Conrad Weiser football suffered a feeling in 2022 that the program had not felt in 16 years.
The Scouts did not make the playoffs.
Weiser started 3-2, but lost five straight to end the season at 2-5 in Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, 3-7 overall.
“We got too comfortable,” said senior lineman Joe Randler. “Didn’t feel like we had to work as hard as we did and that hurt us.”
In their final five games, the Scouts were outscored by 222-39.
“We want to see more competition out of our guys,” Weiser offensive coordinator Dan Browne said. “We had a young team last year. We have a lot of those guys returning. They’re still young. We’re a junior-heavy team again, but they got valuable experience last year. You can’t substitute experience, especially the section that we’re in the competition we played, they’re going to be better for it.
“You know it’s tough to try to win all these games with the schedule we have. We want to be more competitive. The guys committed to what they needed to do in the offseason. I think they learned some valuable lessons and I think we’re going to be better for it.”
The Scouts’ lackluster season led to the team and coaching staff striving this offseason to get back to their winning ways in Robesonia.
But not only do they want to qualify for playoffs, they want to do so after capturing the Section 4 title.
“It’s always a goal to win a championship, that section championship, but always to go on and play some type of postseason ball and that (last season) was disappointing,” Weiser head coach Al Moyer said. “It’s a tough league and it’s gonna be tough this year. … So it’s gonna be just as competitive this year as it was last year.”
Under Moyer, the Scouts are 136-87 in his 20 seasons. He also has received five Coach of the Year awards in his career.
So what is the key to turning last season into just one off year?
“Stay consistent,” said junior Donavan Gingrich, the starting quarterback. “The first five games were pretty good and then the last five we started slowly digressing. We have to learn to stay consistent.”
“I think we have to stay more focused on the objective and not just mess around at practice staying more focused,” said junior Evan Miller, a linebacker and tight end.
One key player to help the Scouts reverse their fortunes this season is Gingrich.
As a sophomore, he completed 108-of-221 passes for 1,368 yards and 11 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.
His coaches said they believe he took another step as he has improved in the offseason.
“I watched him do some stuff in the offseason, compete in 7-on-7s, work with a private quarterback trainer, do his own thing, and work with us,” Browne said. “He’s far and beyond where he was. Seeing the field, understanding the concepts, and reading defenses.”
“I think he looks good,” Moyer said of Gingrich. ”He looked good in the preseason here. Hopefully, we’re gonna give him a little bit more running responsibility to share. We didn’t allow him to do a whole lot. Offensive coordinator’s got another year under his belt. He was kind of thrown to the dogs last year. So we feel much better, obviously, going into this season.”
Gingrich does lose last year’s top receiver in Trey Dianna, who graduated. Dianna led the Scouts with 457 yards and four touchdowns on 32 receptions.
The staff and team believe that Dianna’s production will be replaced by a multitude of receivers, including senior Josh Miller.
“We have a complement of guys that we think can kind of pick up those yards and those receptions,” Browne said. “Josh Miller, who started the season off very well, wound up with a hand injury. In the second half of the season, he couldn’t really contribute. We had him out there but he was very limited.
“If you look at him in the first part of our season, he had a buck 20 (121 yards) against Twin Valley and a touchdown. He had two scores in our Elco game early in the season, having him back healthy is going to be huge.”
Miller finished last season with 24 receptions for 306 yards and three touchdowns.
Along with Miller, other receivers expected to contribute are Miller and junior Evan Rittle. Miller had five receptions for 40 yards in 2022. Rittle had 17 receptions for 170 yards and one touchdown.
On defense, the Scouts will run a five-man front, but could switch things up if needed.
“We just haven’t been good,” Moyer said of his defense. “We got to get better at defending these teams and stopping people. We put a huge emphasis on that. So we’ll see how things play out in the next couple of weeks.”
Moyer said he thinks the Scouts had a productive offseason. Not only does the staff have the expectation to make this season a successful one, but so do all the players.
Their consensus is that the Scouts have the talent to make a deep playoff run.
“This preseason we’re preparing ourselves and I think the kids did respond,” Moyer said. “Had some good solid workouts over the last five or six months and hopefully it’ll pay off. … The kids are excited. We’re excited as a staff. The only way to get that ugly taste out of your mouth is to get right back in and it’s a long way. It’s a long way since last season. Definitely waiting to remove that taste.”
A look at the Scouts
Coach: Al Moyer, 21st season, 136-87.
Last year: 2-5 Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4, 3-7.
PIAA classification: 4A.
Schedule: Aug. 25, at Garden Spot; Sept. 1, at Fleetwood; Sept. 8, Twin Valley; Sept. 15, at Elco; Sept. 22, Octorara; Sept. 29, Berks Catholic; Oct. 6, at Donegal; Oct. 14, at Wyomissing; Oct. 20, Lampeter-Strasburg; Oct. 27, Cocalico.
