Checking in: William Penn football
William Penn opens its season tomorrow night with a trip to Reading, which will no doubt have revenge on its mind after the 49-13 beatdown the Bearcats laid on them last year
Going into the season, William Penn has to be one of the more intriguing storylines in YAIAA football. The Bearcats have a new face at the helm in former Biglerville coach Tim Hibbs, and have to replace 17 departed starters, including current Connecticut wideout Malik Generett.
Wednesday night, I caught up with Hibbs over the phone to see how his team is looking ahead of tomorrow's opener. Here's a sampling of the Q & A.
With a few weeks of practice and a couple scrimmages under your belt, what's your sense of the team going into Friday?
Friday will be our first test. We're very young. We gotta replace a lot of guys. We'll see if they're ready for primetime. I know Reading is looking at this to see if they can get some revenge for a few of those games when we beat them.
With so many departed players, have you seen new players step up to take leadership roles?
We're still in the process of fostering and trying to develop that. It probably hasn't developed as fast as I would have liked. But I think I have some guys might get out there Friday and come out of their shell a little bit.
Is this a situation where some of those starting spots might not be decided for certain until a few games into the season.
We're continually evaluating our guys and trying to figure out what we have here. Hopefully by the time the conference games start we'll have a little better sense.
What do you know about Reading?
They're a very well-coached team and they like to spread things out. They have a very accurate quarterback and they like to run those little short outs. They got some guys that can go get the ball.
Defense, they have a 3-4 look. They run to the ball pretty well. They going to bring guys from all angles. We better be ready for those guys, because I know they're going to be ready for us.
What did you see from your team's scrimmages?
It's a work in process. We thought we got better each week. Ultimately in your last game you want to be better than your first game.
Do you sense some of those new guys on the team are just anxious to finally get out on the field?
Oh, definitely. We're anxious. I think everybody across all of Pennsylvania is anxious to get out there Friday night. That's what we prepare for.