Pulaski will have to replace two of the few bright spots they had in 2006. Gone are Sean Fox who averaged nearly 100 yards rushing per game (844 total) and QB Jon Bigelow (724 yards passing).
4th year head coach Rich Murphy hopes to redirect his Blue Devils towards the improvements he saw in his first two campaigns. The 2004 rookie season ended with a 1-7 record then Pulaski improved to 3-5 for his sophomore venture. Unfortunately last year fell backwards with a 0-9 finish. The Blue Devils haven’t had a winning season since 1999. “We didn’t live up to our expectations last year” Murphy said.
On the 25-man roster Murphy returns 6 starters on offense and 8 on defense but insists those numbers are not as positive as they seem. “Our weakness is inexperienced players” he said. “We are very young, this will be a learning year”.
There are no major changes in store for the 2007 team on offense or defense. Just the insistence from Murphy that Pulaski is going “back to the basics”.
Despite the loss of Bigelow and Fox, Murphy does see some bright spots on offense. “We have a good core of linemen’” he said. The most notable of which is senior Ian Allport, a 6’5 300 two-way standout. Allport returns with All-State credentials from 2006 and has garnered a lot of interest from Div-IAA schools. “Ian is working really hard this season. I expect him to be one of the most dominate players on both sides of the ball” Murphy states.
Some other keys that hope to boost the Blue Devils point production from it’s 78 total last year are: Chris Davies (Jr, 5'11 170) QB ,Chris Pastuf (Sr 5’11 190) RB, Sajani Hall (Sr, 5'11 175) WR, Paul Mahnken (Jr, 5’11 170) WR, Mike Buckley (Sr, 6’0 175) WR, Andrew McNitt (Sr, 6'4 170) TE and Chris Mahnken (Sr, 5’9 220) OL
Defensively Murphy looks to his linebackers as his main strength. Chris Pastuf and Paul Mahnken are joined by Tyler Moran (Jr, 5’8 155) and Joe Bright (Sr, 5’10 180). Allport and Chris Mahnken will lead the trenches in front while Andrew McNitt and Kasey McConnell (So, 5’8 150) roam the backfield.
Although young, Murphy has faith in the Blue Devils. “Our strength is team leadership and a strong work ethic”. With that he and the rest of the Pulaski squad hope to improve on last years record.
2007 Roster