Young Springdale lineup looks to cap season on high note against Vincentian

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | 4:36 PM

It didn’t take much convincing for Springdale when Vincentian approached the Dynamos with the suggestion of a Week 10 football game.

Springdale’s young roster could use some more seasoning, and one more game provided a perfect opportunity.

The Dynamos will travel to Lt. J.T. Stone Field in North Park at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for one final game to close out their 2018 season.

“We’re definitely excited,” Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski said. “I brought it to the team (after Vincentian approached us); I wanted it to be something they wanted to do and let them take a vote on it. It was a unanimous yes that they wanted to do this, and we’re excited to play another game.”

The graduation of 17 seniors from a 2017 WPIAL playoff qualifier left Springdale shorthanded and inexperienced, and the Dynamos (1-8) missed the playoffs for just the second time in 17 seasons.

Springdale has just four seniors, only two of whom start in quarterback/defensive back Josh Jones and lineman Elijah Lang, but Napierkowski said he saw some improvement as the season progressed. The Dynamos beat Northgate, 14-11, in a Week 6 nonconference game, and Napierkowski said the team showed offensive improvement in losses to Clairton and Leechburg the last two weeks.

“If we can take advantage and come away with a victory, that bodes well for our offseason,” Napierkowski said. “It kind of gets us started on a good note, and hopefully we can ride that into next season.”

Vincentian also is trying to build its program back up after not fielding a team in 2017. The Royals, led by former Deer Lakes coach T.J. Wiley, played a handful of games this fall on a non-WPIAL schedule and are hoping to rejoin the WPIAL in the coming years.

“For the most part, everyone’s coming back,” Napierkowski said. “For those guys, it’s a little more experience. And for the seniors, it’s one more opportunity to get out there. We’re so young, we had freshmen and sophomores all over the field. A lot of them have been learning at the varsity level, and any rep you can take at that level is huge. It’s going to benefit them down the road.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Springdale