Pennridge High School Football

       This year there were many changes for the Pennridge Football team, including multiple new coaches.  These newcoaches helped reinforce a value set for the team and the importance of the brotherhood of football. Although it’s always nice to win, the coaches remind the players that, in the end, football is supposed to be for fun, and there are other more important things in life.

       Mr. Tatar is one of the new coaches and a teacher at Pennridge High School.  He was the defensive backs coach this year and plans to be next years running back coach.  Tatar helped coach the football team at a private Bethlehem school last year. Unlike the private school, students here at Pennridge have to maintain a certain GPA in order to be on a sports team.  This is something he said that he liked because it helps support the kind of values that he and the other coaches hope their players have.

Tatar hopes that football is more than just a sport for his players.  He explained how football is a brotherhood and a family where the players lift each other up.  He wants to see the players have qualities such as honesty, loyalty, and trust, and hopes to see this even outside of football.  As a coach, Tatar would rather see them be successful in their life than be the best football players. This includes players keeping up their grades, so that they can continue to succeed after high school.

Because the coaches believe so much in brotherhood, there is a large focus on team bonding activities.  They do things such as take players out to restaurants or organize tire pull competitions during practice.  Mr. Tatar admits that it was a challenge being a new coach because this meant he had to earn the trust of the players.  Team bonding activities were a way for him to create good relationships with them. This also allowed him and the other coches to get to know the players outside of football.

The team this year showed many strengths, despite some being disappointed by the 5-6 record.  The offensive line of this year’s team was strong and the senior class did a great job in encouraging the rest of the team.  Five seniors are going on to play college in football next year.

Even though the 2018 season just ended, coaches have already begun to set goals for next years team.  Mr. Tatar hopes to see no fumbles and wants the players run 150 yards a week. He also hopes that they can beat CB West and shut out CB East next year.  Along with athletic goals, he also wants to see academic goals achieved, like the entire running back group having a GPA higher than 3.0.

Some highlights of this season include the Thanksgiving Day game against Quakertown.  A specific favorite moment for Mr. Tatar was during the game against CB West. The CB West quarterback was running with the ball when a Pennridge player, Jadin Bass, took the ball from his hands and just started running with it.

Recruitment for next year’s team has already begun. Current and prospective players will begin working on weight lifting in order to begin preparing for next season.