Offseason Outlooks: Southern Lehigh Spartans

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In today's offseason outlook, we move onto the Colonial-Schuylkill League Gold Division after finishing up our Blue Division outlooks. We'll start out with the Southern Lehigh Spartans who are under the direction of head coach Phil Sam. The Spartans are coming off another stellar season for a program that has been a medal of consistently for quite a while and has been dominant over the last several years, especially within conference play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Without further adieu, let's move into our offseason outlook for the Southern Lehigh Spartans. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2022</strong> <strong>Recap</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was a great season for the Spartans going 9-3 including 701 in conference play. Their offense averaged 29.5 points a contest while the defense kept opponents to just 19.1 points per game. They started their season off with a 42-28 loss to Quakertown but would win their next eight games, many in dominating fashion. Unfortunately for Southern Lehigh, they'd lose two of their last three with losses to Northwestern Lehigh and Whitehall to finish with their 9-3 record. They, however, would take the Colonial-Schuylkill Gold division crown for their efforts last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>No full stats are available</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Losses</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>TE [player_tooltip player_id='92698' first='Jake' last='Stalsitz']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB Edwar Ferguson</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>G Ryan DeMatto</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>K Ayden Scharper</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LB Nick Ventresca</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>T Mark Mulhern</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR Tyler Rizzuto</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>OL Kain Boyle</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Returnees</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB Danny Reagan</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB James Wisecarer</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR [player_tooltip player_id='1077248' first='Jack' last='Inglis']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>OT [player_tooltip player_id='292985' first='Gijs' last='Fooij']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>TE [player_tooltip player_id='608237' first='Bryan' last='Tobin']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR [player_tooltip player_id='919520' first='Andrew' last='Olesh']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023 Outlook</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Southern Lehigh has consistently been one of the best programs in the Colonial-Schuylkill Division over the last decade including multiple nine-plus win seasons. Their 2022 season was just the latest in that trend. In 2023, we expect much of the same from the Spartans. Key offensive players like Danny Reagan, James Wiscarer, and [player_tooltip player_id='1077248' first='Jack' last='Inglis'] should create one of the better offenses in the conference and their defense also should remain one of the best. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They will, however, have to replace a long list of key players such as a Nick Ventresca, Ryan Dematto, Tyler Ruzzuto, and Kain Boyle. Losing three starters off your offensive line is never easy and can provide an early season challenge. They were also have to replace several key members of their defense in Rizzuto, Avery Koser, and Michael Fluck. Watch for [player_tooltip player_id='1077248' first='Jack' last='Inglis'], Ryan Kind, and Cade Sawyer to be leaders defensively. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall, look for the Spartans to once again be competing for the Gold Division title and will have a chance to make a deep run in the PIAA playoffs as well if all goes to plan. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->