HS football preview: Albert Gallatin
Dindl enters 8th year of successful reign at AG
When it comes to the four Fayette County independent teams, one has stood out clearly as the most successful.
Albert Gallatin under Drew Dindl has compiled a 29-20 record in six years outside of the WPIAL, including 6-3 last year which tied California (8-4) for the second-best winning percentage (.667) among local teams behind Jefferson-Morgan (10-1)
The Colonials went 0-10 in Dindl鈥檚 first season at the helm which was their last in the WPIAL before going independent. His overall record is 29-30 as he enters his eighth year at AG.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been good, a lot different from year one to year eight for sure,鈥� Dindl said in looking back. 鈥淭hose first couple years I was still trying to figure things out, trying to find my way. We seem to have a pretty good system now. I think we ended up with 3,300 rushing yards last year.鈥�
The Colonials will continue with their vaunted ground attack led again by quarterback Bronx Jamison.
鈥淏ronx will be a junior. He got some starts as a freshman for us and took over full time last year,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淗e did a real good job last year for us. Even now he asks real good questions.鈥�
Albert Gallatin again spent time over the summer with Harding University, an NCAA Division-II school that won the 2023 national title.
鈥淲e welcomed them in again and they always have good things to say about Jamison,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淭hey actually brought their starting quarterback this year to help out. Even that kid was impressed with him.鈥�
While Jamison runs the offense well, one area Dindl would like to see improvement in is the passing game which the Colonials rarely utilize although the potential for big plays through the air opens up at times with defenses concentrating on stopping AG鈥檚 running attack.
鈥淗e struggled there a little bit but he鈥檚 improved in the offseason with that with strength and delivery,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淲e had some routes open but missed a few passes last year but I have confidence he鈥檚 going to hit those this year.鈥�
Albert Gallatin鈥檚 feature running back will be senior Adam Pegg who exploded for several long touchdowns a year ago.
鈥淥ne of our A-backs would be Adam who鈥檚 a big-play guy for sure,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still looking for that guy to replace Caleb DeHaven and also Nasir Moore. Pegg is our main guy and we鈥檝e got Tee Guesman, a senior, and Roman Smith, a junior, at that B-back (fullback) position that will be huge for us.
鈥淲e moved Ethan Kennedy in from receiver, we鈥檙e trying him out a little bit at A-back to see if he likes it. If not we鈥檒l move him back out to receiver. He鈥檚 a senior. We鈥檝e got some freshmen that we may look at and then we have a sophomore, Clayton Bollinger, who has been repping there.鈥�
The offensive line has several veterans returning.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of guys back that had playing experience,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淎idan Garcia and J.J. Perrine are our anchors, they鈥檙e both seniors. We鈥檝e got CJ Colgan coming back off a bad knee injury that occurred early last year for his senior year and Chris Rizer, who鈥檒l be a sophomore, got some action as a freshman after CJ got hurt. Rizer will be the center. He had a heck of an offseason in the weightroom and has gotten bigger and stronger, so we鈥檙e excited to see what he does. CJ will probably be at guard.
鈥淏rock Turney is another senior we hope we can count on.鈥�
Dindl is hoping his team will develop some depth as the season goes on.
鈥淥ur roster will end up being around 35 or 40,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淲e might have a couple kids playing one way but not many. Hopefully we can get a few rotations in at defensive line. Some of our linebackers will be playing both ways. Pegg is one of our strong safeties on defense and probably won鈥檛 come off the field much. He鈥檚 just a good player.
鈥淜ennedy is going to be a cornerback. He鈥檚 pretty tough, always in position. Roman, we鈥檙e going to be counting on him a bunch. He鈥檚 got to be that big middle linebacker who plugs up everything this year. We鈥檝e got to get a lot out of Perrine, hopefully, also, on the D-line. He鈥檚 about 6-3, 6-4 and about 300 pounds. He鈥檚 a monster. Garcia will play linebacker on defense for us.鈥�
Dindl felt the time his team spent with Harding again was beneficial to his team.
鈥淲e did our summer workouts and they came in and worked with us and I think that helps us a lot,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淭heir terminology is very similar to ours so when they鈥檙e calling out what to do our kids understand and right away and go do it.鈥�
Avoiding injuries will be one of the keys to success for AG, according to Dindl.
鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 staying healthy. We鈥檙e very thin,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of young guys that are going to have to get ready but they鈥檙e not quite there right now so our older guys have to be tough and stay healthy until these guys are ready to rock and roll and give us a few more able bodies to give the starters a break here and there.
鈥淗opefully we鈥檙e in good enough shape to make it to the fourth quarter and be able to keep playing with some of these teams that have bigger numbers and better depth.鈥�
The Colonials swept their three Fayette County opponents in 2024, knocking off Connellsville, 29-26, for the first time ever in their 14th meeting, and also defeating Uniontown, 36-21, and Brownsville, 48-6.
鈥淭hose are always big games, the ones the kids really want to win and it was nice to win all three last year,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淵eah we beat Uniontown and Brownsville and finally beat Connellsville in a close game, so I鈥檓 sure they鈥檒l be coming back with a vengeance after that one. We play all three of those teams again this year.鈥�
Albert Gallatin defeated Laurel Highlands two years ago but for the second year in a row the Mustangs aren鈥檛 on the schedule.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 work anything out with LH because of the WPIAL schedule, they didn鈥檛 have an opening,鈥� Dindl said. 鈥淏ut one good thing is this will be the first year since we went independent where we鈥檒l have a full 10-game schedule, five home games and five away.鈥�
Albert Gallatin plays at Connellsville on Sept. 5 and at Brownsville on Oct. 17 and hosts Uniontown on Sept. 19. The Colonials also have home games against Northern Garrett, Maryland (Sept. 12), Hedgesville, West Virginia (Oct. 10) and Weir, West Virginia (Oct. 24).
Dindl鈥檚 coaching staff includes Jeff Rush, Dylan Rush, Zack Dillow, Danny Morgan and Stan Wolfe.