Senneca represents the dawning of a brand-new day for Whitehall
Allen Negrete considers Whitehall’s 2-8 finish last season unacceptable.
The senior would like to see the Zephyrs flip that record, and then some, in 2019.
New coach Matt Senneca sees practicing with tempo as step No. 1 for Whitehall as it seeks to improve on its 2018 finish. Negrete and his teammates accomplished that goal during heatacclimation week, building from a slow start to a Friday practice Senneca called “great.”
“It’s a different energy because we’ve got a new coach and a new coaching staff,” Negrete said Monday after Whitehall wrapped up its first session of two-a-days. “We’re trying to work harder and get the team some chemistry.”
Senneca also has been pleased with Whitehall’s work since he took over the program during the winter. He came to the Zephyrs after three years as Emmaus’ offensive coordinator.
Senneca spent two seasons as Wilson’s coach before that. Like Whitehall last season, Senneca’s two Wilson teams struggled, going 3-17 overall.
Senneca said his experience at Wilson plus the three years at Emmaus gave him ideas on how he wants to run Whitehall’s football program. Having one of the EPC South’s smaller rosters — Whitehall practiced with around 50 kids Monday — will make conditioning a key.
Senneca pushed his players to run hard through their practiceending conditioning drill Monday, reminding them they
needed two-way contributors because of the team’s roster size.
“I just want them to have fun playing football,” Senneca said. “I know what a season like that’s like. I’ve been through it, and it’s not fun. It seems like hard work and all this other stuff, and you’re not getting any satisfaction out of it.
“The biggest thing is I want them to enjoy the game, have energy about practice, practice at a certain standard, all that kind of stuff. I think having a new staff with some fresh voices and fresh ideas, the kids have responded tremendously to it.”
Whitehall most needs to see growth from its defense if it hopes to move up the EPC South standings. The Zephyrs surrendered a division-worst 43.9 points per game last season.
With an experienced defensive line that grew stronger in the offseason plus the return of senior linebacker Josh Novak from a torn ACL, Whitehall expects to produce more stops this season. Novak would like to see improved chemistry from the Zephyrs as they move through the rest of preseason camp and then begin preparing for their season opener with East Stroudsburg South.
“Last week we really struggled on Monday coming together,” he said. “Through the week it got better and better. We’ve just got to keep flowing together.”