[tps_title]Abington Galloping Ghosts [/tps_title]
Assistant Coach Dave Laughlin (left) steps into a 7×7 play with the Abington Ghosts football team in order to demonstrate a technique to the players. (Rachel Wisniewski – Pa Prep Live)
Ghosts want to get going on the ground
ABINGTON >> Jackson Taylor — a 6-1, 235-pound piece to the Abington puzzle — was forced to miss last year’s season opener due to a high ankle sprain. So the senior is looking forward to this one with a high degree of anticipation. 
“They didn’t get the regular dose last year,” he said with a big smile, “the regular dose of Jackson.”
A “regular dose of Jackson” could spell trouble for opposing run defenses this fall. The fullback’s battering blocks may blow open holes for one Darryl Davis-McNeil, who sped away to 1,875 yards and 18 touchdowns last year in driving the Ghosts to the District One Class 6A playoffs.
“We’re gonna feed him a lot. Let’s put it that way,” coach Kevin Conlin said. “We could be dynamic or we could just be ‘let’s put our hands in the dirt and come down hill.’ We got some big boys too, which is nice.”
The Ghosts come at you in a variety of ways.
Asked what the Ghosts primarily run, Conlin said with a laugh: “It’s like (former coach Tim) Sorber and I used to call it: multiple gimmick.”
That includes some pistol, jet sweep, and the basic double fullbacks and goal-line formations. A former defensive coordinator for 15 years, Conlin knows what type of things can put the most pressure on a defense.
And he’s excited with the idea of a gifted back like Davis-McNeil running through holes gashed open by Taylor.
“I think he’s the most physical back I’ve seen in a long time,” Conlin said of Davis-McNeil. “He doesn’t run the ball much and he doesn’t mind that. His goal is to be physical at the point of attack, and that’s what he’s great for.”
Finding the Right Mix
The backs are all set for the Ghosts. Now it’s time to finish building things up front.
“I know as well as everybody else that you must win with the offensive line and right now we’re rebuilding it,” Conlin said. “We only have one starter coming back in Tom Lukens (Jr., 6-1, 263). So we’re trying guys out at different spots. We’re looking for the right mix of five or six guys.”
The Ghosts feel they have the right people and are just looking for that right combination.
“I think there’s a lot of potential,” Taylor said of the offense as a whole. “We just have to bring it out in each other on the practice field and in the weight room.”
“We’re not taking anything for granted,” Davis-McNeil said of building upon last year’s run to the playoffs. “We have to come back stronger, faster. We work hard now and it’s gonna pay off.”
Good Test
Abington got to square off against another SOL power in the preseason, and that would be Continental Conference foe Pennridge.
“We’re excited about the Pennridge scrimmage because Pennridge is a very good team, very physical,” Conlin said. “They’re very big, very dynamic in their formational stuff. It’ll put a lot of pressure on us.
“It’ll be a great scrimmage to prepare us for that first game (at home against Central Bucks South).”
By Kev Hunter; khunter@21st-centurymedia.com
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