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Kids Listings: Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, 2016

Tiger taken from 'world's worst zoo' arrives in South Africa

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; GAR&#8217;s practice facility on Moyallen Street is &#8230; well, let&#8217;s just say there are much nicer ones throughout the Wyoming Valley Conference.</p><p>The fence is old and dented. The locker room is a converted garage. The pads on the goalposts are deteriorating and sagging.</p><p>But the Grenadiers would like nothing better than to still be walking through those rickety gates in November. To do so, GAR must finish off games better than in 2015, when it let a possible win against Old Forge slip away and fell in overtime to Northwest.</p><p>Those losses and a flat performance against rival Meyers to close out the schedule kept GAR out of the postseason.</p><p>&#8220;It was very tough, especially with the playoffs hinging on the last game of the year,&#8221; GAR coach Paul Wiedlich Jr. said. &#8220;As a team we weren&#8217;t really focused, and as a staff we let it get out of hand a little bit leading up to that Meyers game.</p><p>&#8220;The kids remember that final score &#8212; 28-6. That&#8217;s been a constant mantra and the seniors have come up and taken a leadership role. &#8230; That&#8217;s something we didn&#8217;t have last year. We had too many guys kind of buddy-buddy and didn&#8217;t want to take the bull by the horns and be that leader.&#8221;</p><p><strong>ON OFFENSE</strong></p><p>The most glaring holes are in the backfield. Gone are two-time 1,000-yard rusher Anthony Maurent and veteran quarterback Garry Kroll, who nearly topped 1,000 yards through the air in two consecutive seasons.</p><p>The running game, though, might not be in that bad of shape. Senior Josh Goodwin showed plenty of promise last season, posting one 100-yard game and nearly getting another in rushing for 368 yards, 6.6 per carry and five TDs.</p><p>&#8220;The Goodwin kid is more of a true tailback,&#8221; Wiedlich said. &#8220;He can cut on a dime. He&#8217;s always falling forward. He has a good burst while Anthony was more of a track kid playing football. Josh is more of a north-south kid who likes to run between the tackles.&#8221;</p><p>Mike Drozda returns as the fullback, but after some dropping some weight he could get more touches. The senior has shown he&#8217;s more than a blocker the past two year.</p><p>Replacing Kroll will be a little more tricky. GAR had three guys competing for the quarterback spot &#8212; senior Austin Yelland and juniors Tashawn Qualls and Gerson Peralta. All bring a different wrinkle to the position. A decision probably won&#8217;t be made until the days leading up to the opener against Honesdale.</p><p>&#8220;Yelland is more of a dropback passer,&#8221; Wiedlich said. &#8220;Qualls is a more mobile kid who can throw on the run and also run a spread offense. Peralta is more of a run threat than anything else, but he&#8217;s getting better daily with his throwing mechanics.&#8221;</p><p>The line is experienced with tackles Josafat Brito and Chris Kolativa, guards Zynear Bradford and Zach Norbert and tight end Anthony Hoopingarner all back. Veteran Nate Luckey will lead the wideout group.</p><p><strong>ON DEFENSE</strong></p><p>Eight starters are back on a defense which held three opponents under 10 points. But the unit also surrendered 39 or more points three times, with all those games resulting in losses.</p><p>The run defense could use some tightening up and there&#8217;s a good chance that will happen.</p><p>Drozda, who is one of the more underrated two-way players in the WVC, will anchor the linebackers. Goodwin, Qualls and Yelland will also be familiar faces in the corps.</p><p>Hoopingarner and Kolativa return to the defensive line. Brito played roughly 50 percent of the snaps on defense in 2015, so he could qualify as a ninth returner starter if need be.</p><p>Peralta and Luckey are experienced defensive backs in the Grenadiers&#8217; three-man secondary. Only three opponents passed for over 100 yards last year, but the schedule was dotted with many run-first teams.</p><p><strong>OUTLOOK</strong></p><p>The new PIAA six-classification system put GAR in Class 3A with seven other teams. Four make the postseason and defending D2-3A champion Scranton Prep appears to be the only team penciled into a playoff spot in the preseason.</p><p>That means GAR will be in a scramble throughout to make the postseason. The Grenadiers play all the D2-3A teams except Prep during the regular season, so they will control their own destiny. They might not be on their home field come Week 11, but they should be playing somewhere.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">GAR&#8217;s Mike Drozda (31) and Austin Yelland (12) warm up prior to the start of practice.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_GAR-Drozda-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>GAR&#8217;s Mike Drozda (31) and Austin Yelland (12) warm up prior to the start of practice.  </caption0><photoCredit0>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_GAR-Goodwin-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Josh Goodwin (23) is expected to be the main running threat for GAR this season.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_GAR-Goodwin-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Josh Goodwin (23) is expected to be the main running threat for GAR this season.  </caption1><photoCredit1>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_GAR-Practice-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR players relax before the start of practice.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_GAR-Practice-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>GAR players relax before the start of practice.  </caption2><photoCredit2>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_6-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Paul Wiedlich, Jr. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_6-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Paul Wiedlich, Jr. </caption3><photoCredit3>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Josh Goodwin </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_2-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Josh Goodwin </caption4><photoCredit4>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mike Drozda </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_1-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Mike Drozda </caption5><photoCredit5>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nate Luckey </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_3-1.jpg</photo6><caption6>Nate Luckey </caption6><photoCredit6>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Anthony Hoopingarner </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_4-1.jpg</photo7><caption7>Anthony Hoopingarner </caption7><photoCredit7>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit7></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Josafat Brito </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo8>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_WVCMediaDay-GAR_5-1.jpg</photo8><caption8>Josafat Brito </caption8><photoCredit8>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit8></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Grenadiers ready to repair disappointment