Welsh ready to carry load for Bulldogs
Tony Welsh has rushed for almost 3,000 career yards and scored 55 touchdowns for Beth-Center.
Nick Pryor catches a pass during practice at Beth-Center High School. The Bulldogs are the defending Tri-County South Conference champions.
Junior tw-way lineman Colton Belmont will be at the center of the action for Beth-Center.
FREDERICKTOWN – On the official roster, he is listed as Anthony. His friends prefer to call him Tony. Opponents simply call him difficult to tackle.
Anthony (Tony) Welsh has made a name for himself as one of the premiere running backs in the WPIAL, helping Beth-Center to maintain its stranglehold on the top spot in the Tri-County South Conference. He is the reason a young Bulldogs team should be continue to be exciting and very good again this year.
Welsh is the hub of the Beth-Center offense. In three seasons of varsity competition, he has rushed for 2,818 yards and scored an incredible 55 touchdowns despite usually playing only two quarters of each game because B-C has forged an insurmountable lead by halftime.
Eight pounds heavier and with deceptive speed, Welsh (6-0, 201) possesses the quickness and natural running ability to be a scoring threat on every carry, from any place on the field.
“What makes him stand out is his speed, his strength, he has good vision, he catches the ball well out of the backfield and he has great balance,” Beth-Center coach Ed Woods said. “Everything you look for in a back he has, and he excels in all areas.”
Beth-Center football fans call Welsh the latest in a long line of outstanding Bulldogs running backs. And Welsh knows all about the history that accompanies the position. He is quick to mention that he looks up to former B-C running backs, including Keith Miller, Mike Sanders, Bob Greenough, and of course, his head coach, among others.
“It feels good being part of that tradition,” Welsh said. “There have been so many good running backs here.”
In the past, Beth-Center usually didn’t have a workhorse tailback. The Bulldogs had a stable of talented running backs and preferred to be unpredictable on offense by sharing the carries and workload. It’s a theory that started in the 1970s under then-coach Bill Connors, continued with great success through the Don Bartolomucci era and has been a staple of Woods-coached teams.
Last year, B-C had Nico Brown (958 yards) and Johnny Sofran (377 yards) to split carries with Welsh, who averaged only 11 per game.
“I think only once have I gotten more than 20 carries in a game. I had 22,” Welsh pointed out.
Brown and Sofran have graduated, and the Bulldogs are thin on experience behind Welsh. That should mean more carries for Welsh and even bigger video game-like rushing numbers.
“That’s going to change. It has to,” Woods said of Welsh’s workload. “That’s going to be real difficult for me. I always believed that we’re a team and having more than one guy back there makes it hard for the defense.
“We’re going to have some good backs in the future, but this is the only time we’ve had just one varsity running back. We’ll have to change the offense to fit our needs, with Tony being that guy. He’s up to the challenge.”
This is one of the youngest teams in B-C history with only five seniors on the roster, which is why some opponents believe the Bulldogs might be vulnerable this season. But don’t expect Beth-Center to skip a beat. The Bulldogs have a 57-3 record against Tri-County South Conference opponents since joining the league in 2008.
“The kids know what my expectations are and those of the community,” Woods said. “We expect the kids to win. We’ve talked about the tradition here and we’re going to work to continue that.”
In addition to Welsh, B-C returns junior quarterback Trent Cunko and senior Frank Derucci has been shifted from tight end to fullback. They will be lining up behind an offensive line that includes senior guard Robert Work (5-10, 195), who Woods called the team’s most improved senior. Junior Colton Belmont (6-3, 235) will be the center and sophomore Tim Trump (6-1, 251) can be a force at guard.
Edward Zellie (5-7, 165), another senior, had an excellent camp at tight end and will be a significant part of the offense.
Linebacker should be the strength of the Bulldogs’ defense with Zellie and Derucci on the outside with Work and possibly senior Jacob Mowl inside. Welsh intercepted five passes last year as a free safety. Woods also likes the potential of his defensive tackles.
Though Beth-Center has less overall experience than in recent seasons, it wouldn’t be wise to count on this being the season the Bulldogs get knocked off the top perch in the Tri-County South standings.
“Our guys expect to go out and win, to come out on top,” Woods said.
Welsh even added that this could be the season the Bulldogs end of run of four consecutive losses in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.
“Nobody outside of the team is expecting us to win a playoff game this year,” Welsh said. “This might be the year we go out without any pressure and play relaxed.”