Exeter’s Ryan Vogel heading to Lebanon Valley College
As a senior on the Exeter Township High School football team this past fall, Ryan Vogel not only saw the ascension of the program over that last four years, but has been a big part of it
Now he is looking forward after signing a Letter-of-Intent to play football next fall at Lebanon Valley College.
Vogel won’t have to start over as he will join a Dutchmen team that won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship last fall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in team history.
“They have a football program there and they have a run offense which is a great for me,’ said Vogel. Like most offensive linemen, Vogel likes blocking the run rather than protecting the quarterback on a pass play.
He was invited to a Lebanon Valley in October and liked everything about the campus and the Lebanon Valley College community.
“It was a beautiful campus and a close knit campus,’ said Vogel. It’s small, but not congested. I got to know the coaching staff a bit and was really impressed.’
Other schools that Ryan considered included Bucknell, Shippensburg, Kings and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
As much as he is looking forward to playing football at Lebanon Valley next fall, he can’t help but look back at his time on the Exeter High School football team. It was a team that was 2-5 in the Berks League his freshman year (4-6 overall), which was a big success considering the miserable seasons the program had suffered through the previous decade.
The Eagles had a winning record (4-3) in Vogel’s sophomore year, and 5-2 his junior season.
This past season Exeter was 5-2 in the Berks League, 9-3 overall, and won the program’s first District 3-AAAA playoff win in its history.
Vogel would like to believe he had something to do with the team’s recent success. His coach, Matt Bauer, knows he has had a lot to do with it.
“Ryan was a great role model for our kids and an excellent team captain,’ said Coach Bauer. “He did a did a great job for us and his leadership and dedication is directly related to our success as a team.
“I think Lebanon Valley is a very good fit for him. He’ll get a great education and will have a great coaching staff to work with him.’
“I’ll miss my teammates the most,’ said Vogel. “We grew up together and played together for a long time. That was one of the reasons we did so well,
Vogel will major in civil engineering at Lebanon Valley.
