Season preview: Daniel Boone Blazers
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
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PIAA classification: 4A.
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 3.
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 1-5 league, 2-8 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2021
Head coach: J.D. Okuniewski, first season.
Key losses: All-League LB Ryan Souder, all-league DE Jesse Smith, TE/DL Draven Klick.
Top offensive players: QB Dean Rotter, RB Jake Myers, WR Ethan Kryman, all-league second-team WR Max Heffner, WR Harrison Delissaint, TE Anthony High (moving from WR, where he was all-league second-team), C Reily Mentzell, G Maddox Roy, G Chase Kitchen, T Jordan Meyer, T Zion Samuel.
Top defensive players: E Harrison Delissaint, E Chase Kitchen, T Jordan Meyer, T Jorge Pingarron, LB Ethan Kryman, LB Anthony High, LB Hayden Moyer, LB Jake Myers, S Dean Rotter, S Ryan Poore, CB Darius Cruz, CB Max Heffner.
Did you know? J.D. Okuniewski, a linebacker at Boone from 2009-12, is the first former Blazers player to become head coach. He was a sophomore on Boone’s last championship team in 2010. The Blazers went 21-4 over his sophomore and junior seasons, the best back-to-back seasons in program history.
For the record: Tanner Vanderslice set the Berks single-game rushing record with 403 yards in Daniel Boone’s 42-19 win over Muhlenberg in 2019. He carried 27 times and scored on runs of 45, 87, 13, and 57 yards.
On schedule: Daniel Boone and Exeter play for the “Pig Iron Trophy” for the 58th time when they meet in a season-opener Aug. 25. The Eagles have won 10 straight in the series – the longest streak by either team — and lead the trophy series 38-18-1.
Quotable: “We’re small, and we’ve always been smaller than people. And that’s OK. We have to embrace who we are. We are not gonna line up against a team like Exeter and outmuscle them. So we have to play to our advantage. We’re small, but we can punch, too.” – Blazers coach J.D. Okuniewski.
Outlook: J.D. Okuniewski teaches both English and history at Daniel Boone, but not at the same time. He teaches English in the classroom; he teaches history on the practice field.
He was part of the Blazers’ glory years from 2004-2011 when they won or shared three section championships, won 10 or more games three times, and made a name for themselves with some impressive play in the District 3 Tournament.
To his players, that’s all ancient history — they weren’t even born for the start of that run — so he has to educate them.
“These guys are not old enough to remember when Daniel Boone was a premier team in a premier league,” said the first-year coach. “In 2006, Pottsville came down here and we beat their brakes off. And they went and played for the state title.
“You don’t want to dwell on the past, but you want to remember the past to build some hope for the future. (You want them to know): Daniel Boone has been here and done this; it’s possible.”
That kind of success seemed light years away at times last season when the Blazers won just twice and were beaten by three touchdowns or more five times. Okuniewski wants to bring an end to that.
“My goal is to compete every game,” he said. “I don’t want to get shut out. I want to have a shot to win each game. That’ll be what success looks like.”
The Blazers have a strong group of returning players – seven starters back on offense and six on defense – but not a lot of depth or size. Or seniors — just seven. They might rely on as many as eight two-way starters.
They do have a three-year starting QB in Dean Rotter and an intriguing receiving corps. Rotter passed for over 1,200 yards and eight TDs last season. He also rushed for nearly 600 yards and scored seven times; he may get ever more opportunities on designed runs after showing what he can do with his feet.
The featured receivers will be 6-2 TE Anthony High, who caught 23 balls as a WR; Max Heffner, who had 32 catches for 500 yards; Ethan Kryman, a converted RB who could excel in the Blazers’ planned short passing game; and 6-2 junior Harrison Delissaint, another tall, athletic target.
How much time Rotter will have to throw remains is in question; just two O-linemen return, though 6-3, 265-pound tackle Jordan Meyer has a chance to be among the best in Section 3.
Kryman, who had 60 tackles last season, is back to lead the defense; he’ll do it this time as an OLB after playing on the inside last year.
At the wire: New coaching staff, new offensive and defensive schemes, and a small senior class add up to a building year for the Blazers.
