In 2024, Dieruff began the football season with a 4-0 record.<\/p>\n
It looked like the Huskies were going to get their first winning season since 2002.<\/p>\n
Instead, Dieruff lost its last six games, including a disappointing defeat to Allen that ended with an incident on the field at J. Birney Crum Stadium.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t get better in 2025 as the Huskies took a 1-8 record into their rematch with the Canaries.<\/p>\n
In the season finale, Dieruff put things together, especially on defense, and posted a 17-2 win that gave the team a boost of positivity entering the offseason.<\/p>\n
As a new season began with the heat acclimatization period this week, optimism and hope were again in abundance that the program was headed for better times.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TMC-L-Dieruff11-1.jpg\")
The Dieruff football team led by Coach Dave Lutte holds practice Monday, Aug, 10, 2026, on the opening day of the heat acclimatization period. The Huskies practice well away from the school on North 3rd Street in Allentown. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)<\/p>\n
Dave Lutte begins his eighth season as Dieruff\u2019s head coach and his 27th season coaching at his alma mater and 35th overall counting his years at Nazareth where he teaches. Lutte said he likes this team because they\u2019re good kids who know what\u2019s expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is probably the most easy-going team that I\u2019ve had, and we\u2019ve had much less amount of drama,\u201d Lutte said. \u201cThey\u2019re actually the smartest team we\u2019ve had in terms of football IQ. We have a very disciplined group of kids and they are hard workers. Even on off days, they beg us to go to fields and work with them. So the effort is there, the attitude is there and the football IQ is there. We\u2019ve just got to put it on the field on a Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lutte said the goal is always to play a postseason game. The District 11 6A field got more difficult with Whitehall moving up from 5A, and Lutte acknowledged his team would need some help and an upset or two to get into districts.<\/p>\n
![\"Kory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TMC-L-Dieruff01-1.jpg\")
Kory Byrd stands for a picture after the Dieruff football team holds practice Monday, Aug, 10, 2026, on the opening day of the heat acclimatization period. The Huskies practice well away from the school on North 3rd Street in Allentown. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care if it\u2019s even an Eastern Conference game, these kids work their butts off and deserve that extra game. It would be great for them to get to play in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dieruff has some talented players like two-way lineman Marcus Soto, linebacker\/receiver Kory Byrd, free safety\/receiver Kayson Barlow, receiver\/cornerback Adrian Georges, and offensive linemen Yeremil Rivera and Alijah Brantey. Receiver Derwyn Deris, who led the team with seven touchdowns last season, is also back but has missed time with an injury.<\/p>\n
Much will hinge on the improvement of quarterback Bruce Billger, who scuffled at times as a sophomore, but has made vast strides after throwing for 676 yards and nine touchdowns last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has worked hard and has gotten so much better with experience,\u201d Lutte said. \u201cHe has taken a huge step forward. The big thing is we have five kids who we feel real confident in who are starting up front. We\u2019re working on developing some depth because that becomes a bugaboo when we get to the heart of our schedule and play the bigger schools. If we can develop some depth up front on both offense and defense, we think we can have a real solid season.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Marcus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TMC-L-Dieruff02-1.jpg\")
Marcus Soto, stands for a picture after the Dieruff football team holds practice Monday, Aug, 10, 2026, on the opening day of the heat acclimatization period. The Huskies practice well away from the school on North 3rd Street in Allentown. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)
\n3 tidbits on the Huskies<\/p>\n
Staff stuffers<\/p>\n
Lutte said he has several new coaches on board this season.<\/p>\n
Ryan Fegley has worked with players at Palisades and Notre Dame-Green Pond and most recently coached at Milton.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been a longtime quarterbacks coach and bringing him in is going to be huge for us this year because Bruce Bilger is a second-year quarterback and he didn\u2019t get what he needed last year because we didn\u2019t have a quarterbacks coach,\u201d Lutte said. \u201cRyan has his own quarterbacks\u2019 school that he trains a lot of kids from Schuylkill County and around the area. Between my offense and his offense, we\u2019ve combined some things and it should be pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Spitale, who has coached at a variety of places over the last five decades, has returned to Dieruff and will coach the offensive line.<\/p>\n
Mycah Mollohan, a former standout at Pennsbury, will help with the running backs and linebackers.<\/p>\n
Paul Franklin, who is the women\u2019s flag football coach at Cedar Crest College, has also added a unique background to the staff. Prior to coming to Cedar Crest, Franklin had 10 years of experience in coaching and athletic administration, and he coached several programs in Virginia and at Marshall University.<\/p>\n
Numbers game<\/p>\n
Lutte said there are 52 kids in the program in grades 10-12 and 25 more who are freshmen. The team is bused every day from the school to its practice field at 3rd Street just off American Parkway. The team has been able to go inside Harrison-Morton Middle School, one block away, for its between-practice breaks where they can cool off and eat lunch.<\/p>\n
There is progress being made toward getting the program its own practice field close to the school, but Lutte said that after speaking out in frustration about the issue for years, he is focused on what he has and the kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going to keep my focus on the kids, and I am not going to worry about things I can\u2019t control,\u201d Lutte said. \u201cEventually, good things are going to happen and that\u2019s where I\u2019ll leave it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On schedule<\/p>\n
Dieruff uses its three nonleague dates to start the season differently from other teams in the EPC. The Huskies continue to play teams they were used to playing in the EPC North and Mountain Valley Conference and then start their league schedule with another Monroe County squad in Week 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe match up well with the Mountain schools and when they went to this new format I didn\u2019t want to look to toward Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and other places to find teams to play.\u201d Lutte said. \u201cI developed good relationships with Blaec Saeger at Pleasant Valley and Jim McCarroll at Pocono Mountain West and Chuck Dailey [the former East Stroudsburg North athletic director] and I have been friends for a long time. I have also had a good rapport with the coaches at Pocono Mountain East. So, it was a natural for us to keep playing them. These are generally fun, even ballgames that can go either way on any given night. For both us and our opponents, it gives us both a chance to get wins. If we were playing someone else from the [Lehigh Valley], it would be a little tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TMC-L-Dieruff28-1.jpg\")
The Dieruff High School football team kicks off its preseason training Monday, Aug, 10, 2026, on the opening day of the heat acclimatization period. The Huskies practice well away from the school on North 3rd Street in Allentown. (Monica Cabrera\/The Morning Call)
\nThe schedule<\/p>\n
Scrimmage<\/p>\n
Aug. 22: at Nazareth, 9 a.m.<\/p>\n
Regular season<\/p>\n
(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)<\/p>\n
Aug. 28: at Pocono Mountain East,<\/p>\n
Sept. 4: host Pleasant Valley<\/p>\n
Sept. 11: host East Stroudsburg North<\/p>\n
Sept. 18: at Pocono Mountain West<\/p>\n
Sept. 25: at Freedom<\/p>\n
Oct. 2: host Whitehall<\/p>\n
Oct. 9: at Parkland<\/p>\n
Oct. 15: host Emmaus<\/p>\n
Oct. 24: at Allentown CCHS<\/p>\n
Oct. 31: host Allen, 2 p.m.<\/p>\n
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