Tigers’ success depends on staying healthy
LEVITTOWN, PA. >> Harry S Truman, meet Murphy.
Yes, that Murphy, the guy with that confounded law. Anything that could go wrong with the Truman High School football team went wrong last year. The Tigers had talent, experience and depth. They were favored to earn their firstever berth in the PIAA District 1 playoffs.
But they also had a landslide of injuries. And they slumped to a 6-6 record.
Now it’s time to pick up the pieces.
“We were 6-1 with our first-string quarterback, but we were 0-5 with our second- and third-string quarterbacks,” head coach Jon Craig said. “I’m not taking anything away from the kids who went in there, but they were playing out of position.”
Running back Corey McCloud was actually the first notable to fall. He tore an ACL in a Week 2 defeat to eventual district champion Upper Dublin. McCloud was lost for the season. In the third game, senior quarterback Mark Lopez went down. Jorden Freeman closed out a 21-7 win over Bensalem, but the Tigers lost the next five in crushing fashion.
The injuries didn’t stop there.
“Almost every senior starter lost at least one game,” Craig said.
Freeman, who also started at tailback with Lopez in the lineup, is the lone full-time starter returning on offense. Craig likes his arm strength as a passer. Habeeb Baba, a junior, rotated in at running back last year and is seen as the heir apparent. He is about 5-8 and 165 pounds with quickness and good strength for his stature. Junior speedster Sayyid Saunders was a state track medalist in the 200 meters last spring and will be used as a deep receiving threat.
Junior nose guard David Akinwande is the lone full-timer back on defense. He had five or six sacks and about 10 tackles for loss in 2015, the coach said.
“We’re going to be young on both sides of the ball,” Craig said. “We have a strong junior class and we have a lot of guys we’re looking forward to working with for the next few years.”
Speaking of the next few years, Truman will be playing in a different, but familiar conference for the foreseeable future. Due to realignment in the Suburban One League, the Tigers have moved from the Continental Conference to the National Conference. That means they will now play Lower Bucks foes like Neshaminy, Pennsbury and Bensalem in league competition for the first time in a while. Council Rock North and Council Rock South join Truman in the move. Truman will not see Norristown, William Tennent, Quakertown, Central Bucks East or CB West on the schedule.
“I think the size of the high school is still an advantage and we’re going to go back to playing a lot of bigger high schools,” Craig said. “We’re better suited to be playing these teams than we were a couple of years ago. Our kids are excited to be playing Neshaminy and Pennsbury. They grew up playing against these kids in youth leagues.