[tps_title]Chichester Eagles [/tps_title]
Football Preview
Football is a family tradition for Chichester WR and RB Rashaad Shaw
Family football business now a hit for Chichester’s Shaw
UPPER CHICHESTER >> Rashaad Shaw was only 5 when he first learned of a basic family tradition. As he enters his senior season at Chichester High, he wishes it hadn’t taken even that long.
The custom: Play football.
The order: Play it now.
“I was playing with the Chester Panthers,” Shaw was saying, after a recent practice at Chi. “And my uncle pulled me into the game. I was really a basketball guy. That’s what I liked. I didn’t really want to play. I wasn’t really familiar with football. 
“Then I started taking some hits.”
He took some, he gave some, and he never considered a retreat to basketball. Nor will Ryan Smith, Chichester’s football coach, soon complain. Rather, Smith will use Shaw as a wide receiver, a running back, a safety and a willing competitor in an effort to improve from a 4-7 record in 2016, including 1-4 in the Del Val League.
“He comes from a great lineage,” Smith said. “He’s just got a good football history, a good football background. He’s been around the game for his entire life. And he loves it. He truly, truly loves it. He’s a really, really, really good kid, too.”
Shaw’s uncle, Shawn Atkins, started him out with the Panthers. His cousin, Damiere Shaw, excelled at Cardinal O’Hara, spent time at Temple and is an assistant coach at Baylor. Cousin Dion Shaw went to West Chester after a productive career at Ridley. Cousin Dennis Shaw was a star at West Catholic. Lamar Shaw, his cousin, played at Chi and assists Smith. Even Rashaad had two seasons at Chester before a transfer to Chi.
Other than that, there hasn’t been much football in his family.
“What I really like about football is the contact,” Shaw said. “Even in basketball, I’ve always liked contact, driving into the lane. Once I saw that, in football, you could really get a hit on a guy, I just loved it. And it always stuck out to me. So I said, ‘You know what? I’m just going to stick with football.’”
He should assist Smith in building something sturdy.
“He catches the ball real well and runs good routes,” the Eagles’ coach said. “He is a big weapon for us. And he is a safety for us on defense, too. He’s a top player. We’ve had some good ones. We’ve had some real good ones. But he is one.”
Smith spent training camp deciding on a quarterback, with holdover Andrew Rodriguez being pushed by soph Nate Decenzi. Strength on the offensive line, anchored by three-year starter Michael Rinick and veteran Treshawn Croxton will help.
Linebacker Cody Profitt and cornerback Andre Dean will solidify the defense. And with it all, optimism will bubble.
“We’re going to be a powerhouse,” Shaw said. “We have very versatile players, people that can play running back, receiver, defensive back, linebacker, wherever you need them to play. And I think we are going to have a great team this year.”
With his football DNA, who would challenge his insight?
While Shaw will play both ways, and while he forever will enjoy contact, he has grown to be most dangerous on offense. For that, he says, a steady recruiting push has him leaning strongly toward Kutztown.
“Lamar and Dion turned me into an offensive player,” Shaw said. “And my cousin Damiere always told me, ‘No matter where you come from, just work and they will always see you, no matter where you play at, Division 1, Division 2, Division 3.’”
Or Chester, Chi, West Chester, Ridley, Temple, West Catholic, Baylor, O’Hara, the Chester Panthers, Kutztown …
“I took some hits at first,” Rashaad Shaw said. “But I really have come to love football.”
Not that he’d really ever have much choice.
Trust The Process
Ryan Smith has been coaching at Chichester since 2010. He knows the struggles. He knows the opportunities. This year?
“We’re all right,” he said. “There’s progress. We are in Year 2 of our offensive system, and the kids are clearly adapting well to the knowledge aspect of it. For us, it will come down to execution. We need to finish.”
Defensive captain Cody Profitt is more optimistic.
“We are going to be a great team, one of the best teams we’ve had in the last 10 years,” he said. “We’re more aggressive. And our coaches coach us well. I just feel this is going to be a great year, my senior year. And I just want to cap it off with a good season.”
The Old One-Two
Smith was OK with a training-camp quarterback battle between incumbent Andrew Rodriguez and sophomore Nate Decenzi.
“Nate is kind of nipping at his heels,” he said. “But that creates competition, which is always good.”
Dean’s List
Cornerback Andre Dean will play a little more this season as a wide receiver.
Smith: “He’s a real nice player. He played corner for us last year. He’s really developed in the offseason. He’s really worked hard.”
By Jack McCaffery; jmccaffery@21st-centurymedia.com
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