SCIOTOVILLE — A winning season and an appearance in the OHSAA playoffs does wonders for the confidence of a program trying to find its stride.
The Sciotoville East Tartans, consisting of 27 players (five of which are seniors), are pushing to have repeat success and beyond this fall — following a 5-4 season and a pair of wins in SOC I play.
Two of those seniors, four-year starters Austin Baughman and Landehn Pernell, discussed their expectations for their fourth and final season in Sciotoville coming off a postseason appearance.
“As a team, we had great success last year. We had a lot of improvements from my first couple of years into last year,” Baughman said. “I think age plays a big part of that. I expect the same outcome this year and maybe even better. We want to have a deep run in the division and potentially play for a conference championship.”
“I think we learned a lot from that. Coming in and doing that well, it was really a confidence boost,” Pernell said. “But it doesn’t carry over to this season. We have to work just as hard to try and reach that level of success and beyond.”
The pair of seniors play on both sides of the ball for the Tartans.
Baughman is entering his fourth-season as the program’s starting quarterback, while Pernell plays tight end and defense end on offense and defense, respectively.
“Being a guy that’s played through in any situation, getting better as a player with everyone around me, it builds your confidence as a player — being there for them and them being there for me on the field,” Baughman said.
“I feel a lot more comfortable making plays, and that comes with experience on the field and reps in practice,” Pernell said.
East opens their season on Friday, Augsut 19 with a home game versus Bishop Rosecrans. They’ll complete their non-league schedule with trips to Manchester, Newcomerstown, and South Gallia, and play host to South Gallia in week three.
In SOC I play, the Tartans open at Eastern, host Northwest and Symmes Valley, and travel to Green and Notre Dame to close out their regular season.
A strong start to East’s fall began with an important offseason in the weight room and conditioning and experience gained from varsity experience, their seniors believe.
“Everything has went really good. Our numbers have been solid and everyone’s a year older and stronger,” Baughman said. “It allows us to potentially have a lot of success this year because a lot of the guys that played last year are improving. Even the atmosphere all summer has had a winning outlook going into the year.”
“It’s been going pretty good, we’ve been working hard. Getting in the weight room is one thing I’ve noticed,” Pernell said. “A lot of these kids have been working hard there getting better and stronger. We only lost one player from last year, getting to keep almost all of our key pieces on offense and defense has been big.”
Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
