With two-year head coach Simon Cameron deployed overseas with his military unit, assistant Brent Hartman was promoted and will run the team — even though Cameron is expected to return to the States in time for the regular season. Making their third tour of the Tri-Valley League since returning to the small-school circuit prior to the 2012 season, Hartman & Co. hope to take a few more steps forward and climb a few notches higher in the standings. Below is their Countdown to Kickoff preview.
School Name:East Juniata Tigers
Coach: Brent Hartman
Last Year: 2-8, 1-8 Tri-Valley League
Last 5 Years: 13-36
Returning Starters: 5 on offense, 5 on defense
Key Players: QB Ryan Bruner; QB Josh Zimmerman; OL/DL Micah Treaster; OL/DL Ryan Furgison; OL/LB Cody Folk; OL/ILB Cameron Snook; QB/WR/S Chris Schulgen; RB/CB Mason Hambright; RB/CB David Sprenkle; WR/CB Austin Shellhammer.
Offense Overview: Since the Tigers haven’t been blessed with an abundance of quality linemen with size, EJ’s staff made the decision to switch to the spread last season and Hartman plans on sticking with it. Since do-everything back David Brantley has moved on — Brantley ran for more than 1,000 yards and passed for another 400-plus — the Tigers figure to rely more heavily on their quarterbacks, Bruner and Zimmerman. Especially since those two have the most experience in the O-backfield. Soph Hambright could get a lot of touches when the Tigers aren’t flinging it to the flanks. Line should be better as well.
Defense Overview: Planning to employ a 4-4 look defensively, Hartman is hoping Furgison (3 sacks in 2013) can plug gaps up front and put some heat on opposing quarterbacks. Inside backer Folk (69 stops in ’13) is another veteran who always seems to be around the football. Youngsters such as Snook, Hambright and Schulgen — all of them sophomores — also could find themselves on the field for plenty of snaps as the Tigers try to find ways to stop some of the TVL’s diverse yet potent attacks.
Biggest Game: August 29 vs. Hughesville. With a new guy in charge and a new season about to kick off, Hartman wants his Tigers to be plugged in when their District 4 playmates roll into Beaver Springs. When that one’s over, they’ll turn to Week 2.
Early remarks: “This is a nice league. It’s different. You’re talking about 40 kids [on your roster] instead of 60 or 70. You’re talking about conserving linemen. Instead of 11 linemen, you may have six or seven. If not, you have a fullback that changes his number. It’s a nice league. It really is.” — Hartman
“We’ve got to turn around the season from what we did last year. We’ve got to just improve on our spread from last year. … That will definitely help. This is the second year we’re doing the spread, so we’ll be more comfortable with that, too. Last year was the first year and we were kind of a little shaky, putting it in at mid-year.” — Bruner
More East Juniata Tigers:2014 schedule | 2014 roster
BULLOCK'S CRYSTAL BALL: While EJ doubled its win total in 2013 and collared its first TVL success since making its return — the Tigers stood 2-0 after opening the season with victories over Bucktail and Halifax — it’s going to take Hartman, Cameron and others to get this program caught up to its league playmates. Interesting thing is most of the players in the co-op program go to Midd-West and not EJ, and neither school sports a sparkling football legacy. One positive step came before the season, when additional assistants were added to the coaching staff. That should lead to more positional work and fewer mistakes. Despite the additions, this program remains a work in progress.
More:Complete Countdown to Kickoff coverage
BULLOCK on Twitter: @thebullp_n