Lock Haven Bald Eagles

2013 Record: 3-8 (2-5)

Head Coach: John Allen (4-28, 4th season)
Defensive Coordinator: Randi Moore
Offensive Coordinator:

Top returning players: QB Caleb Walton, DB George Christas, LB Tashawn Bunch, DL Scott Benkovic, OL Luke Erdman

The upside: Slowly but surely, the roster keeps getting better
The downside: Their depth will be challenged as a lot of experience departed with the class of 2013



It's not very often that a 3-8 campaign would give a program a flood of optimism, but that is the case for Lock Haven. Three wins equaled the most the team has had in a single season since 2004 and it gave all involved some just rewards for the hard work they've put in to turning the program around. Beyond that, the continued growth and improvement is what's important. Within a couple of years, they've gone from winless and hopeless, to winless but competitive, to winning a game, to winning multiple games. Its been a slow process, but the program is moving forward. They've continued to raise the bar for themselves and the next step in the progression is a winning season. A winning season at Lock Haven? Really? Just two years ago the mere thought of it would have been laughable, but heading into 2014, we really can talk about it.

A key to success in 2014 will be the offensive line. A year ago, the OL two-deep consisted mostly of freshmen and sophomores. As a unit, they will be much deeper and more experienced. Junior Luke Erdman should emerge as a leader in this group, and has the potential to be an All Conference player by the end of the season. Erdman has started every game he's played in dating back to early in his freshman year, and experience is now in his favor.

If the line is up to the task, they'll have an emerging star to protect at quarterback. Caleb Walton took over the starting role in week 6 last year as a redshirt freshman. He finished out the year with 54% completions and 9 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. The numbers aren't eye-popping, but not bad for a freshman with a unit that still has a lot of maturing to do. Walton comes from one of the most successful high school programs in the state (Manheim Central) so he knows how to lead and he knows how to win. Watch for him as the season progresses.

The bad news for Walton is that the Bald Eagles lost their two best receivers to graduation and Walton himself is the team's leading returning rusher. So there are definitely some big holes to fill at the skill positions. The Eagles will need Junior David Cook to step up as the number one receiver, but the rest of the depth chart will be established in the preseason. There isn't much experience to draw from so they're going to need some youngsters to grow up in a hurry.

Defensively, the most important thing is to continue to develop more depth. There is still a fairly large gap between The LHU program and the top teams in the East in terms of depth and that is where we will still see a difference this year. The Eagles will return five defensive players that started at least 10 games a year ago and conveniently, they were the team's top five in total tackles. That gives them a solid nucleus, but filling out the starting lineup with players that have some experience may be difficult.

Outlook
With IUP and Cal in the crossover schedule, plus the East division heavyweights, I don't think this is the year to get over .500. They do have two very winnable games to start the year and will have a couple more favorable matchups later in the season. Four wins is probably the max, but that would still keep them trending in the right direction.