Charleroi could benefit from conference move
Recent seasons haven’t gone exactly the way the Charleroi Cougars have planned. They’ve gone 2-17 over the past two seasons and are coming off a 0-9 campaign a year ago.
But with a new season comes new hope for Charleroi as head coach Donnie Militzer is looking for the Cougars to take some positive steps and contend for a playoff spot as they make the move into the Century Conference. Charleroi hasn’t made the WPIAL playoffs since 2004.
“We want to improve,” Militzer said. “If you look at our first three games last year, we were pretty competitive. But then the injury bug hit and by the middle of the season, we were starting six freshmen. The good thing is those freshmen are tough, gained some valuable experience and they’re all back. We really feel like we can take a big step forward just from what we went through last year.”
One of those former freshmen is quarterback Geno Pellegrini. With a year of experience as a starter, big things are expected from the sophomore.
“Geno did some good things last year,” Militzer said. “He’s taking on a leadership role already. He understands it. His accuracy and confidence have improved a great deal. He’s also very athletic and I am looking for him to not only lead the offense with his arm, but to pull it down and use his legs when he needs to.”
Pellegrini will likely have his choice of experienced targets.
Senior Errict Tedrow could be the Cougars’ best playmaker. He will have competition for that title from sophomore Dakota Romantino, Wilkinsburg transfer Dremar Everette, Travis Lytle, Ryan Workman and others.
“We are as deep at the skilled positions as any team I’ve had, even going back to Gateway,” Militzer said. “We will move Errict around. We have kids who weren’t on the team last year who have the ability to be very explosive. Dakota had a huge offseason and we will look to get Dremar, Travis and Ryan the football. The thing we have this year that we didn’t last year is speed. We had three guys who ran sub-5.0 40-yard dashes last year. This year, we have 10 or 11.”
Tedrow will get some carries, but expect the Cougars to share the running back spot. Brayden Mihalcin and Hunter Perry will be in the mix.
Sharing carries is fine with Tedrow, as long as the wins start accumulating.
“I just want to win,” Tedrow said. “I don’t care if I get one carry or make one tackle, as long as we win games. My job as leader is to help get the losing mentality out of here. Our younger guys are used to winning, so they inspire us older guys. It’s all about winning as a team.”
One strength of the Cougars could be the offensive line, where they return three starters. Brian Burgess, Dom Santini and Colton Kisner anchor a line that, if healthy, could be one of the better ones in the Century Conference.
But that could be all for naught if Charleroi doesn’t improve its defense.
The Cougars return only three starters from a defense that allowed an average of 47.7 points per game last season.
The front seven has the ability to be solid with Burgess anchoring the defensive line.
Tedrow, Everette and Jake Stefanick form a good linebacking corps, but the real test will come in the secondary where as many as seven players will be vying for playing time.
“We only have three starters returning on defense, but that is a good thing,” Militzer said. “There’s a lot of competition and we are faster than we have ever been on that side of the ball.”
A big advantage for the Cougars is special teams as senior Sean Cole is a very good punter and kicker.
The Charleroi return units are typically good. The Cougars scored five special-teams touchdowns a year ago.
The move in conferences could be a good thing for Charleroi.
“Part of it is good as we are playing schools the same size as us,” Militzer said. “The other thing is that our kids have grown up playing most of the kids we will be playing. The intimidation factor isn’t there. It’s more natural. There will be better rivalries and the result will be a lot more energy and excitement on Friday nights.”
The Cougars have goals for upcoming seasons and believe they can reach the most important one this year.
“We feel that five out of eight teams in our conference will make the playoffs,” Militzer said. “It doesn’t matter if we are No. 1 or No. 5. Our goal is to make the playoffs.”