Rick O'Brien: A season of challenges

With the 2009 season set to kick off in a few hours, let's take a look at some pressing matters for area teams, noteworthy returning players, and some miscellaneous items mixed in with a few predictions:

You can't say St. Joseph's Prep hides from anyone. The Hawks start with Western Pennsylvania power McKeesport, NJSIAA Non-Public Group 4 toughie St. Peter's (N.J.), and Suburban One League juggernaut North Penn.

For one of the Suburban One League's four Class AAAA heavies – North Penn, Neshaminy, Pennsbury and Abington – to make big-time noise, it will take steady progress from mostly new personnel on the offensive and defensive lines.

North Penn brings back only center J.D. Dzurko; Neshaminy is going to lean heavily on two-way linemen Isaac Bailey and Nick DiDonato in the early going; Pennsbury's lone veteran in the trenches, albeit a rock-solid one, is defensive tackle Josh Mitchell; and Abington returns only tackle/defensive end Nick DiSandro.

The squad that finds the best replacements and irons out the kinks the quickest has the best chance of being a contender come mid-November.

One of the area's best-kept secrets is Bristol running back Woodrow Vorters. In his career, the 5-foot-9, 205-pounder has rushed 347 times for 3,467 yards and 56 touchdowns. He is 214 yards away from becoming the school's all-time rushing leader.

John Iannucci, 56, takes over as coach at downtrodden Harry S Truman, which has won only five games over the last three seasons and is 25-80 since 2000.

This is Iannucci's ninth head-coaching gig. His stops have included Cherry Hill East, Langley (Va.), Clifton (N.J.), Iona Prep (N.Y.), and Paterson Eastside (N.J.) He was an assistant at Cornell and the offensive coordinator at William Paterson University, a Division III school in Wayne, N.J.

Of accepting the daunting task of rebuilding Truman, Iannucci said, "It's what I do. People hire me to turn programs around."

Despite having only 45 players out for the team, he was decidedly upbeat. "I'm getting the chance to do something I've wanted to do since I was 18 years old."

Iannucci said he wants more than a halfhearted commitment from his players and administrators at Truman.

"You want to beat the Neshaminys?" he rhetorically asked. "You have to do what the Neshaminys do. You have to have a year-round program."

How's this for an earthshaking matchup? On Oct. 16, George Washington's Sharrif Floyd (6-3, 310) will be pitted against similarly mammoth Frankford lineman Tauheed Smith (6-5, 360). The two are cousins.

Though they cherish their new roles, Malvern Prep's Kevin Pellegrini and Ridley's Dennis Decker are in the unfortunate position of replacing coaching masters.

Before passing the baton to his son, Gamp Pellegrini posted a 219-86-8 mark and won 20 Inter-Academic League championships (four shared) in 37 seasons.

At Ridley, John Waller went 79-21 in eight seasons, claimed a pair of Central League titles, and captured a District 1 Class AAAA title in 2007.

By the way, Malvern Prep is coming off a 10-0 season. The Friars outscored foes by 424-115 and were No. 1 in The Inquirer's final Southeastern Pennsylvania rankings.

Yep, in both cases, H-U-G-E shoes to fill.

Quotable. Hatboro-Horsham's Dave Sanderson, on playing and coaching under former Frankford coaching great Al Angelo: "He had a way of making every guy feel as if he was the most important player in the world."

A lot can happen between now and Nov. 7, but here's our prediction of the playoff qualifiers in District 1's top two enrollment classifications, in order of seeding:

AAAA (16): Downingtown West, Neshaminy, Penncrest, Pennsbury, Garnet Valley, Quakertown, Abington, North Penn, Ridley, Downingtown East, Chester, Coatesville, Wissahickon, Souderton, Council Rock North, Unionville.

AAA (8): Pottsgrove, West Chester Rustin, Owen J. Roberts, Upper Moreland, Strath Haven, Great Valley, Interboro, Phoenixville.