Greensburg Salem, Ligonier Valley looking to see improvement, stay unbeaten

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 | 7:48 PM

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Greensburg Salem and Ligonier Valley kicked off the season with solid wins in Week Zero. But their performances were far from perfect.

That’s why Greensburg Salem coach Ty George and Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel, along with the rest of the football coaches across the state, couldn’t wait to dissect the game film with their players.

Coaches say the most improvement they’ll get from their team is between the first and second game of the season.

That’s because they can show the players their mistakes and what they must improve.

Ligonier Valley used two touchdowns from John Jablunovsky and a solid defensive effort in a 20-7 victory against Derry.

Greensburg Salem got two special teams touchdowns from Brady Smith and converted two Albert Gallatin turnovers into scores in a 28-6 victory.

Now both will look to go to 2-0 when they square off at 7 p.m. Friday in a nonconference game at Offutt Field.

“We won the game, but we weren’t happy with a lot of things, especially when you look at a lot of fundamentals, things like head placement, hand placement and footwork,” Beitel said. “You get a chance to see it. Kids get a chance to see it, and then we get to drill it. And hopefully they have a greater sense of urgency to get their form, their fundamentals down, and get that taken care of.

“On the defensive side, you get a chance to see their little things. There were times that our takeoffs weren’t good. You see the ball snapped and we’re not taking off the ball. My mentors always stressed how the growth of a team from your first game to your second game really shows and tells you what kind of kids you have, and that’s really what we want to see. We have to see that growth for sure.”

Ligonier Valley was 2-8 in 2023, which included a loss to Greensburg Salem. The Rams were young and inexperienced. They were sacked with numerous injuries and had only one senior.

The Golden Lions also squeezed out a 35-28 victory in 2022.

Beitel had his team back to work the Monday after their final game of last season, hoping to turn around that record.

“The biggest thing is we want to see our execution in a lot of different areas improved regardless of the outcome of the game,” Beitel said. “Don’t get me wrong, we want to win a football game, but there are things that we want to work on. We have to be better when we get our first conference game against Shady Side Academy. So that’s really the main emphasis of what we have right now.

“I think every coach would agree in these nonconference games that you have to come out healthy. Last year, we came out of this game really banged up. We have an opponent that’s going to present different things and challenges for your team that you know are going to be similar to teams down the road that you’re going to play when the games count.”

One area Beitel was especially pleased with was his defensive front of Tony Lonas, Connor Faas, Lucas Krieger, Wade Lamont and Sam Caldwell.

“Our defensive line was an area of concern going into the offseason because they weren’t productive with tackles for losses and sacks,” Beitel said. “They were disruptive against Derry as a whole. Their play really improved. Their play opened things up for our linebackers — Duncan Foust and Maxx Oberley.”

Greensburg Salem comes into the game looking to improve and finish drives, George said.

“Getting to watch that game film is super important,” George said. “You’re finally getting a competitive setting where you’re playing a game that matters and counts towards the record.

“You know, both teams are excited. Both teams are ready to go. You know, everybody’s fresh, and it’s good for us to get live game reps, and then you can see what you need to get better at what you did well. It’s a really good building block.”

The Chismar brothers, Peyton and Brody, will split time at quarterback for Greensburg Salem, and Smith and Kai Brunot will share time at running back. Peyton Chismar and Brunot rushed for touchdowns in the second half last week.

“I think every game you can walk away, and you can always find things to improve upon,” George said. “I think we did some really good things defensively. We got some stops.

“We showed the ability to move the football. I think we still have the ability to capitalize and finish on some drives. We had some great things on the special teams kickoff return for a touchdown and punt block for a touchdown. There were a lot of good things but obviously still some room to grow.”

George said his team has a lot of things to work on, such as finishing drives in the red zone and fewer penalties.

“We would drive down to the 30- or 20-yard line, and we’d stall out,” George said. “We have to clean up some of the personal fouls and penalties of that nature, things that we can control and just continue to try and protect the football and then get critical stops.

“Ligonier Valley was young last year, but they have a lot of returning starters on both sides of the ball. Their kids play hard. Watching their film, you can tell that they really get after it. So it’s going to be good competition for us.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Ligonier Valley