Pine Grove football coach Dave Shiffer is once again focused on bringing a culture of toughness to the Cardinals this fall.
The Cardinals closed last season with a 1-9 overall record with the sole win over Shenandoah Valley, 28-22. Shiffer appreciates his team for how it stays hungry even after tough seasons and approach each year with the mindset of starting small and working hard every day.
“We want to model ourselves with TGD — tough, gritty and disciplined — and it all starts mentally,” Shiffer said. “We want to do everything the right way.”
The Cardinals will be tough, but so will the competition.
“Schuylkill League football has been a good brand of football forever and the schedule continues to grow and get tougher,” Shiffer said. “Week in and week out, there’s no easy games. We’re in the bigger division this year, so we have four of the biggest schools in our league on the calendar.”
Shiffer’s mantra is always to be the more physical team and the Cardinals can easily do that this fall with a line that is bigger, stronger and faster than last season.
“Our mentality on offense is we want to get on you quick and run the ball and use our pass game to complement it,” Shiffer said. “I was an offensive lineman so we want to run the ball until we can’t. We have guys this year (who) we feel we can do that with.”
The line — led by senior Kolbey Buffington and junior Cody Schneck — is tasked with protecting first-year quarterback Cody Fedechko and creating lanes for senior running back Logan Troup, who is seeking a 1,000-yard season.
“I had to learn to rely on my offensive line last year and the guys that block for me,” Troup said. “I have a good relationship with all of my linemen and if they get me to over 150 yards per game I’m going to buy them all pizza.”
As the line’s leader, Buffington is working to help the running backs gain as many yards as possible on every snap.
“We as an offensive line want to get Logan his 1,000 yards and he’s been wanting it since his freshman year,” Buffington said. “My main part is sealing the edge and not allowing any sacks or tackles for loss on my side.”
That requires a great deal of physicality, which he looks forward to exhibiting.
“We want to smash guys on the ground and we don’t want to play patty cake with anyone,” Buffington said. “We just want to go 100% every single play and keep that motor and keep going.”
Cody Schneck is in charge of making sure the linemen dictate a good game for the Cardinals, and is most focused on communication within a scheme and talking pre-snap.
Tegan Schneck-Haines will line up at receiver and free safety with the goals of reaching 500 receiving yards on offense and bringing in lots of tackles, pass deflections and interceptions on defense.
He wants to do what the past two Pine Grove squads couldn’t — make the playoffs.
“We just want to set the standard and don’t try to outdo anyone else, be a leader and step up,” Schneck-Haines said. “Getting the receivers open and getting me open with the help of the run game will really help this offense.”
Huddle Up
Head Coach: Dave Shiffer
League: Schuylkill, Division II
Last Season: 1-9 Overall, 1-8 League
Male Enrollment: 196, Class AA
Home Field: Cardinal Stadium
2026 Schedule
Aug. 28 at Northern Lebanon
Sept. 4 Shenandoah Valley
Sept. 11 at Mahanoy Area
Sept. 18 at New Hope Solebury
Sept. 25 Holy Redeemer
Oct. 2 North Schuylkill
Oct. 9 at Blue Mountain
Oct. 16 Pottsville
Oct. 23 at Panther Valley
Oct. 30 Tamaqua
2025 Results
Northern Lebanon L 35-8
Nativity BVM L 12-6
Tri-Valley L 24-0
Panther Valley L 21-6
Shenandoah Valley W 28-26
Mahanoy Area L 22-20
Minersville L 43-0
Schuylkill Haven L 72-0
Marian Catholic L 35-0
Williams Valley L 62-0
Leave a Comment