West Chester East football team to lean on Rangi

WEST GOSHEN >> The pandemic-shortened season a year ago was not ideal for anyone, but especially not for West Chester East, who was coming off the high point of head coach Scott Stephen’s still-early career.
The Vikings were fresh off a postseason victory and a nine-win campaign, when COVID hindered the process of rebuilding the depth pool. As a result, Stephen’s focus is doing just that by getting as many players some experience, as quickly as he can.
“We’re trying to get a lot of guys involved,” Stephen said. “Our main focus this offseason, more than in previous years, is, we want to get 40 guys in the game in some form, as much as we can. We want to get guys experience at a lot of different places. Whether they’re running five plays or 100 plays, we want to get them the experience of Friday night.”

While the stability develops, East will lean heavy on a sturdy building block in the form of junior running back, Mitch Ragni.
“He’s such a physical, tough guy and you can’t bring him down,” East senior lineman, John Ammon said of Ragni. “You definitely need more than one guy to tackle him. It’s a true honor to block for him.”
As a sophomore, Ragni led the area with 793 rushing yards, according to Daily Local News’ records, and tallied 10 touchdowns in five games. Where Stephen may not fully know who he can trust at other spots, Ragni provides security with his listed frame of 6-foot, 220-pounds.
“Mitch is a one-cut guy and likes to get north, south,” Stephen said. “He was a part of the track team in the spring, and speed-wise, I think we’re going to see him take the next step. We like to say we want to turn six into 60.”

Ragni averaged 21 carries a game as a sophomore, and it’d be a fair bet to see that number increase as the workhorse hopes to wear teams down late in the season.
“I cannot wait for a full season,” Ragni said. “We only got five games last year, and we get another five will have a good impact on our offense’s playing style.”
Ammon and Luke Borkowski are the senior leaders on the offensive line, and behind them, senior Ryan McIntire steps in for his first stint as the starting quarterback. McIntire has attempted 20 passes in his career, completing 10 for 150 yards.

Sophomore Tyler Wileczek will follow in his older brothers’ footsteps as a shifty playmaker for the Vikings.
“We’re hungry, absolutely hungry,” Ammon said. “All offseason we’ve been working hard and we all want to go out there and hunt.”
Defensively, Ragni is the lone returning starter, and he’ll move from outside to middle linebacker, alongside Borkowski. Drew Steele, who’ll spot Ragni at running back, is expected to make an impact in the defensive secondary.
“I think we feel really good, learning how to read our keys and getting down to the basics of football,” Ragni said. “Our D-line and backfield are getting better every day and I think we’re going to be very prepared for the season.”

East will be tested right off the bat when Spring-Ford, a Class 6A playoff team from a year ago, comes to town for the season opener, Friday. The other non-league games are on the road against Downingtown West and Chichester, midway through the season.
“We definitely want to beat Rustin and Henderson and take back the crown of West Chester,” Ammon said. “We want to take that back and make the playoffs and win the district so we don’t have to stop playing football.”