Pyles, De La Cruz on right track

The headline to this post should not be misinterpreted. It’s not meant to come across as anything surprising.
Anybody who knows the work ethic and character of Mark Pyles and Jeremy De La Cruz certainly isn’t surprised.
The two close friends, former Lebanon High football teammates and the heart and soul of the Cedars’ 2013 district playoff team have something else in common as the 2015 college football season begins.
They’re starters. Sophomore starters who aren’t guaranteed anything, but starters nonetheless.
Pyles, the one-time prolific Lebanon quarterback, has sewn up a first-string linebacker job at Bucknell after seeing action mostly on special teams as a freshman.
De La Cruz, meanwhile, is expected to be in the lineup at wide receiver when Lebanon Valley College hosts F&M on Thursday night. He played in just one game as a freshman because of hamstring woes but has persevered and been rewarded for it.
Neither is the biggest or the fastest, but you won’t find two tougher kids anywhere. Ask anyone who’s ever coached them.
That they’ve earned starting jobs in the collegiate ranks is hardly a surprise, but definitely worthy of note.
It’s probably not the last you’ll hear of them.