Football Preview: With new energy and staff, Sun Valley looking to future

ASTON >> The less said about the recent past of Sun Valley football, senior running back Andrew Kmett believes, the better.

Things haven’t gone the way the Vanguards would’ve wanted the last few years. They went winless in a chaotic and brief 2020 slate (more on that in a moment). The 2019 season brought a 1-10 mark, on the heels of a seven-game losing streak to end 2018.

That adds up to one win in the last 21 outings, as many wins in that span as times in which the Vanguards have given up 100 points.

It also added up to a departure for veteran coach Bubba Bernhardt, and a palpable optimism at the first training camp under coach Ernie Ellis that all those travails are well and truly gone.  

“I feel like we just have to leave that in the past,” Kmett said. “We have a whole new coaching staff, a whole new atmosphere and culture here. … We’re ready for this year to be completely different.”

That starts with the coaching staff, which is completely rebuilt. Ellis, a 1996 graduate of Sun Valley and the brother of successful wrestling coach Tom Ellis (also a football assistant), has stocked the sidelines with Sun Valley grads, guys who understand the kids, the program and what they’re collectively striving for. The staff includes relatively recent grads like Ishy Ahmad, Ed Racine and Quentin West, who bring energy to practice and a novel connection to players.

“It’s like a breath of fresh air, to be honest,” Kmett said. “The past few years, I feel like it hasn’t been as intense (of an environment) as a winning team should have. The culture is not where it should be. But with Coach Ernie coming in and all the new assistants, this is some winning football I think.”

Even by the chaotic standards of 2020, last year’s experience is of comparatively little value to the Vanguards. Sun Valley played three games, all losses. They had to scramble to find an opponent for Week 2 after a possible exposure shut down their planned opponent, then the Vanguards didn’t play for three weeks because of a possible positive case in the program.
They finally got to play Oxford for their third game, but with Chichester postponing their season until the spring, there was no Thanksgiving capstone to the season.

How those games played out, beyond the scoreboard results, was far from memorable. Ty McLaughlin started at quarterback in the opener, switched back to running back for Kevin Mayoros to take snaps under center in the second half, then neither of them were the quarterback by game three. Sun Valley scored a grand total of 26 points in its three games.

There’s some value, Kmett said, to the varsity experience individuals got from that abbreviated exercise. But as a team, the tumult robbed the season of much collective value.

Again, all in the past.

“With everything being brand new, I feel like we kind of just want to leave it in the past, not think about it too much and just kind of work forward and work for the future,” Mayoros said.

OK, so to the future then. Mayoros’s quarterbacking days are done. The senior will line up at wide receiver as a primary target for Steve Eskridge, who’s had the offseason to make the job his own. Mayoros is encouraged by how the junior has embraced that grind.

“I’m excited for Stevie,” Mayoros said. “I think he deserves the position. He worked for it. We’re all around him. We have a whole new offense, new playbook, so everything’s new. There’s more plays, more things to do.”

Roles, this year, are defined. Kmett will start in the backfield alongside junior Todd Harper. Travis Powell and Ryan McKay, both standing 6-4, will anchor the lines. Senior Tyler Lewis, who stands a legitimate 6-8, will be a formidable outside rusher and offensive tackle.

Kmett and Mayoros will comprise the heart of the defense at linebacker/safety.

“Everything’s just more solid,” Kmett said. “People know where they’re playing now, and I feel like we’re ready for Week 1.”

The road won’t be easy. Sun Valley opens with Penncrest, followed by trips to Oxford and Great Valley before welcoming in Unionville. Academy Park looms as a nonleague trip before venturing to Bishop Shanahan to complete a six-week gauntlet.
Kmett has set the goal as a winning season. The energy he’s seen in practice indicates players are up for the battle in a way they haven’t been in the past.

Whether or not they prefer to say it out loud any longer, they know the feeling of being on the wrong end of too many decisions. It’s another feeling best left in the past.

“I feel like we’re rebuilding the program,” Mayoros said. “It’s all new stuff, new coaches, new atmosphere. It feels way more intense, top notch. It feels good going into the season. … There’s no losing mentality any more. Everyone’s hyped up and ready to go.”