North defense has 'knack for the ball' heading into Friday's Ken Lantzy game
Jun. 15—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — At 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, Northern Cambria's Cody Dumm might not have been the biggest linebacker in the area during the 2022 season.
But the Colts all-state defender possessed a knack for seemingly always being around the football and making one tackle after another.
"Whenever I see someone with the ball, I get over there as fast as I can and just try to make a play," Dumm said, matter of factly, after his North squad recently practiced at Herlinger Field in preparation for Friday night's 1st Summit Bank Ken Lantzy All-Star Classic.
His coach at Northern Cambria and on the North team, Sam Shutty, had a simple explanation for Dumm's area-best 190 tackles in 2022.
"He was just naturally good," said Shutty, whose Colts won 10 games and claimed the program's first District 6 Class 1A championship. "Cody always had a knack for the ball. He wasn't always the biggest linebacker, but he was the toughest kid I've ever seen.
"He just always found himself around the ball. That's just what his thing was. People look at him and say, 'That's Cody?' I think they were expecting someone much bigger. Cody knows how to make tackles."
Dumm was part of a historic season in Northern Cambria, as the Colts advanced to the PIAA Class 1A quarterfinals.
"It was really awesome playing this season. We did really good," said Dumm, who had double-digit tackle totals in 12 of 14 gamesn
He had a season-high 19 stops in a loss at Portage in the regular-season finale. Dumm made 17 tackles twice in a game.
His high school football career will conclude at Trojan Stadium on Friday.
"We've got a lot of good talent out there," Dumm said of the North defense. "We've got some really good players, a big line. I think we'll do really good.
"The whole defense, everyone out there is pretty good," Dumm said.
Shutty, who was named Tribune-Democrat Coach of the Year in 2022, appreciates the talent on both rosters.
"(Penns Manor's) Ashton Courvina, a guy who was a thorn in my side for the last four years, he's a good player and it's nice to have him on your team," Shutty said of the Heritage Conference rival.
"We have the Homer-Center guys," Shutty said of defenders Michael Krejocic and Vincent Tagliati. "Working with the Richland guys and (defensive coordinator) Coach (Zach) Rugg, and having a lot of them on that side has been great."
Zach Hancock, area sack leader Jordan Nichols and Grayden Lewis are Richland defenders familiar with Rugg's strategies.
For Lewis, the Lantzy game is a chance to make up for lost time. An early season injury prematurely ended the Rams' team captain's varsity career.
A two-way standout, Lewis played safety and running back on three district title-winning teams.
"I'm just happy to be back on the field," said St. Francis University-bound Lewis. "After my injury, I thought I'd never walk again. To come back and play these games with East-West and Lantzy, it just means so much to be back on the field at the highest high school level you can be at."
The 5-foot-11 Lewis totaled 1,762 career rushing yards, 20 rushing TDs, 1,077 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on offense and made 162 career tackles and four interceptions on defense.
"It's going to be tough, regardless, because all-star games are offensive-based, but we definitely have some studs on our defense who will make a bunch of good tackles and big plays, so I'm excited for it," Lewis said.
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.
