Despite graduation losses, Coatesville football team looks to remain among district’s best

COATESVILLE >> Expectations.
For any good team, they come with the territory and for the past few years not many high school football teams in the area have been better than Coatesville.
They won their sixth straight Ches-Mont League National Division title in 2021 and made it all the way to the District 1 6A finals, before succumbing to Garnet Valley.
Despite suffering significant losses due to graduation, the Red Raiders are back with another talented team, filled with speedy skill players, looking to earn more hardware this season.
“We have a lot of new faces out here, but these guys understand the culture and tradition we have,” said Coatesville head coach Matt Ortega. “They know the pressure that’s on top of them after winning the league for six years in a row, so they know what they have to do – come out here and get better every day and not take anything for granted.”

The one position Ortega doesn’t have to worry about filling is quarterback, as Harrison Susi returns for his senior season. He’s thrown for 2,310 yards and 34 touchdowns and run for 1,724 yards and 24 scores his first two seasons.
“The offensive line looks good, we have three returners,” said Susi. “Run game’s still going to be great. Pass game is still going to be great.
“I have been working with my quarterbacks coach Pete Bonner all summer. I have been working on my throwing mechanics. My ball has a lot more power on it than last year. I think I got a little bit faster than last year. My 40 (yard dash) time has gone down a little and my arm’s gotten 10 yards stronger.”
Ortega is happy to have his first team Ches-Mont National QB back to guide the high-powered offense.

“Whenever you have a returning quarterback like Harrison, you feel like you always have a shot,” said Ortega. “He’s won a lot of games for us, so we feel like when you have (number) 14 lining up for us, we have a shot to win.”
The Red Raiders are expected to have more of a committee approach at running back this season. Ortega indicated that Daniel Watson, Spencer Ferguson and Kwame Brown will see time. They hope one of them can emerge to eventually become the bellcow.
Coatesville has had its fair share of explosive receivers through the years and Ortega feels that could continue with this group.
Though they suffered losses, the offensive line has a number of returning players who saw playing time last year, lessening the anxiety about replacing the departed pieces.

“I think we’re going to be very good. We’re going to try and live up to last year’s line that was very good,” said lineman Jay Labik. “We’ve got three new people here and they’re going to be very good. I love Harry. He’s my favorite person. My job is to protect and I’ll make sure I do that.”
The defense has been the underappeciated strength of the team the past few years. The group looks to be primed to have another stellar campaign.
“I love our front six, I think that’s going to be one of the strengths of our football team,” said Ortega. “I have two playmaking corners. I love our front and our backs.”
Donte London and Amir Hakett are the corners that Ortega feels have a chance to be among the best he’s had at the school. Both are speedy.
“I feel like nobody is going to score on us this year,” said Haskett, who will double as a deep threat as receiver. “The secondary is going to be the part of the team.”
That feeling is echoed by safety Armon Richardson.
“I love our defense. I think we’ll going to be great,” Richardson said. “I think our secondary — our corners and safties — is going to be very good.”
The Red Raiders open up with a home game against Pennsbury Aug. 26. They also have Ches-Mont crossover dates with Unionville and West Chester Rustin.

“I think our schedule is one of the toughest we ever had,” said Ortega. “We have Pennsbury, who has gone through some struggles, but they have their old coach (Galen Snyder) back. We have Academy Park, who has been one of the top teams in the state the last few years. We have Central Dauphin, then we go into that gauntlet with Unionville, Rustin and West. [Our schedule] definitely has our eyes open.”

Coatesville Schedule
Fri., Aug. 26 — vs. Pennsbury, 7 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 2 — at Academy Park, 1 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 9 — vs. Central Dauphin, 7 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 16 — at Penn Wood, 7 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 23 — vs. Unionville, 7 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 30 — at West Chester Rustin, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 7 — vs. Downingtown West, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 14 — at Bishop Shanahan, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 21 — at Downingtown East, 7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 28 — vs. Avon Grove, 7 p.m.