By Steve Svetovich
Scranton Prep should be a major force once again after coming off a season where the football team won a third consecutive District 2 Class 3A title and advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals.
The standards are always to strive for excellence at Scranton Prep. And that goes for both academics and athletics.
Prep won its first game this season, 33-0, over Valley View, on Friday, August 23, at home.
Scranton Prep head football coach Terry Gallagher is in his ninth season at the helm. He has now compiled an impressive 84-16 record, including the opening day win this season.
Scranton Prep has won seven District 2 Class 3A titles since 2015.
Key returning players include Louis Paris, Treyvon Dickey, Reese Tanner, Ambrose Rossi, Will McPartland, Brady Holmes, Travis Sharples, Byron Axtell, Anthony De Los Santos, and Jack Doughton.
“We have high expectations,” said coach Gallagher. “We wanted to schedule more challenging out-of-conference games to help us properly prepare for the post-season.
“Our passing game led by quarterback Louis Paris will consist of several wide receivers playing multiple positions.
“We hope to continue to be a physical football team up front. Running the football will be extremely important to our success.
“The defense will be led by Reese Tanner, a three-year starter at linebacker. Treyvon Dickey, Travis Sharples, Will McPartland, Jack Doughton, and Ambrose Rossi will also be guys to lean on defensively. They have experience for us.”
The veteran coach said Paris can be explosive from his quarterback position.
“Louis is a dual threat at quarterback. He has gotten bigger, faster and stronger each year. We have high expectations for him this season. His competitive nature is contagious to the rest of the team. That makes us better.”
Assistant coaches under Gallagher are Brian Groom, Dan McShaffery, Bill Pasqualichio, Ryan Jones, Jason Tallo, Brett Stage, Marc DeAntona, Evan Prall, Owen Perih, A.J. Kohut, Riley Nealon, Sam Dickson, Tyler Mackrell, and Brady Rutkowski.
Sharples, who is highly touted, started at guard last season. He earned All-Region honors for a team that rushed for 3,199 yards.
Paris, who has a high-powered arm, started at quarterback as a sophomore and threw for 1,235 yards and 18 touchdowns. A dual threat, he also ran for 519 yards and 11 touchdowns. That earned him honorable mention all-star status in Lackawanna Football Conference Division I.
Dickey rushed for 377 yards and added 246 yards receiving last season.
Tanner, a tough runner and lead blocker, had 134 yards and three touchdowns on the ground last season.
McPartland rushed for 225 yards and six touchdowns last season.
Tanner enters his third season at linebacker. Rossi returns at defensive end and.McPartland at free safety.
Tanner, Rossi and McPartland were also honorable mention Lackawanna Football Conference Division I all-stars.
Axtell started on the defensive line and Dickey started in the secondary last season, so the defense has plenty of experience.
Prep recorded three shutout wins last season, so the opening day shutout could be a prelude of things to come.