[tps_title] Owen J. Roberts Wildcats [/tps_title]
Owen J. Roberts had a reason to celebrate last season after defeating Pottstown in their annual Thanksgiving Day contest. However, a 7-5 season isn’t what OJR had in mind as defensive coordinator Jeremy Mellon called it “disappointing.” (Sam Stewart – DFM)
OJR ready to “Get Some” more wins in 17
BUCKTOWN >> Building a winning culture may materialize slower than anticipated.
The arrival of head coach Rich Kolka three seasons ago brought major changes to the old Wildcat way, a sweeping change of offense and defensive philosophies yielding marginal improvement in the past two seasons as Owen J. Roberts has emerged from the Pioneer Athletic Conference basement with 6-6 and 7-5 marks the past two seasons.
Now, as the PAC’s Liberty Division undergoes a massive overhaul of talent, it’s the Wildcats that stand out as favorites to take the next step. 
The goal? “Get some.”
Get some wins, that is.
With a “disappointing” 7-5 season in the rearview, the Wildcats return 18 starters from last season’s team and are poised to right the wrongs from last season. The solutions: start fast, gain momentum, lean on experience, stay consistent.
“I think we all agreed from the staff down to the players that we underachieved,” OJR defensive coordinator Jeremy Mellon said at the annual PAC Media Day at Spring-Ford earlier in August. “That wasn’t where we wanted to be, but it’s lessons that we hopefully have learned that will help us win those games this year. We have to be consistent everyday or we’ll be back to 6-6 or 7-5.”
Keeping away from the middling .500 will be the goal for OJR, which got off to a strong start with a 39-0 trouncing over Conestoga before entering a win-one, lose-one pace until a three-game winning streak ended a season that had the Wildcats on the outside looking in on a district playoff berth.
Senior quarterback Dawson Stuart, who threw for 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns but 18 interceptions, has all the faith this year will be the year the Wildcats “Get Some.”
“The first season we were installing everything so we were a bit slow and the second season we knew what we had but we were still trying to work things out,” he said. “Now, we know what we’re doing, we’re experienced players so there should be no excuse of a slow start or a bad year.”
Stuart’s return is one of the highlights for the veteran Wildcats, who also return Pottstown Mercury All-Area Honorable Mention selections Ted Bradford (two interceptions last season) and middle linebacker Brendan Krumenacker. Their return should be well received for a defense that finished second in the league behind Spring-Ford.
“We’re returning 18 out of 22 starters and that’s pretty big,” Krumenacker said. “We have a few young kids coming in and they’re stepping up. We got a lot more experience coming in this year. We’re ready to put everything together.”
Needs to be replaced
Finding replacements for former All-Area first-teamer Nick Duliakas and Dan Hultz along the defensive interior is key. Led by the two graduated starters, the Wildcats finished third in rushing yards allowed per game (110).
Off the Snide
OJR snapped a Week 1 losing streak to Conestoga dating back to 2009 with the resounding 39-0 victory over the Pioneers last season.
Shut Out or be Shutout
The Wildcats were a part of five shutouts last season, defeating Conestoga (39-0), Upper Merion (12-0) and Boyertown (29-0) while falling to Spring-Ford (58-0) and West Chester Henderson (35-0).
By Sam Stewart; sstewart@pottsmerc.com
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