Stat leaders plus breakout stars
Andrew Olesh early last season pleaded with Southern Lehigh coach Phil Sams and quarterback Avery Koser to give him a shot at catching a deep pass or two in key situations.
Olesh made the most of those opportunities with two huge receptions late in each half of a Week 3 win over Bangor.
The Spartans receiver has been making plays ever since. He has filled out to 6-foot-4, 205 pounds and is one of the Colonial League’s biggest receiving threats as a junior.
Olesh led Southern Lehigh last season in receptions and is tops again in 2023. He returned two of his three interceptions last season for touchdowns.
Now he’s hauling in Division I interest from Power 5 conference programs, already has a scholarship offer from Akron and is a breakout star this year for Sams’ unbeaten Spartans.
Here is a look at 10 others (in alphabetical order) who went from waiting for a chance to someone being schemed against by Colonial-Schuylkill League foes in 2023:
Logan Anthony, Palmerton: The sophomore two-way lineman already is generating major Division I interest. He is part of an offensive front (along with, among others, his older brother Zack) that has helped the Blue Bombers pile up 2,774 yards in six games — all wins. The 6-4, 300-pounder also has 26 tackles, including a team-best nine for loss.
Mason Bollinger, Northwestern Lehigh: The sophomore has run for two touchdowns, passed for four and caught four TD passes as a first-year starter who coach Josh Snyder uses at multiple positions.
Constantine Donahue’s painful road back to football: https://www.mcall.com/2023/09/28/saucon-valleys-constantine-donahue-painful-two-year-path-back-to-football/
Constantine Donahue, Saucon Valley: A freak injury took away two seasons after he was a contributor as a freshman. He has two rushing touchdowns, a receiving TD, a fumble recovery and return for a score and 27 tackles (including three sacks).
Chris Frame, Northern Lehigh: The freshman cornerback, the younger brother of Matt and Nick Frame, has five interceptions — most among anyone on the 17 area CL-SL teams. He also has two rushing TDs and a receiving score.
Aiden Hess, Catasauqua: The first-year starter at quarterback has completed 71 of 127 passes for 949 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first six starts. The Rough Riders had 995 passing yards in 13 games last season.
Jacoby Jacobs, Notre Dame-GP: The sophomore first-year starter leads the Crusaders with 55 tackles, including a couple sacks as a linebacker who plays downhill.
R.J. King, Southern Lehigh: The lineman missed all of last year with a neck/back injury. He’s been a force on the Spartans’ defensive front in 2023 with 26 tackles, including 11 for loss (four sacks), and a fumble recovery.
Shane Leh, Northwestern Lehigh: The sophomore who missed all of last season with an injury has 635 passing yards and 11 TDs. He also has a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Gavin Nelson, Bangor: A first-year football player, the senior has nine catches for a 24.7 yards per reception and one score. He also has eight tackles and a fumble recovery, proving it’s never too late.
Ty Sander, Palmerton: The senior running back has 526 yards, seven TDs and four 100-yard games. He rushed for 90 yards last season. Sander also leads the Blue Bombers with 22 catches for 328 yards and three scores.
Milestones
Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Danny Darno and Jim Thorpe’s Cole Lazorick were the only players in Week 6 to reach a 1,000-yard plateau. Darno took over the lead among area CL-SL quarterbacks with 1,073 passing yards. It’s the second year in a row the senior has thrown for at least 1,000 yards. Lazorick, a sophomore, is third with 1,011 passing yards.
Pen Argyl’s Brad Rissmiller (978) and Catasauqua’s Hess (949) are the next in line to reach that mark.
Palmerton’s Matt Machalik reached the 20-touchdown mark in rushing with a couple in last Friday’s win over Pine Grove.
Catasauqua’s Chad Beller is five tackles shy of 100 this season.
Dalton Clymer’s four-touchdown game against Saucon Valley has the Northwestern senior within 22 points of 100.
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com
Colonial-Schuylkill League football stat leaders
Entering Week 7
RUSHING
Player, team; Carries; Yards; Avg.; TDs
- Matt Machalik, Palmerton; 87; 1,222; 14.0; 20
- Cade Sawyer, Southern Lehigh; 78; 689; 8.8; 15
- Dalton Clymer, Northwestern; 85; 669; 7.8; 11
- Danny Darno, Notre Dame-GP; 75; 592; 7.9; 9
- Jared Rohn, Saucon Valley; 100; 587; 5.9; 4
- Dylan Moyer, Lehighton; 99; 569; 5.7; 9
- Grady Newhard, Northern Lehigh; 95; 527; 5.6; 4
- Ty Sander, Palmerton; 77; 526; 6.8; 7
- Greg Campbell, Bangor; 77; 520; 6.8; 7
- Brennan Kunkel, Panther Valley; 89; 498; 5.6; 10
- Jack Tosh, Northern Lehigh; 78; 420; 5.4; 6
- Jason St. Leger, Salisbury; 48; 411; 8.6; 2
- Noah Hillis, Bangor; 77; 404; 5.2; 8
- John Haubert, Palisades; 56; 348; 6.2; 7
- Cole Lazorick, Jim Thorpe; 70; 330; 4.7; 5
- Brody Breiner, Panther Valley; 80; 328; 4.1; 2
PASSING
Player, team; Comp.; Att.; Yards; INTs; TDs
- Danny Darno, Notre Dame-GP; 65; 112; 1,073; 7; 13
- Chris Fritts, Southern Lehigh; 54; 76; 1,033; 2; 12
- Cole Lazorick, Jim Thorpe; 55; 102; 1,011; 5; 11
- Brad Rissmiller, Pen Argyl; 74; 119; 978; 4; 6
- Aiden Hess, Catasauqua; 71; 127; 949; 3; 11
- Matt Machalik, Palmerton; 54; 99; 798; 1; 7
- Bruce Hopeck, Marian Catholic; 37; 83; 746; 4; 5
- Shane Leh, Northwestern; 44; 71; 635; 3; 11
- Brody Breiner, Panther Valley; 35; 88; 619; 6; 4
- Greg Campbell, Bangor; 37; 71; 601; 3; 5
- Brady O’Donnell, Lehighton; 43; 91; 580; 5; 5
- Jeramy Cressman, Wilson; 53; 106; 547; 6; 2
- Pete Albano, Saucon Valley; 41; 72; 499; 6; 10
- Greg Borgeson, Palisades; 34; 76; 402; 5; 3
- Luke Kane, Tamaqua; 30; 70; 384; 2; 4
RECEPTIONS
Player, team; Catches; Yards; Avg.; TDs
- Damian Tyminski, Pen Argyl; 33; 463; 14.0; 2
- Justin Yescavage, Jim Thorpe; 28; 665; 23.8; 5
- Ian Juica, Catasauqua; 28; 444; 15.9; 6
- Rodney Bronson, Wilson; 23; 335; 14.6; 2
- Jordan Bradshaw, Catasauqua; 23; 195; 8.5; 1
- Ty Sander, Palmerton; 22; 328; 14.9; 3
- Andrew Olesh, Southern Lehigh; 20; 411; 20.6; 5
- Jack Robertson, Saucon Valley; 20; 253; 12.7; 8
- Devon Hildebrand, Northwestern; 19; 214; 11.3; 3
- Josh Ludlow, Notre Dame-GP; 18; 254; 14.1; 2
- Jack Inglis, Southern Lehigh; 17; 367; 21.6; 3
- Alex Moser, Pen Argyl; 17; 296; 17.4; 4
- Julian Baker, Notre Dame-GP; 16; 133; 8.3; 2
- Mason Soos, Pen Argyl; 16; 133; 8.0; 0
- Brady Jones, Panther Valley; 15; 325; 21.7; 3
SCORING
Player, team; TDs; 2-pt; PAT; FG; Points
- Matt Machalik, Palmerton; 22; 0; 0; 0; 132
- Cade Sawyer, Southern Lehigh; 19; 1; 0; 0; 116
- Dalton Clymer, Northwestern; 12; 3; 0; 0; 78
- Jack Inglis, Southern Lehigh; 6; 1; 29; 0; 67
- Dylan Moyer, Lehighton; 10; 3; 0; 0; 66
- Ty Sander, Palmerton; 10; 0; 0; 0; 60
- Brennan Kunkel, Panther Valley; 10; 0; 0; 0; 60
- Damian Tyminski, Pen Argyl; 9; 1; 0; 0; 56
- Danny Darno, Notre Dame-GP; 9; 0; 0; 0; 54
- Jack Robertson, Saucon Valley; 9; 0; 0; 0; 54
- Noah Hillis, Bangor; 8; 1; 0; 0; 50
- Greg Campbell, Bangor; 7; 0; 0; 0; 42
- Jack Tosh, Northern Lehigh; 7; 0; 0; 0; 42
- John Haubert, Palisades; 7; 0; 0; 0; 42
- Ian Juica, Catasauqua; 6; 1; 0; 0; 38
- Mason Bollinger, Northwestern; 6; 1; 0; 0; 38
- Devon Hildebrand, Northwestern; 6; 1; 0; 0; 38
TACKLES
Player, team; Tackles
- Chad Beller, Catasauqua; 95
- Dainn Vassallo, Notre Dame-GP; 66
- Nova McGuire, Marian Catholic; 61
- Jared Rohn, Saucon Valley; 59
- Dylan Zullo, Marian Catholic: 57
- Jacoby Jacobs, Notre Dame-GP; 55
- Andrew Gilbert, Saucon Valley; 55
- Brad Jones, Panther Valley; 52
- George Spann, Salisbury; 52
- Landon Beckowski, Saucon Valley; 52
- Xavius Roman, Southern Lehigh; 51
- Jesse Rodino, Marian Catholic; 50
- Charlie Hower, Marian Catholic; 48
- James Rodino, Marian Catholic: 48
- Danny Haubert, Palisades; 48
- Jason St. Leger, Salisbury; 45
- Ian Feckete, Wilson; 44
- Dalton Clymer, Northwestern; 43
- T.J. McLain, Bangor; 42
- Blaine Snyder, Northwestern; 41
- Luke Kane, Tamaqua; 41
TACKLES FOR LOSS
Player, team; No.
- Chad Beller, Catasauqua; 15
- Noah Rosahac, Jim Thorpe; 14
- R.J. King, Southern Lehigh; 11
- Jesse Rodino, Marian Catholic; 9
- Jacob Hehn, Tamaqua; 9
- T.J. Mclain, Bangor; 8
- Aiden Sterling, Jim Thorpe; 7
- Jordan Tocci-Wachter, Salisbury; 7
- Bailey Smith, Northern Lehigh; 6
- Jack Tosh, Northern Lehigh; 6
- Kyle Kirsch, Palisades; 6
- Brad Jones, Panther Valley; 6
SACKS
Player, team; No.
- Jesse Rodino, Marian Catholic: 6
- Jacob Hehn, Tamaqua; 6
- James Rodino, Marian Catholic; 4
- Gavin Lee, Palisades; 4
- R.J. King, Southern Lehigh; 4
- Jacob Weaver, Bangor; 3.5
- Bryan Tobin, Southern Lehigh; 3.5
- Constantine Donahue, Saucon Valley; 3
- Shane Hulmes, Northwestern; 2.5
- Bryer Reichard, Northwestern; 2.5
INTERCEPTIONS
Player, team; No.
- Chris Frame, Northern Lehigh; 5
- Brandon Klitsch, Marian Catholic; 4
- Eli Zimmerman, Northwestern; 4
- Ian Juica, Catasauqua: 3
- Matt Machalik, Palmerton; 3
- Andrew Gilbert, Saucon Valley; 3
- Greg Campbell, Bangor; 2
- Michael Silliman, Marian Catholic; 2
- Devon Hildebrand, Northwestern; 2
- Ty Sander, Palmerton; 2
- Josiah Hernandez, Saucon Valley; 2
- Jack Robertson, Saucon Valley; 2
- Darius Roman, Southern Lehigh; 2
- Cade Sawyer, Southern Lehigh; 2
- Rodney Bronson, Wilson; 2
FUMBLE RECOVERIES
Player; team; No.
- Gio Flemming, Marian Catholic; 2
- A.J. Lozano, Notre Dame-GP: 2
- Silas Day, Palisades; 2
- Brody Breiner, Panther Valley; 2
- Michael Styka, Tamaqua; 2
- No one with more than 1
TURNOVER MARGIN
Team; TO for; TO against; TO margin
- Southern Lehigh; 13; 5; plus-8
- Northwestern; 14; 8; plus-6
- Palmerton; 9; 3; plus-6
- Catasauqua; 10; 5; plus-5
- Bangor; 10; 6; plus-4
- Northern Lehigh; 11; 7; plus-4
- Marian Catholic; 13; 11; plus-2
- Saucon Valley; 14; 12; plus-2
- Pen Argyl; 8; 7; plus-1
- Lehighton; 10; 10; even
- Palisades; 8; 8; even
- Jim Thorpe; 5; 7; minus-2
- Notre Dame-GP; 7; 10; minus-3
- Panther Valley; 6; 9; minus-3
- Salisbury; 4; 8; minus-4
- Wilson; 7; 11; minus-4
- Tamaqua; 2; 7; minus-5
https://www.mcall.com/2023/10/04/colonial-schuylkill-football-stat-leaders-and-top-10-breakout-stars/ Stat leaders plus breakout stars