EAST ROCKHILL — Kyle Beller is the Pennridge football team’s third head coach in three seasons. And while he’s taking over a program entering the 2023 season on a seven-game losing streak, he isn’t dwelling on the Rams’ recent history.
“We just really focus on us and now,” Beller said. “Last year, no matter what happened, just like last week, it doesn’t matter. It’s kind of always been my philosophy of coaching there, you know whatever happened last week was last week so we just cut it loose and move on, win, lose or draw.”
For Beller, who spent the last two years as the defensive coordinator at Whitehall and was also the head coach at Allentown’s Dieruff for seven seasons (2012-2018), the focus is putting in the day-in, day-out work to get Pennridge back to competing in an always-tough Suburban One League National Conference.
“They’re doing the little things and we’re harping on those things and they’re picking ‘em up and they’re starting to correct ‘em,” Beller said. “And that’s what you want to see at this point — no one’s peaking at this point but are they getting better at those little things.
“And every day you see one or two people pick it up a little better and then they’re starting to bring the other kids along so if we keep moving in that direction that’s a real positive direction and that’s all we can ask for.”
And what has been asked of the Rams this offseason, they have put in the work trying to give all they can in looking to bounce back from a 2-9 campaign in 2022 — Pennridge’s first losing season since 2019.
“They’re really hard on us but in a good way,” said Rams senior Joe Gregoire, a safety and wide receiver. “They push us to be the best we can be. A lot of discipline but we still put in all the work they want us to. And last year sometimes we slacked off but now they hold us to the standard to be the best we can.”
Pennridge won the SOL National title and advanced to the District 1-6A final in 2020 and reached the district playoffs in 2021. Last season, however, after consecutive shutout wins moved them to 2-2, the Rams dropped each of their next three games by three points or less. Four more losses followed, the last a 22-6 Thanksgiving Day defeat at Quakertown that gave the Panthers two straight wins in the rivalry.
“The ball did not bounce their way for whatever reason,” said Beller, who played in college at Delaware Valley University. “We were not here, we don’t know why. If it did, we wouldn’t be here and unfortunately for those guys it didn’t especially that senior class. But it is what it is.”
The Rams’ offense struggled to put up points in 2022, averaging 17.2 points per game — which dipped to 13.3 in the nine losses — and graduated top rusher Brennan Fisher, an all-conference first-team running back now at Army.
Beller did look into Pennridge’s past in constructing an offensive style, deciding on the Wing-T and expecting a number of backs to carry the ground game.
“From what I’ve done in the past to this is completely different — I mean, we’re a Wing-T, traditional Wing-T team,” Beller said. “But really I looked at the history of Pennridge, when they ran something like that they’ve been successful. So when you look at a style that fits an area and a group of kids, that’s one of the things I researched coming into the job and then coming in that’s what we wanted to do.”
Senior center Sam Mueller joins junior Andrew Vollberg in bringing some experience to the offensive line.
“Up front, it’s going back to our roots — Wing T,” Mueller said. “Just punching ‘em in the mouth, just hard, heavy hitting, just keep punching, keep punching, you just keep punching the ball and just run it down their throat.”
The Rams defense looks to improve on the 20.7 points per game it allowed in 2022. Senior lineman Chase Washington was an All-SOL National honorable mention section last season while Gregoire and senior Sam Kuhns are a part of the secondary.
“We’re really an aggressive defense,” Kuhns said. “There’s a lot of blitzes, there’s going to be a lot on us so you just have to know what you’re doing every play.”
Pennridge’s first chance to end its losing streak is on the road as it visits Downingtown East in the season opener. The Rams host Souderton Week Two then make a trip to Bensalem before starting conference play at home against Abington.
“Last year was last year,” Mueller said. “But this year I definitely saw it more in the weight room and now, everybody’s bought in, we’re running around now, here and there we like jog but then we get on each other, pick each other up and it gets rowdy, ready to go.”
