense. He is a classic 3 tech who you can shade in different directions. He is difficult to block one-on-one and offensive linemen have a difficult time trying to control him. He uses his hands well to engage offensive linemen to disrupt an offensive rhythm. Finally, Pletcher has a motor that never stops and he is constantly chasing plays down from behind all over the field. Pletcher is a talented player who has a bright future.    [player_tooltip player_id='647665' first='Noah' last='Lion']. Lion played quarterback on Junior Varsity last year as a Freshman. He showed good mechanics and footwork in the pocket. He has good touch on balls, especially on deep balls. The only concern is at times he drops his arm when holding the ball and it could lead to some issues with releasing the ball. He also outs good touch on the ball on seam routes and in breaking routes. Lion also showed the ability to run from the quarterback position. Either on designed runs or on scrambles. Lion should a lot of progress this year and should have a chance to play and possibly start for Laurel Highlands in the fall.    [player_tooltip player_id='631499' first='Parker' last='Hoff']. Hoff is a talented linebacker who makes a lot of plays for Laurel Highlands. Below is what my colleague Avery Hawkins had to say about Hoff last season:   Parker is a scrappy underclassman for the Laurel Highland mustangs. On film, he displays the ability to re-route & effectively zone drop into coverage. Hoff plays with intensity all over the field consistently. He displays good instincts & moves well laterally chasing the ball carrier. The 25' LB's a sure tackler that forces fumbles & creates turnovers. Parker plays with a low pad level & a physicality that will continually develop. Hoff also possesses the ability to make tackles on special teams for the LH Mustangs. Watch out for Hoff versus Trinity in this storied matchup.    Brad Smith. Smith played nose tackle last year. Smith did a nice job of occupying blockers and creating a pile on defense. He does a nice job penetrating and controlling at least one, if not two blockers. When he does that he allows the other defenders to make plays all over the field. He also shows good motor and will chase plays all over the field. He also does a good job when he gets one-on-one blocks by controlling those offensive players. Smith played an integral role last year and he will have an opportunity to do that again this year.    Jason Gardner. Gardner as a Freshman played Junior Varsity, He played defensive line for Laurel Highlands last year. Gardner does a nice job of using his hands to attack offensive linemen and then engaging them while they are trying to block him. Gardner also showed a motor that never stops and keeps attacking all over the field to make plays. Gardner should have an opportunity to get varsity playing time this year.    Tristen Baker. Baker played linebacker and running back last year. Baker showed good skills on both sides of the ball. As a linebacker, he did a nice job reading and reacting to the play and coming upfield to make plays. He showed the ability to tackle well, especially in the open field. Baker in limited reps also got some time at running back. He hits the hole well and does not go down after the 1st tackler. Baker showed good skills and should be an even bigger contributor this year.    Jaiden Tucker. Tucker played running back last year. In limited reps at running back, Tucker showed a good ability to make people miss and hit the hole well. He has good quickness and does a nice job using his speed to run past defenders. He also is a physical runner who runs through defenders and rarely gets tackled by the 1st defender. Tucker's film was limited but showed some good skills at running with the ball. I expect Tucker to be a bigger part of this year's team.    Joshua Kelly. Kelly played center for Laurel Highlands last year. He did a nice job of blocking penetrating defensive linemen. He showed good strength by going and blocking defensive linemen. He is good at double-teaming and then peeling off to block a linebacker. He is a scrapping player who does a nice job of attacking and blocking players. Kelly showed good promise last year and should only get better this season.   Final Thoughts: As you can see lots of talented players on this Laurel Highlands team. I expect them to be competitive and win a lot of games this year. They should also have a good chance at winning their league and possibly making a deep playoff run as well. I would not count out Laurel Highlands.

Laurel Highlands is coming off an 8-4 season last year after the previous season ended with an 8-3 record. Head Football Coach Rich Kolesar just finished his 4th season as Head Coach. His 1st two seasons ended in losing records, but in the last two years he won 8 games each season. Kolesar has turned the program around and I expect them to be good this season.