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THE CHAMP IS HERE: Jersey Shore Bulldogs going the extra length in 2017 summer workouts

The 2016 Jersey Shore High School football Bulldogs run out onto the field before a high school football game against Selinsgrove High School. The Bulldogs kick-off their football season on August 25 vs. Bellefonte High School. (The Express File Photo/Tim Weight)

JERSEY SHORE – It was quite the season last year for the Jersey Shore High School football program – finishing the 2016 campaign with a overall record of 9-4 and making it even sweeter with a district championship.

But head coach Tom Gravish is already ready for the 2017 season by having his Bulldogs in intense summer workouts, and as a matter of fact, he started workouts just two weeks after the season had ended in the 2016 playoff game against Johnstown – which Jersey Shore happened to lose in a thriller, 32-42.

“The 2017 summer workouts have been our best in the past six summers. I have been impressed with our numbers, consistency and with our intensity. The leadership that we have since the Johnstown game last year has been outstanding,” said Gravish. “Many players have played a lot of football for us, including two District 4 Championship games. We have made our best strength gains this off-season since I have been the coach at Jersey Shore. Our players have set high goals for achievement in our fitness center all the way back to January. We have had several players coming in before and after school. We put our team through a very rigorous plan for the summer and they responded very well.”

And speaking of the 2016 loss against Johnstown, Gravish had a few comments regarding last season.

“We had high goals in 2016 as we do each year. We just gave up a few early plays against Johnstown that you cannot give up in the state playoffs, ” said Gravish. “Winning the 2016 District 4A Championship with as many injuries as we had was just an unbelievable accomplishment to our players. It was a total team effort, and I am extremely proud of each player. All contributed to our success, whether they were a scout team player, special teams starter or (offensive/defensive) starter.”

But Coach Gravish and his Bulldogs are putting 2016 behind them and preparing for the new season in tremendous fashion – holding camps and competing against other high schools from across the nation, even attending a camp at Penn State University last month and they’ll also be at the University of Akron on Thursday – going the extra length to try and get past ‘just a district championship.’ They’ve competed against competition from Virginia, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Akron, Youngstown, Cleveland, Detroit and Columbus. Jersey Shore’s work ethic and willingness to travel during the offseason is proving they’re going for the gold.

“We played some great teams (at these camps), which included many Division 1 players. It was the best competition that we faced and I was extremely pleased with our performance,” said Gravish. “We were pleased that we took 32 players to compete at Penn State. We’ll be attending the University of Akron 7-on-7 Passing and Lineman Camp on July 20. We’ve attended a MAC school camp each of the past four seasons in July. It has been a great experience for our program.”

The Bulldogs have held their summer workouts on a voluntary basis – holding them four times a week throughout the summer. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Gravish and Co. hold workouts in the Fitness Center – and hold workouts on speed development, conditioning, football skills and techniques Monday-Thursday.

Coach Gravish was also asked if he could provide scouting reports on his team thus far into summer workouts – and what does he think about his athletes overall:

“I believe that our offensive and defensive lines will be the strength of our team. We do have some depth at quarterback, runningback and with our receivers,” said Gravish. “Elijah Shemory threw for a bunch of yards and 35 touchdowns last year. Kyle Tomb did a nice job running the ball as a sophomore and has greatly improved his strength and speed in our off-season workouts. Dominic Williams and Hunter O’Connor recorded over 110 plus tackles each and Dominic had seven interceptions, two which went for touchdowns.”

Gravish continued:

“Mason Sechrist has a chance to be a big time player again this year on both sides of the offensive and defensive lines. He is our leader in most of our Power Clean, Squat, Dead Lift, Bench and Incline Press team standings. Austin Breon had six interceptions last year at corner and we expect more from him in 2017,” said Gravish. “Jason Dincher had several key receptions throughout the year and played great defense at defensive end during our playoff stretch. We do have a few players that are juniors and sophomores who are ready to make their names known in 2017, and I believe many will. Jacob Jones returns as a two way lineman starter. He has been one of our major leaders in the weight room.”

Jersey Shore heads into the new campaign after losing nine seniors from last year – four that were district all-stars – which isn’t too bad of a loss for a 9-4 program coming off of a district title. But Gravish says that either way, they will be missed.

“We lost some very good seniors from 2016. All were very valuable. Tyler Smith, Harlan Baier, Jarett Guthrie and Eric Lehman each played in the District 4A All Star Game in June,” said Gravish. “Todd Sanford will be greatly missed with 100 receptions in the past two seasons. Max Mason will be greatly missed at fullback and defensive end.”

The seniors that the Bulldogs will not have with them in 2017 are: WR/DB Keegan Federoff, RB/LB Chase Braim, DE/TE Tyler Smith, RB/CB/DE Jarett Guthrie, WR/CB Todd Sanford, TE/S Eric Lehman, DE/WR Dakota Gardner, RB/DE Max Mason and OL/DL Harlan Baier.

When asked about his expectations for the upcoming season, Gravish had no interest in discussing much after the first game.

“Our first goal is to win our first game and we’re not really looking too far from our first opponent. We would like to win a few more games where we let a couple slip away last year,” said Gravish. “We always aspire to win the Heartland Conference and if you do that you’ll be in the District 4A Playoffs. We do have a few rival games and we want to win each one, but it all starts with Week No. 1.”

That week one matchup takes place on August 25 at Bellefonte High School. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Another big matchup for the Bulldogs comes as their last game of the season, and it’s against their long-time rival Central Mountain Wildcats – which Jersey Shore happened to win last season in a 14-10 thriller. But even though anything can happen in rivalry games and the tension is always high during so, Coach Gravish has nothing but respect for Coach James Renninger and the Central Mountain High School football program.

“I really like what Jim is doing at Central Mountain, he’s a great coach and friend. We really respect the Central Mountain players and coaches, they are first class,” said Gravish. “The 2016 game was a great game by both teams. CM and Jersey Shore both had great crowds and both teams played extremely hard.”

This year’s matchup will be the rematch for the Red Ribbon Trophy – which is the second time the trophy has been played for. Kick-off is slated for 7:00 PM on October 27 at Jersey Shore High School.

A full 2017 season preview for Jersey Shore football will be in our upcoming High School Fall Sports Guide, scheduled to release in mid-August.

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