Wilkes University head football coach Frank Sheptock has seen his Colonels go 4-6 the past two seasons, but believes he may have the depth and experience to work themselves back into an MAC contender. 

The Colonels have 34 returning players which include nine starters on offense and six on defense. Not only does Wilkes have a strong nucleus on both sides of the ball, they are also returning nearly every coach from last season which means Sheptock's system is already in place. “This is the second year we pretty much have everybody in place staff wise,” Sheptock said. “Last year we were replacing a lot of key positions, so this year we hope the experience carries over.” 

Back for the Colonels is quarterback Rob Johnson (Bridegwater, N.J./Bridgewater), who will be playing his final season at Wilkes. In his first year as a starter, Johnson completed 145-263 passes for 1,747 yards with 19 touchdowns. The Bridgewater, N.J. native ranked fourth in the league in passing yards per game and was second in touchdowns. 

Johnson will have Jordan D'Emilio (Stowe/Saint Pius X) and Gennaro Zangardi (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston) to throw to as D'Emilio caught 25 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns, while Zangardi caught 20 balls for 274 yards three scores last year. “Both Jordan and Gennaro could be dynamic players for us this year,” Sheptock said. 

The Colonels also return of slew of running backs including sophomore Harry Reese (Plymouth, PA/Wyoming Valley West), who led the team with 44.5 yards a game last year as well as Zachary Tivald (Edison, N.J./Edison), who led the team with 4.7 yards per carry. “It will be a very interesting camp in the backfield this year. We have a lot of returning guys who all have talent. They are a very hard working group,” said Sheptock. 

Perhaps most importantly, Sheptock will have all but one offensive lineman returning for Johnson and the rest of the backfield. “We are more solid on offense this year and we have more players with experience under fire. We lost some close games and we need to learn from those types of losses,” Sheptock said. 

The only holes Sheptock will have to fill are four-time all-MAC performer in Josh George (Berwick, Pa./Berwick), who anchored the offensive line and wide receiver Jason Prushinski (Wapwallopen, Pa./Crestwood), who was third in the league in receiving yards per game with 64.1 to go along with six touchdowns. 

Not only will the offense be solid this year, but the Colonels will also be counting on the services of sophomore kicker Chris Horn (New Tripoli/Northwestern Lehigh), who was one of the best in the league last season. In his first collegiate season, Horn was a perfect 9-9 in field goals and 23-25 in extra points. He led the team with 50 points and three of his nine field goals were from 40 yards or further which included a career long of 47 yards. 

While the offense looks to pick up where it left off last season, the defense will be without the services of linebacker Drew Letcavage (Kulpmont, Pa./Mt. Carmel), who led the team with 112 total tackles and 10 sacks. All is not lost for the Colonels defense as they are returning the majority of their secondary that picked up 12 passes last year. “We have a lot of experience returning in the secondary. They developed into a very strong unit last year,” Sheptock said. 

Returning at defensive back is Kevin Gerhart (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), Corey Gilroy (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) and Darnell Corbin (New Brunswick, N.J./New Brunswick), who have been mainstays in the defensive backfield for numerous seasons. Gilroy is a three-year starter, while Corbin has started the last two seasons and served as team captain last year. 

The Defensive line will feature Chris Swinarski (Old Bridge/Old Bridge) and Jimmy Moore, who combined for 14 sacks and 49 tackles last year. “We have a good nucleus on defense, we just need to find out depth,” Sheptock said.
“Our main priority on defense is stopping the run. We had two games start to finish where we stopped the run and struggled in the other games. Not being able to stop the run is vastly different than what we are accustomed to,” Sheptock said. 

The Colonels will start the 2009 season with back-to-back home games against Muhlenberg and Montclair State on Sept. 5 and 12. They will head to Newport News, Va. On Sept. 26 to face Christopher Newport followed by an Oct. 3 date with Albright in Reading, Pa. Wilkes will also host Lebanon Valley on Oct. 10 as well as FDU-Florham and Widener on Oct. 24 and Nov. 7. “We are playing a lot of successful programs. We like the competition. Muhlenberg and Christopher Newport both won their conference championships last season so those two teams will really give us a gauge on where we are.”