published Tuesday, August 27,1996

MERCER

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`Mercer Mustangs squad small in numbers this year`

After guiding the Mercer Mustangs to berths in two consecutive District 10 AA championship games, head coach Frank Makarevich saw his squad drop to 5-5 (0-2 MCAC) in 1995.

The rollercoaster season saw the Mustangs shoot out of the gate at 3-0, then suffer five consecutive losses before finishing up with a pair of wins to enable Makarevich's team to continue a streak of five consecutive non-losing seasons during his second stint with the Mustangs.

But heading into the 1996 season, Makarevich faces a pair of big obstacles: numbers and the newly-realigned MCAC AA classification.

As for numbers, Makarevich welcomed only 27 players into camp this summer, which is ``by far the smallest team we've had.''

``It's a big concern right now,'' said Makarevich, who has a 36-45-1 mark in eight years, including 32-19-1 the last five, at Mercer. ``Because of our depth we've got to keep our fingers crossed everytime we go out on the field. Our depth is suspect in some positions and we're just hoping for the best.''

As for the new MCAC AA class, which features newcomers Sharon, Hickory and Reynolds to go along with Wilmington, Makarevich knows the competition ``is going to be a lot stiffer this year.''

Among Mercer's key losses were two-year starting quarterback Eric Allan.

``You don't replace somebody like him with his experience,'' Makarevich said.`` He was a great leader and made a lot of things happen for us.''

Others, according to Makarevich, were: Aaron Blair, Willie Burt and Dave Wilpula.

Key returnees for the Mustangs are seniors Keith Myers, Brian Edmonds and Aaron Crooks.

``They're our captains and team leaders,'' Makarevich said. ``Everything centers around those two.

Myers has been a two-year starter at fullback and inside linebacker, where he is one of the league's best players.

``He's they type of kid if you need hard yard inside, he'll get it for you,'' Makarevich said. ``He's also the backbone of our defense, a hard-nosed kid.''

Mercer will be very young, however, with as many as seven sophomores looking to nab starting defensive berths.

Vying for starting jobs are:

Offense: tackles _ senior Brett Henlen and sophomore Bill Knechtel; guards _ Crooks and senior Jason Sample; center _ sophomore Derek Snyder; tight end _ sophomore Tom Golden; halfbacks _ Edmonds and sophomore Phil Erdos; quarterback _ junior Joe Ziccardi; fullback _ Myers; split end _ junior Mitch Berndt.
Defense: ends _ Knechtel and Urban; tackles _ Crooks and Henlen; outside linebackers _ Golden and sophomore Andy Runyon; inside linebacker _ Myers; cornerbacks _ Erdos and sophomore Andy Hogue; safeties _ Edmonds and junior Richard Chapin.

Assisting Makarevich are: John Capparoula (SE/DE), Craig Gyergyo (RB/DB), Patsy Nerti (OL/defensive coordinator) and Jeff Lockard (OL/DB).

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Updated August 29, 1996