The adage says football games are won in the trenches. The Parkland High School football team has had many teams win behind dominant offensive and defensive lines. This season the Trojans will need to rebuild and restock the cabinets along both lines after graduating a large portion last year.

The 2019 offensive line, featuring current Penn State freshman Nick Dawkins, powered the offense to 220 yards rushing per game and 330 yards per game overall. The Trojans also lost their entire starting linebacker corps from a team that finished 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division.

After defeating Stroudsburg and Freedom in the district quarterfinals and semifinals last year, Parkland lost a heart-breaker to Nazareth in the championship, 22-21.

“We lost a lot along the lines and the linebackers,” said fifth-year head coach Tim Moncman. “We will have some talent back at the skill positions, but our experience will be tested at several key positions. The players have kept up the energy level and have stayed upbeat through the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.”

Some of the returning players that will be key in winning games include junior quarterback Ty Tremba, senior running back Isiah Rico, senior wide receiver/defensive backs Jordan Lewis, J.T. Siggins and Luan Avidjaj, junior offensive/defensive lineman Brock Boyer and senior offensive/defensive lineman Jacob Koren.

Tremba began last season as the backup signal caller and then took over the reigns in a week five victory at Liberty, which snapped a two-game skid. Tremba, along with Rico, will look to continue to bring the electricity with their legs in the backfield.

With a shortened, five-game season in the EPC, teams have been split into three divisions. Parkland’s division includes Central Catholic, Whitehall, Allen, Dieruff and Emmaus.

Parkland opens up its 2020 campaign at home against Central Catholic Friday, October 2. The Trojans will be playing three of their five games at Parkland School District Stadium and the other two at J Birney Crum stadium in Allentown.

“We’ll do our best with intrasquad scrimmages,” Moncman said. “We’ll do our best amongst each other and see what happens that first week. It’s a short season, so we’ll try to win the five that we have. They’ll be ready to go.”