Wyoming Area, Wyoming Valley West school districts schedule public informational meetings on impact of state budget impasse

web1_DEP.jpg

Huber Breaker owners have 10 days to begin cleanup efforts

<p>For the first time in three years, Penn State enters spring practice without an entrenched starting quarterback.</p><p>Back in 2013, the eventual starter wasn&#8217;t even on campus in the spring. Christian Hackenberg won the job in preseason camp, a development that leaked out shortly before the Nittany Lions&#8217; season opener &#8212; much to the chagrin of then-coach Bill O&#8217;Brien.</p><p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;ve had a history around here of (media) announcing the starting quarterback before the head coach, and that didn&#8217;t really go over very well,&#8221; joked O&#8217;Brien&#8217;s successor, James Franklin.</p><p>&#8220;Hopefully we can get that announced a little earlier.&#8221;</p><p>Not that Franklin is in any rush.</p><p>As the Lions prepare to open spring ball on Friday, the smart money would be on sophomore Trace McSorley to be the man under center on Sept. 3 against Kent State. But Franklin wants to take a hard look at redshirt freshman Tommy Stevens as well as a first look at true freshman Jake Zembiec, who enrolled in January.</p><p>Because of that, a starter may not be publicly named by the time the spring wraps up with the Blue-White Game on April 16.</p><p>&#8220;I think you always would like to try to have your quarterback named as early as possible so they can go into the summer and really take a hold of the team,&#8221; Franklin said Monday. &#8220;But also we don&#8217;t want to make that decision just because of that.</p><p>&#8220;We want to make sure we&#8217;re making the right decision. And if that becomes obvious very early on, great. If it needs to go to summer camp, we&#8217;re willing to go to summer camp. And if it needs to be the first game, that could be the case, as well.&#8221;</p><p>McSorley claimed the inside track to the job when he first arrived on campus in summer 2014. During camp, he edged out fellow freshman Michael O&#8217;Connor &#8212; who had arrived seven months earlier as the higher-rated recruit &#8212; and was No. 2 on the depth chart behind Hackenberg from then on. O&#8217;Connor transferred after that season.</p><p>When Hackenberg went down with a shoulder injury in the TaxSlayer Bowl this past January, McSorley took over and threw two touchdowns in the loss to Georgia.</p><p>Stevens went through spring practice last season after graduating early from high school. But the real competition began this winter in the offseason workout program.</p><p>&#8220;(Strength coach Dwight Galt) has matched Trace and Tommy up in everything, and they are fiercely going at each other,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;And what&#8217;s great about it, they have a very close relationship. So it&#8217;s one of these competitions where they have a lot of respect and really like each other, but they truly are really competing in everything.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Position changes</strong></p><p>With the Lions losing three of their top four defensive tackles from last season, it&#8217;s no surprise that the coaches will be shifting a few guys from end to tackle.</p><p>Junior Curtis Cothran and redshirt freshman Kevin Givens will both get to work at their new positions this week.</p><p>&#8220;Both of those guys now are over 270 pounds,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Curtis got some good cooking at home and he&#8217;s over 270.&#8221;</p><p>Coaches acknowledged last month that Nick Scott would be moving from running back to the secondary. On Monday, Franklin said Scott will be working with the cornerbacks because the team has more depth at safety.</p><p>&#8220;Nick is actually a guy that came to me about moving,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;And it was a couple things. I think Nick is a competitor, but I think he also saw that Saquon Barkley has got some special qualities, and that&#8217;s kind of what he said.</p><p>&#8220;It was interesting, he was saying through the recruiting process, a lot of people were recruiting him as DB, but at the time, he didn&#8217;t really want to hear it. And he&#8217;s excited. He&#8217;s taken a lot of initiative.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Back Mountain blessings</strong></p><p>It wasn&#8217;t a surprise that Connor McGovern&#8217;s name came up on Monday. Franklin reiterated that the true freshman from Lake-Lehman will have a shot to see the field this fall on the offensive line because of his physical and emotional maturity.</p><p>But he wasn&#8217;t the only one Wyoming Valley Conference alum to draw praise from the Lions coach. In fact, Franklin saved some of his highest compliments for Dallas grad Ryan Monk, a redshirt freshman who walked on at defensive tackle last fall.</p><p>&#8220;This Monk guy, I&#8217;m telling you &#8212; his work ethic, his attitude, his demeanor, is unbelievable,&#8221; Franklin saved. &#8220;I&#8217;m really, really proud of him. I think he&#8217;s a great example for our entire team about you get an opportunity, you take it, and you run with it. He&#8217;s done great in the weight room. He is as driven and as motivated as any guy that I&#8217;ve been around.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin said Monk took his cue from another walk-on defensive lineman, Carl Nassib, who just happened to break Penn State&#8217;s single-season sack record last year.</p><p>&#8220;He kind of had this little following of the other walk-ons (who thought), &#8216;Look what Carl was able to do,&#8217; and have embraced it,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;I think Monk&#8217;s that type of guy.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_485129720201.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Trace McSorley may be the frontrunner to replace Christian Hackenberg, but Penn State coach James Franklin isn&#8217;t about to rush things during spring ball. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_AP_485129720201.jpg</photo0><caption0>Trace McSorley may be the frontrunner to replace Christian Hackenberg, but Penn State coach James Franklin isn&#8217;t about to rush things during spring ball. </caption0><photoCredit0>Gene J. Puskar | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Franklin preaches patience with Penn State’s starting quarterback decision