by Brian Heard
Gazette
10-17-2007

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007
Eagles’ defense is getting offensive
Seneca Valley football team creating turnovers, scoring points in dominating, unbeaten 6-0 start to season
by Brian Heard | Staff Writer

Is Seneca Valley’s offense more versatile this season? Yes. But so is its defense, at least in terms of creating turnovers and scoring points. And that has been just as large a factor in the Screaming Eagles’ unbeaten, 6-0 start as the balance between the running and passing game on offense.
Seneca has already intercepted 12 passes and returned three of those for scores. Junior cornerback Joe Rankin is the chief thief, picking off four passes and taking two back for touchdowns. Junior safety Xavier Hughes has three picks. Junior linebacker Dominique Chase returned one 61 yards for a score in Friday’s 45-0 thrashing of Wheaton. Chase also has returned a fumble for a touchdown this season. Seneca has recovered five fumbles on the year.
‘‘I think people initially look at our team and say, ‘Hey, they’re throwing the ball more, and they’re able to do more things on offense’. And they think we’re more difficult to defend,” said Seneca coach Fred Kim. ‘‘But I don’t think we’re doing a lot more on offense. I think the real difference is the turnover ratio has been huge in our favor. We’re getting more possessions on our offense because our defense keeps giving us the ball back.”

The Eagles picked off seven passes all of last season and created just 14 turnovers in 11 games and did not score any points with its defense. So the difference has been staggering.

But there also is a difference on offense. Last season, starting quarterback George Lerch was a sophomore, and the coaching staff did not want to put pressure on him to make plays, especially with a dominating offensive line and one of the best running backs in school history in Shawn Perry. Lerch threw for only 554 yards and five touchdowns in 67 attempts. This fall, he’s already attempted 82 passes and completed 45 for 673 yards and 10 scores.

‘‘We knew he could play,” Kim said of Lerch. ‘‘But we didn’t want to put the game in his hands as a sophomore. This year, he worked so hard in the off-season, he’s ready. He has all the physical skills. But the biggest thing is he has tremendous poise, he doesn’t panic. He’s a great kid with great character. He’s like a coach on the field, he knows where everybody on the field is supposed to be at all times. It’s the intangibles, not just the physical tools.”

One additional physical tool Lerch possesses is the ability to run. He has 148 yards and four scores on the ground too. And Seneca certainly has not abandoned its ground attack. Senior Jamaal Martin has been sensational, rushing for 729 yards and 12 touchdowns in only five games — he sat out week one.

The more balanced offense, the more opportunistic defense have all played major roles in the Eagles’ dominating start — they lead the county’s public schools in scoring (253 points, tied with Good Counsel for first in the county overall) by over 50 points. But, the schedule to this point in the season has not been particularly daunting — their opponents’ combined record is 10-26. That changes starting this week. The Eagles travel to Kennedy (4-2) Friday, the place where their season shockingly ended last November in the first round of the playoffs, to play a team which probably needs to win to stay in the playoff picture. Next week, mighty Damascus (5-1) comes to Germantown, as two of the county’s traditional powers meet for the first time since 2000.

‘‘There’s certainly more intensity at practice this week,” Kim said. ‘‘The kids know who’s coming up on the schedule and they’re excited and they’re practicing even harder, so hopefully that means we’ll be even sharper.”