[tps_title]Radnor Raiders [/tps_title]
Radnor seniors, from left, WR/LB Kyle Addis, RB Jack Horvath, and OL/DL George May
‘Just getting there’ is no longer the goal for Raiders
RADNOR >> One topic has consumed the chatter between Radnor’s football players.
In the weight room? They’ve talked about it. During heat-acclimation workouts? They’ve talked about it. On the practice field? They’ve talked about it. 
The Raiders remain focused on their season-ending loss in the 2016 District 1 Class 5A playoffs. The pregame meal. The 16-mile bus ride to Academy Park. The one-point halftime deficit to one of Delaware County’s top team. Even their second-half unraveling at the hands of the eventual district champs.
“All of it,” said Radnor coach Tom Ryan. “They still talk about all of it.”
No playoff defeat for Radnor has been more program-defining than last year’s. That’s a bit misleading, of course, because last year’s playoff defeat was the Raiders’ first. They will enter the 2017 campaign fresh off the program’s first trip to the postseason.
That game will forever be etched in the memories of Ryan’s players.
“Making playoffs was great,” Radnor senior lineman George May said. “Now it feels like we’ve set that bar really high and we’re trying to surpass that goal. If last year’s mindset was to just make the playoffs, we did it. And the next logical step is to win a round and move past that first game.”
The expanded classifications in the PIAA opened the postseason door for Radnor, which closed out last season with a sub-.500 record. Nonetheless, Ryan has reason to believe that his club — with five returning starters on both sides of the ball — can improve upon its milestone 2016 campaign.
Those lofty expectations start at running back, where Radnor places a heavy burden of its offensive scheme on the broad shoulders of Jack Horvath. The senior will assume primary ball-carrying duties for the Raiders, after missing seven games last fall with a leg injury. He churned out more than 1,300 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore, and 600-plus yards and eight scores as a junior.
That pedigree, Ryan said, makes Horvath incredibly valuable to the Raiders.
“Jack, he’s a competitor and a two-sport athlete with that edge and toughness that a lot of wrestlers have,” Ryan said. “He’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever had. He never gets tired, never complains, is always at the front in team sprints, and is super coachable. He’ll be our (go-to) guy.”
“Between seasons, I personally worked on my strength in order to hit the hole harder and hit opponents harder,” Horvath said. “I’m really looking forward to doing that and running harder this year.”
The Raiders’ offense, with May and two-year starter Pat Lofton, carries experience up front. That’s a welcome development for junior quarterback Sean Mullarkey. To complement Horvath, Mullarkey’s passing will benefit greatly from the play of senior wideouts Kyle Addis, Fahad Manzoor, and Jack Treangen.
On the other side of the ball, Addis at linebacker will buoy a veteran-heavy defense. Defensive backs Najeh Fowler and Teddy Girton bring experience to the secondary. And senior Joaquin Hollero has drawn Ryan’s praise as a defensive lineman with the speed, skill, and versatility to drop into a linebacker spot if needed.
The biggest difference, said Hollero, is in Radnor’s mental approach.
“We had days last year where we didn’t want to be on the field as a team,” he said. “It’s not like that with this group. Everyone has been up, and I’ve never felt that more than with this group of guys.”
“If we go about it the right way,” Addis added, “we can be back in the playoffs and looking for more.”
By Christopher A. Vito; For Pa Prep Live
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