What he saw on video and in games in the past, Jason Thurston is now getting to see in person.

And he likes what he sees.

Jason Thurston

Thurston, who was named the new Greencastle-Antrim football coach after the resignation of Devin McCauley, has been a coach for several teams on the Blue Devils’ schedule.

“I got to see Greencastle as an outsider, because we’d play them every year when I was an assistant at Shippensburg,” Thurston said. “What I saw was a program that had great community support and blue-collar, hard-nosed kids.

“And all those things are here. We’ve got good numbers (63 varsity players) and the kids have worked very hard. We have a lot more work to do, but the pieces are here.”

The Blue Devils finished 3-7 last year and lost plenty of key players, so they are not considered by many as contenders in the Mid Penn Colonial this fall.

“I don’t mind flying under the radar,” Thurston said. “The priority is to go one game at a time. We need to be doing the little things and not beat ourselves, and if we don’t, we’ll be competitive.”

Blake Reuter

Traditionally, G-A has a strong run game — last year it ran for over 1,800 yards. Thurston will not be changing that, although he will be running a hybrid version of the wing-T offense.

And the Blue Devils do appear to have the personnel to be effective on the ground.

Blake Reuter (sr., 5-7, 170) returns at halfback, where he had 110 carries for 731 yards and 4 touchdowns. Lars Galinanes (sr., 5-10, 210) rushed 79 times for 324 yards and 2 TDs as the fullback and wingback Noah Shifflett gained 232 yards on 46 carries with 4 scores.

Thurston said, “I’m a run-first kind of guy — I want to control the clock and move the chains. I think we should be able to do that.

“Blake is a tremendous athlete and he can make guys miss — we have to get him the ball in space. I like to run the belly series and Lars has had an excellent summer. I think they complement each other very well.”

Lars Galinanes

Track sprinter Spencer Long (so., 5-9, 160) will also get some chances for carries, as will Asher Whitson (sr., 5-9, 195, 41-175).

The starting quarterback position has been a battle between senior Lane Barry (5-11, 160) and junior Gavin Logsdon (5-11, 140). Last year, Barry hit on 22 of 37 passes for 272 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

“We have two good ones, and we named Lane the starter just this week, but Gavin has done well and we could have gone with either of them,” Thurston said. “I think Gavin will see meaningful snaps on Friday nights, too.”

It won’t be easy replacing graduated wide receiver Carter McCauley (73 catches, 1,092 yards, 15 TDs), but Sam Petruska (jr., 5-9, 150), Zach Orndorff (sr., 5-11, 145) and Iverson Stoner (jr., 6-2, 160) will take over. Tight end Wyatt Hull (jr., 6-3, 185) had 3 catches for 34 yards.

Greencastle also wants to spreads the ball around. Last year, Reuter had 16 catches for 185 yards (1 TD), Shifflett had 5 for 39 yards and Galinanes (2-20) and Dom Angelini (jr., 5-10, 140, 1-29, 1 TD) had receptions.

Loki Huffman

Greencastle’s offensive line has a good base to build on. Three players are returning starters — guards Mason Mellott (sr., 5-9, 200) and Ben Belleau (sr., 5-8, 180), and center Nathan Painter (sr., 6-0, 230).

The tackles will be Elijah Ambrose (jr., 6-0, 195) and Landon Reed (sr., 5-10, 235), while Gavin Knable (jr., 5-7, 245) can play different positions.

The Blue Devils will play a 3-4 defense, and bring back five starters.

The lineup so far looks like Loki Huffman (jr., 6-0, 235, 26 tackles, 1 forced fumble last year) and Nathan Painter (sr., 6-0, 230) at defensive lineman; Knable (9 tackles, 1 for loss) at nose guard; Belleau (65 tackles, 2 for loss) and Ambrose (4 tackles) at inside linebacker; Hull (40 tackles, 1 sack, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery) and Mellott (27 tackles, 1 sack, 5 for loss) at outside linebacker; Reuter (8 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery) at free safety and Shifflett (53 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 interceptions) at strong safety; and Seth Kielek (sr., 5-11, 175, 47 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 interception) and Petruska at cornerback.

Wyatt Hull

The defensive line rotation will include Reed, Cole Burkholder (so., 6-0, 215) and Westyn Horner (sr., 6-3, 230) at DL and Eli Barrett (jr., 6-0, 260) at nose guard.

Thurston said, “Huffman is a pretty good ballplayer; I think he’ll put a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks. Reuter looked good in our scrimmage, knocking down a couple of passes.”

Whitson will handle the punting duties, and Blake Witmer (jr., 5-6, 160) will take over as the placekicker.

NOTES: Thurston’s staff of assistants includes Spencer Long, Clark Flohr, Mike Hull, Erick Vogel, Sam Sprague, John Frick, Brad Shearer and recent G-A grads Parker Funk, Logan Alvey and Logan Shifflett … Thurston last coached at Fairfield, where he was the head coach, and was also a head coach at New Oxford … The favorite in the Colonial this season is Susquehanna Township.

FRIDAY PREVIEW: The Blue Devils host the rival Waynesboro Indians this Friday at 7 … In last year’s game, ‘Boro pulled out a 30-27 victory … Waynesboro had a 4-6 record a year ago and play in the Mid Penn Keystone Division … The Indians return dual-threat QB Rayshawn Frazier-Hewitt, who has had more than a year of seasoning at his position … The top returning running back is Stephen Howard.

Thurston said, “This is a big week, and I know it’s a good rivalry because the kids are amped up to play. If we can limit our mistakes and maybe create some turnovers, then we can turn it in our favor. But I know it won’t be easy — I expect a dogfight.”

BLUE DEVIL SCHEDULE
Aug. 22 — vs. Waynesboro, 7
Aug. 29 — at Susquehanna Twp., 7
Sept. 5 — vs. Middletown, 7
Sept. 12 — at East Pennsboro, 7
Sept. 19 — vs. Big Spring, 7
Sept. 26 — at Trinity, 7
Oct. 3 — vs. Milton Hershey, 7
Oct. 10 — at Juniata, 7
Oct. 17 — at Boiling Springs, 7
Oct. 24 — vs. West Perry, 7