Football

Key underclassmen expected to fill voids in ’25

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

MECHANICSBURG -- After returning to the Class 1A level this season and capturing its fifth PIAA state football championship since 2014 in that classification with a 41-22 win over Port Allegany on Thursday afternoon, the Bishop Guilfoyle Academy Marauders are looking at 2025 as a season holding plenty of promise, albeit an element of challenge.

Senior playmaking standout Chase Kissell, a quarterback who threw for nearly 3,400 yards this season and 39 touchdowns, will graduate next spring, as will senior skill star extraordinaire Hamilton Gates, who scored a gaudy 42 touchdowns this season while making yeoman contributions as a running, receiving and passing threat, along with being a special teams and defensive secondary standout.

Another outstanding senior wideout, Braden Reilly, will graduate, as will four-year, two-way all-state lineman Joe Eckenrode.

That's a lot of firepower to replace, but the cupboard won't be bare for the Marauders as they go for their sixth Class 1A state title next fall, with the hopes of breaking out of a current three-way tie for the state record in that category with two other perennial powerhouses, Steelton-Highspire and Southern Columbia.

Despite the key voids that will be left by graduation, the goal will remain the same for the BG players, whose mission it will be to have another gold medal wrapped around their necks this time next year.

"I think for our program, the goal is always to play for a state championship,'' BG coach Justin Wheeler said. "And we'll be bringing a lot of players back next year who will be trying to do that.''

Junior running back Taurean Consiglio was the X factor in the Marauders' success this season, rushing for 1,283 yards on 167 carries and 17 touchdowns, including four in the state title game, when he bulldozed his way to 160 yards.

Consiglio's rushing presence kept opposing defenses guessing all season long, as the Marauders paired that with Kissell's outstanding, pinpoint, prolific passing arm and Gates' all-around-the-field wizardry.

With several receiving targets to throw to and Consiglio's rushing skills demanding so much attention from opponents, BG's strongest forte was the difficulty that the Marauders posed for opposing teams to attempt to keep all of their varied weapons in check.

Consiglio's relentless rushing game and an experienced offensive line return to give the Marauders something very strong to build around next season.

"I think that we're going to be pretty good,'' Consiglio said. "We have a lot of experience coming back, and we have a lot of players who will work very hard to get ready for next offseason.''

The offensive line will be back almost intact, with two players who will be seniors next season, Hayden Hosgood and Trenton Murphy, returning, as will Rocco Cacciotti, who will be a junior, and Declan Patterson, who will be a sophomore.

"Next year, we're going to have most of our offensive line back, which will be huge for us,'' Cacciotti said. "We've been banking on the pass this year, but with most of our line and Taurean Consiglio back, we could be a stronger running team next year.''

Jake Kissell, a junior tight end-linebacker this year, is an outstanding athlete who could capably fill the quarterback spot left by the graduation of his older brother Chase. If that becomes the case, Jake Kissell will have at least one returning experienced receiver to throw to in wideout Tyson Lestochi, who will be a senior next fall.

"We're definitely losing some key guys that will be hard to replace, but I think that we have a great future ahead of us,'' Jake Kissell said.

The Marauders have made a habit of reloading rather than rebuilding under the coaching direction of Wheeler, who finished his 14th season as the program's head coach on Thursday.

Wheeler said that one of the hallmarks of the 2024 state championship team was that it was comprised of a group of players who always kept an even keel, and a very positive, confident outlook.

The Bishop Guilfoyle players are athletes who have been around the football program since they were very young children, and who have admired and respected its success as spectators before later helping the program to continue that success on the field themselves.

Jake Kissell -- who, along with Consiglio, will lead the Marauders' defense as returning linebackers in 2025 -- said that the BG football tradition is deeply ingrained in all of its players.

"Winning today is a surreal feeling,'' Jake Kissell said. "All of us have been around this program since we were very young kids, and today is a full-circle moment for all of us. This has been an incredible experience.''