Littlestown: Bolts try to regroup after last season's ugly end

The flashbacks push Littlestown lineman Daniel Crowe as he lifts weights.

He remembers, "Bermudian Springs 37, Littlestown 0," the score from the teams' District 3 Class AA playoff game last season. The result motivates him when he feels tired and thinks about stopping a set short.

"I'll have two or three more reps in there," the 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior said. "There are a couple plays I remember as far as offense. I'd get a really good block and move my guy 5 yards down the field, and the whistle will blow and the running back would be tackled for a loss."

Crowe isn't alone. The Thunderbolts spent the offseason mulling their loss to Bermudian Springs, not their perfect 10-0 regular season. Coach Mike Lippy's main focus since then has been simple.

"What we do to make sure Week 11 doesn't happen again," he said. "They brought it to us. We went from being the best team in the area to the worst team in the area in a matter of seven days."

The Thunderbolts barreled through the regular season, piling up blowout after blowout. (They beat Bermudian Springs, 43-23, just two weeks earlier.)

The easy points from their no-huddle, spread offense provided one benefit: playing time last season for second-string players expected to start this year.

"I think that got them more excited for this season," Crowe said. "My sophomore season, whenever I got to play, I would be excited for the next game. I think having them play gives them a lot more confidence."

Two players expected to play big roles for the Thunderbolts are quarterbacks Dustin Crouse and Trevor Hildebrand, a sophomore who helped the freshman team to an undefeated record last season. Both will start on defense -- a departure from the trend of previous years -- and on offense try to replace the production provided by former quarterback Austin Reynolds.

Filling the void: Reynolds, who passed for 2,064 yards last season, is gone. The Thunderbolts have to rely on junior Crouse and Hildebrand to replace him. Wide receiver Seth Wren also is gone, but Lippy is focused on a group of six or seven receivers, including Matt Groft, Alec Warner and Jonathon Justice to make up the yards.

Varsity letters: There's no coaching size, which is what 6-foot-7, 365-pound senior Isaac Dori brings in spades. He missed three games because of academic issues but collected 66 tackles in the eight games he did play. Dori is eligible to start the season after working with Lippy extensively last school year and was a big force in preseason camp.

Crouse figures to be the centerpiece offensively, considering Thunderbolt quarterbacks always collect big yards.

New faces in the crowd: Hildebrand will be the No. 2 quarterback behind Crouse and could play some at safety. Other sophomores to watch include linemen Jake Bankert and Darren Dickensheets and running back Dustin DeGroft.

Mark your calendar: Lippy said the Thunderbolts' opener against a Boiling Springs team they beat 45-7 last year is important to start the season positively. Figure the Sept. 16 home game against Delone and Oct. 28 road game against Bermudian Springs to be important, too.
dpaulling@eveningsun.com; 637-3736 ext. 139

Two-minute drill

RYAN VAUGHN
Offensive lineman/linebacker

Which NFL player would you compare yourself to, and why? James Harrison. He's my idol. I want to be just like him.

What pregame music gets you pumped up? Heavy rock, usually. Just a whole bunch of random stuff.

Do you have a nickname? How did you get it? Everybody is calling me Captain Bear-Slayer Vaughn. I went bear hunting in Maine in May, and I came back with a bear.

What practice drill do you hate running the most, and why? The two-minute drill. It's high-pace, high-tempo. If we don't get the ball into the end zone in two minutes, extra conditioning at the end.

Related

· 2010 preview: Bolts search for an offensive spark

· York Daily Record 2010 Division I all-stars

· York Daily Record 2010 Division II all-stars

· York Daily Record 2010 Division III all-stars