Wilson football enters 2023 season with new mentality

Following the graduation of 2022 Berks Player of the Year Cameron Jones, Wilson enters the 2023 season with a new mentality.

Jones scored 26 total touchdowns for the Bulldogs, five of which came on special teams, and was the All-Berks Offensive Back and Defensive Back of the Year. While Jones made an impact in all three phases of the game, Wilson coach Doug Dahms said the team’s success will not depend on the performance of one player this season.

“When you have a person like Cam Jones, everybody on the team is looking for him to do something because he has that ability,” Dahms said. “We don’t have those players this year. We have a really nice, solid group of players, but everybody has to pull for each other. Everybody has to do their job.”

With the help of Jones, the Bulldogs finished 8-3, including 5-1 in Section 1 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, and qualified for the District 3 Class 6A playoffs. While their success will ride on the collective play of all 11 players on the field in 2023, Dahms said the team’s goals remain exactly the same.

“Goals, as far as I’m concerned, never change,” Dahms said. “You win the first game, you beat Mifflin, you win the league, and then you go as deep in the playoffs as you can.”

Wilson senior Tommy Hunsicker is back for his second season as the starting quarterback. Last year, Hunsicker completed 77-of-140 passes for 1,065 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also ran for 525 yards and two touchdowns on 107 attempts.

“He did a nice job,” Dahms said. “We’re expecting a big year from him.”

Hunsicker’s 55% completion rate ranked fifth among Berks quarterbacks. He threw nine interceptions, something which he looks to improve upon this season.

“I want to get better every week at being able to read that particular defense that we’re going against,” Hunsicker said. “Get (the ball) to my playmakers.”

Hunsicker’s playmakers include senior wide receivers Edison Case and Austin Valukevich. An All-Berks selection last season, Case led the Bulldogs with 25 catches for 490 yards and five touchdowns, and Valukevich had nine catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Case is expected to handle the punt returning duties. Sophomore running back Correll Akings and senior running back Ahmir Welmaker will serve as kick returners.

“Eddie Case and Austin Valukevich are 6-3 targets that can run and catch,” Dahms said. “We have a nice crew of receivers.”

While they have depth at wide receiver, Dahms said he is unsure who the No. 1 running back will be following the graduation of Jones and Cleveland Harding. Wilson’s top three returning running backs are senior Nick Fiorini (88 rushing yards in 2022), Akings (86 yards) and Welmaker (80 yards).

“If we can block (and) if we can run the ball, we’ll be good offensively,” Dahms said. “We have to establish our running game.”

The Bulldogs held their opponents to 16 points per game last season, the third-fewest among Berks teams. However, with a younger defensive unit this season, Dahms looks for some of his new starters to make an early splash.

“Defensively, we’re going to have to jell real early,” Dahms said. “We’re very inexperienced.”

Wilson will open the season at Roman Catholic on Friday at 7 p.m. before hosting Central Dauphin at Gurski Stadium in Week 2. The Bulldogs lost to Roman Catholic, a 2022 PIAA Class 5A playoff qualifier, 46-15 last year.

“Roman Catholic is loaded again,” Dahms said. “That’s going to be a good game for us. It will tell us right off the bat how far we’ve come and where we got to get to.”

The Bulldogs will host Reading High on Sept. 15 and Gov. Mifflin on Sept. 29. They defeated both last year.

Wilson will play at defending Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 champion Hempfield on Oct. 6. The Bulldogs’ only league loss last year came against the Black Knights.

“All these teams are going to be competitive,” Hunsicker said. “We can’t take a week off (or) even a play off in a game.”

Despite the tough schedule, the Bulldogs said they believe they can have another successful season.

“We always have a good game plan,” senior left guard and middle linebacker Ryan McMillan said. “It’s all about us going out and executing the game plan and just performing right. If we do that, we’re going to win.”

A look at the Bulldogs

Coach: Doug Dahms, 18th season, 178-38.

Last year: 5-1 Lancaster-Lebanon Section 1, 8-3; District 3 Class 6A quarterfinalist.

PIAA classification: 6A.

Schedule: Aug. 25, at Roman Catholic; Sept. 1, Central Dauphin; Sept. 8, at Martin Luther King; Sept. 15, Reading High; Sept. 22, at Cedar Crest; Sept. 29, Gov. Mifflin; Sept. 6, at Hempfield; Oct. 13, Penn Manor; Oct. 20, at McCaskey; Oct. 27, Manheim Township.