RIMERSBURG — Union football wants to return to the promised land.

A lock-down defense could be the key.

Coming off a 9-2 season, the Golden Knights hope to earn their third consecutive trip to the District 9 Class A playoffs.

With plenty of fresh faces on the offensive side of the ball, Union might need to lean on proven defensive performers to soften any growing pains.

“If we put our minds to it, I think our defense will be the biggest part in helping us win games,” said senior Brett Trithart.

“We have guys that know what they're doing,” said fourth-year coach Dave Louder. “Defensively, we've been running the same scheme from the time these guys were in junior high, up.

“The knowledge that they have coming in is great, it's just the communication and doing their job,” he added. “Discipline — that's our weakness.”

Talent doesn't seem to be much of an issue, though.

Union returns three honorable mentions from the Pennsylvania Football News Class A all-state team, including senior Dylan Shirey at defensive back, junior Eric Seary at linebacker and junior Tyler Wiser at defensive end.

“We have the potential for a great season,” said Wiser. “It's all coming together.”

Wiser was a breakout performer with 90 tackles, 10 for a loss and 3 1/2 sacks as a sophomore. His coaches are anticipating even more from the 6-foot-4, 180-pounder in 2013.

“We didn't expect him to make that big of an impact last year and he played well,” said Louder. “We want him to be better this year and be a threat offensively at both tight end and wide receiver.”

Shirey was second on the team last season with four interceptions at safety and also figures to step into a larger offensive role.

“Last year as a receiver, he made some fantastic plays,” said Louder of Shirey. “He's a speed demon and he makes great cuts as a running back, so we're going to throw him in the mix.”

Shirey, however, prefers the defensive side of the ball.

“You can't beat that. It's a rush,” said Shirey. “Playing defense, you just read the tackle like a book, get big hits and interceptions. If it's a run, you fill the gap.

“You just try to be a leader back at safety.”

Seary — who racked up 68 tackles, eight for a loss and two sacks in 2012 — is also the team's leading returning rusher with 116 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

“It helped a lot getting used to the varsity level,” said Seary. “We're just going to try to do better than last year.”

He will likely split the majority of carries at tailback with senior Cody Stockdill, who rushed for 47 yards on 18 carries in 2012.

“We're hoping that (Stockdill and Seary) can share the load quite a bit with Trithart and Shirey getting in there,” said Louder.

Lane Cicciarelli, a junior, is expected to be the starting quarterback after a strong showing in backup duty during Union's playoff loss to Elk County Catholic last season. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 50 yards after starter Brody Shick departed with an injury.

“Lane Cicciarelli seems to be leading the pack as our quarterback,” said Louder. “He's got a great passing arm and a great view of the field.”

Trithart is another returning starter in the defensive secondary and will be deployed as a versatile offensive weapon this year. Aside from slot and running back, he's also likely to see some snaps behind center and present opposing defenses with a contrast in style.

“Brett is an option quarterback with nice, hard, short passes and he's a big run threat,” said Louder. “We might juggle them. You hope not to do that sometimes, but we definitely have situational guys.”

The offensive line is largely untested, but Louder thinks there's enough bulk up front to consistently move the chains.

“We have a lot of young, sophomore linemen, but they're hard workers in the weight room,” said Louder. “We think we have a lot more depth at the line this year than we've had. We might be able to give guys a breather and hopefully gain a lot of experience.”