New coach brings wide-ranging changes to Springdale program

By: Michael Love
Monday, August 22, 2022 | 12:01 PM

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It was a busy senior night last fall for the Springdale football team.

Seventeen team members were honored, and many of them were key two-way starters and contributors.

As the page turned to a new season, first-year Dynamos coach Ryan Tempalski, who was hired in March, and his staff were eager to see what the mix of returning and new players had to offer as every spot on both sides of the ball was up for grabs.

“I told some of the returning coaches that I didn’t wanted any advance information about the players,” Tempalski said. “I wanted to see it for myself.”

That evaluation kicked into high gear over the summer and continued this month as Springdale hopes to again be a playoff factor in the Eastern Conference.

“The progression was really evident as we moved through July,” Tempalski said.

He comes to Springdale after a recent three-year stint as an assistant at Bentworth.

“From March, when I was hired, through May, we had really good strides from the kids in the weight room, and that set a strong foundation,” Tempalski said. “They accepted and embraced the structure and design of what we wanted to accomplish with the work they put in. Because so many graduated, these guys understood the opportunities they had, and they were ready to show me that they were ready to play football. They understood that I and my assistants were going to be on them through every rep and every sprint.”

Tempalski said the summer work was valuable in developing a group of players who will represent Springdale on the field this fall.

“Nothing is the same as what they did last year to now in terms of a system with the offense and defense and also the expectations for conditioning,” Tempalski said. “Everything is new to them. Change is never easy, but they’ve taken it in stride every day.”

Junior Chase Weihrauch led the returning players in receptions (7) and receiving yards (171) last year. Tempalski expects him to have an expansive role in the offense.

“Chase has been a great leader for this team, and we communicated daily throughout the summer,” Tempalski said. “He’s always listening, and with only being a junior, he has a lot of varsity learning still to do. He is a great example of someone who has taken to what I want the team to do. He’s a great player, and I’ve come to know him as a great person who loves this team and his teammates.

“Whatever position he plays on offense or defense, it doesn’t matter. I expect him to make a big impact and have a breakout year as a standout varsity player.”

Tempalski said sophomore Garrett Myers, listed as a tight end and defensive end last year, responded to work in the weight room, as did a couple of linemen in junior Mark Spence and senior Matt Sovick.

Sophomore Colton Gent, Tempalski said, also is making an impact and should be a factor at a skill position on offense and in the secondary on defense.

“I can’t say I’ve seen a sophomore ever take leadership reins like this kid has,” Tempalski said. “He is hungry, and you can see it in every rep that he does. He’s hungry to get better.”

Senior Nathan Folmar, Tempalski said, is another two-way lineman who hopes to shine in a returning starting varsity role.

“You can tell he’s going to be ready for game day,” Tempalski said. “He will be a true leader of this team.”

Tempalski said he was excited to see how the players would perform in their lone scrimmage against Chartiers-Houston.

Springdale will kick off its season at Ligonier Valley and will play additional nonconference matchups against Northgate and Union.

The Dynamos went 3-4 in Eastern Conference play last year and finished 7-5 overall with an upset victory, 28-0, at West Greene in the WPIAL Class A first round.

Offseason alignment changes took Bishop Canevin and Imani Christian out of the conference and brought in Frazier.

“The conference is going to be tough again, knowing what Clairton and Leechburg have and how improved Jeannette should be,” Tempalski said. “They have a new coach, and there is a new coach at Frazier, too. I know Frazier from coaching at Bentworth. GCC, with Marko Thomas over there, is getting better and better. It will be a trying conference schedule. We just have to battle and be ready every Friday.”

Springdale

Coach: Ryan Tempalski

2021 record: 7-5, 3-4 in Class A Eastern Conference

All-time record: 425-474-30

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.26 at Ligonier Valley, 7

9.2 at Northgate, 7

9.9 Summit Academy, 7

9.16 at Leechburg*, 7

9.23 Greensburg Central Catholic*, 7

9.30 at Union, 7

10.7 at Clairton*, 7

10.14 Frazier*, 7

10.21 at Jeannette*, 7

10.28 Riverview*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Legend Ausk*

43-141, 859 yards, 13 TDs

Rushing: Logan Dexter*

108-643, 11 TDs

Receiving: John Utiss*

15-329, 4 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Springdale coach Ryan Tempalski began his high school coaching career in 2007 and has served on coaching staffs at Burgettstown, Keystone Oaks, Yough, Cornell, Peters Township, Elizabeth Forward and Fort Cherry.

• The Dynamos in 2022 will attempt to make the WPIAL playoffs for the third year in a row after a two-year hiatus.

• The Springdale offense produced 22.6 points a game last year, and the defense surrendered 16.3 a contest.

• The Dynamo defense pitched back-to-back shutouts last year — Riverview in the regular-season finale and West Greene in the WPIAL first round — for the first time since 2012. That year, Springdale blanked four teams — Wilkinsburg, Leechburg, Apollo-Ridge and Northgate — en route to a 6-3 regular-season record and a spot in the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

ROSTER

No., Name, Pos., Ht./Wt., Cl.

2, Colton Gent, RB/DB, 5-10/165, So.

5, Brayden Layhew, QB/LB, 5-10/175, Jr.

6, Noah Robbins, RB/LB, 5-8/185, So.

8, Caleb Gent, WR/DB, 5-9/160, So.

10, Riley Betts, WR/DB, 5-11/170, Sr.

11, Chase Weihrauch, QB/LB, 6-0/175, Jr.

14, Owen Scheuring, WR/DB, 6-0/140, Jr.

25, Noah Bradley, RB/LB, 5-10/175, Jr.

28, Dominic Shearer, WR/DB, 5-5/140, Fr.

29, RJ Lyandis, WR/DB, 5-6/130, Fr.

32, Landon Richards, WR/LB, 6-1/160, Jr.

39, Nathan Gebauer, QB/LB, 5-9/160, Fr.

53, Joey Loebig, OL/DL, 5-10/190, Fr.

61, Nathan Folmer, OL/DL, 6-0/255, Sr.

62, Austin Murray, OL/DL, 6-1/220, Jr.

66, Matt Sovick, OL/DL, 6-2/295, Sr.

71, Giovanni Tommarello, OL/DL, 5-11/230, Jr.

72, Anthony Spirk-Gilbert, OL/LB, 5-7/235, So.

73, Mark Spence, OL/DL, 6-0/335, Jr.

75, Noah Abaray, OL/DL, 5-10/245, So.

82, Garrett Myers, TE/LB, 6-1/190, So.

84, Collin Hails, RB/LB, 5-6/130, Fr.

Note: Due to a production scheduling conflict, the preview for Eastern Conference member Frazier will appear on Trib HSSN later this week.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.