Postseason Coverage Part 1

In 2006, the Marple Newtown Tigers, under the direction of current head football coach Ray Gionta, made their first playoff appearance in the history of the program under the current postseason format that the PIAA established in 1988.

Three years later, the Tigers have been invited back to the single elimination tournament that will start throughout Pennsylvania on November 13/14 and will end in Hershey on December 18/19.

Despite ending the 2009 season on a tough loss at home against Radnor on November 6th, Marple Newtown posted a 7-3 record overall which earned the Tigers the sixth seed in the District One Class AAA standings. The Tigers will travel to the site of the number three seed, Owen J. Roberts, on Friday November 13th to embark on their playoff journey to Hershey, PA.

Below, EyeOfTheTigersBlog.com has partnered with the Tigers Radio Network to provide our readers and listeners with a statistical comparison of the 2006 team to the current team, former and current player reactions, and a preview of Friday night’s game in Pottstown, PA.

Today (Tuesday November 10th), we will take a look at and compare the offense of 2006 to the offense of 2009.

Both teams played ten regular season games (1 non-league and 9 Central League games) prior to the playoffs. The 2006 team played the entire Central League slate in the following order: Upper Darby, Lower Merion, Springfield, Strath Haven, Penncrest, Ridley, Radnor, Haverford and Conestoga. This year however, the Central League was split into two divisions due to the addition of Garnet Valley and Harriton. Due to that fact, the Tigers played all of the previously mentioned teams in 2009 sans Lower Merion and Ridley.

Just like the current offensive unit, the 2006 unit ran the Wing-T offense which was under the field direction of Jon Liberty (QB, #17). Liberty, a two-year starter from 2005-06, was a capable quarterback who in the regular season went 22 for 57 for 397 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. He had a measly 38.6% completion percentage and a QB rating of 116.75. Liberty also ran the ball for 210 yards on 65 touches (3.2 yards per rush) and had 7 rushing touchdowns.

The 2009 offensive unit is run by Kevin Johnson (QB, #15). Johnson, also a two-year starter from 2008-09, is a terrific game manager. During this regular season, Johnson had 49 completions on 83 attempts for 672 yards including 8 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions. Johnson’s completion percentage is 59% and he boasts a QB rating of 151.62. On the ground, Johnson has ran the ball 50 times for 125 yards (2.5 yards per rush) and has 5 rushing touchdowns.

The 2006 backfield comprised of John Rutecki (RB, #32) and John Gallagher (RB, #28). Both backs combined for 1,206 rushing yards on 216 carries for the Tigers. Rutecki had 3 rushing touchdowns while Gallagher had 5 touchdowns on the ground in 2006. Also in the mix during that season was Steve Giordano who added 30 carries for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns.

The top four backs respectively for 2006, Rutecki, Gallagher, Liberty and Giordano, combined for 1,677 yards on 311 rushes giving the Tigers 5.4 yards per carry.

Coincidentally in 2009, the Marple Newtown Tigers rely heavily on two running backs that share the same first name just like Rutecki and Gallagher. Ryan Duffy (RB, #2) and Ryan White (RB, #18) have combined for 1,577 yards on 252 carries for Marple Newtown this season. Duffy has 4 touchdowns while White edges him by one with 5 total.

Although White lags behind Duffy in total rushing yards (Duffy-901, White-676), White is also a threat on special teams. He has 8 kickoff returns for 220 yards (27.5 average) including a 92-yard return for a touchdown for a total of 1,124 all-purpose yards through 10 weeks.

The third best back in yardage on the current team is Mario Dioguardi (RB, #33). Dioguardi has 63 carries for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The top four backs in the following order for the 2009 Tigers, Duffy, White, Dioguardi and Johnson, have combined for 2,054 yards on 365 carries that gives the 2009 offense 5.6 yards per carry.

The current Tigers offense however has the edge over the 2006 offense because of the 2009 receiving corps. Only one player in 2006 posted triple digit receiving yardage. Pat Aigeldinger (SE, #4) had 7 catches for 196 and 2 touchdowns during the regular season. The only other player close to 100 yards receiving was John Gallagher who had 8 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The 2009 Tigers have three players that have posted 100 yards or more in receiving in 10 weeks. White leads the team with 19 receptions for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carl Kasarsky (RB, #22) leads the team in receiving yards with 269 on 18 catches including 2 touchdowns. The third receiving threat on the 2009 offense is Vince Christiana (SE, #81), who has pulled down 4 receptions for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns.

MAJOR STATISTICAL CATEGORIES ON OFFENSE

Statistical Category	2006	2009
Points Scored	231	244
Pts Scored per Game	23.1	24.4
First Downs	106	150
Rushing Attempts	380	405
Net Yards Rushing	2,013	2,337
Yards per Rush	5.3	5.8
Yards Rushing per Game	201.3	233.7
Rushing Touchdowns	25	23
Net Yards Passing	397	672
Comp-Att-INT	22-58-1	49-83-3
Completion %	37.9%	59%
Yards per Completion	18.0	13.7
Yards Passing per Game	39.7	67.2
Passing Touchdowns	4	8
Pass Efficiency Rating	114.74	151.62
Total Offensive Plays	438	488
Total Net Yards	2,410	3,009
Average Gain per Play	5.5	6.2
Average Yards per Game	241.0	300.9
Time of Possession – Total	225:27	258:56
3rd Down Conversion %	31.5%	47.8%
4th Down Conversion %	28.6%	40.0%
Number of Drives	102	86