By Jack McCaffery
Long before he enrolled at Strath Haven, Marco Kaufman knew the football deal: Play not just for the present, but also for the past.
“It’s pressuring sometimes, because I want to play well for all those players before me,” Kaufman said. “All of us growing up, watching the game as little kids, watching those guys, it’s crazy to know that we are now those guys playing.”
It’s the blessing, as it is the burden, of playing for a top-tier program, and some of those burdens are loaded more recently than others. The Panthers of 2023 know they are following a 2022 Central League championship team, and a 2021 group that came within a game of playing for a Class 5A state championship.
That will take work, which they are quite willing to do.
“I’ve been excited about them,” said 33rd-year Panthers coach Kevin Clancy. “I’ve got to be honest with you, it’s been a great offseason. It’s always about depth. But if we can stay healthy, I think we can have a nice club.”
The rebuild will begin at quarterback, where the Panthers lost two-year starter Sam Milligan, who has gone to Bucknell as a wide receiver. But senior Jake Kitchin went 5-0 as a starter last season when Milligan was injured, so that practical experience of Clancy’s eternally successful Wing-T offense has kept the uneasiness about the loss of Milligan to a minimum.
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