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By Bill Rudick
No more American or National divisions in the Ches-Mont, as the league’s new format features three new, geographically aligned divisions. Avon Grove will move into the newly created Southern Division, along with Oxford, Kennett, Sun Valley and Unionville.
“The new alignment allows us to play all the districts we directly border, similar to the old Southern Chester County League,” said Avon Grove head coach Joe Coffey, who is entering fifth season guiding the Red Devils. “(Sun Valley) coach (Ernie) Ellis, (Kennett) coach (Lance) Frazier, (Oxford) coach Mike Means and (Unionville) coach Tim Murphy all do a great job with their programs, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity for our kids to compete against the kids they’ve grown up competing against.”
When the Red Devils have the ball, Coffey will count on his offensive line to lead the way — literally and figuratively — with junior guard Van Erickson joining seniors Finn Mahoney (OT), Jacob Will (OG), Kurt Husson (C) and Jacob Lott (OT) to fill out a group that has seen their fair share of time in the trenches.
“We return a wealth of experience in the front five of our offensive line,” said Coffey. “And we will look to get the ball into a variety of hands for explosive plays.”
Frank Hoogerwerff returns under center for his senior season.
“We return a senior captain and three-year starter at QB,” said Coffey. “Frank’s experience and leadership will be on display every week.”
When Hooogerwerff takes to the air, his targets will include senior wide receiver Sebastion Binstead, along with junior Dylan Lopapa, and junior tight end Dylan Laganelli.
“We will be leaning on senior captain Sebastian Binstead at one of our receiver positions,” said Coffey. “’Sebby’ leads by example, has good speed and great hands.”
The ground game will feature a host of newcomers in juniors Jose Sabastro, Evan Olander, Zander Binstead, Julian Bond and sophomore Joey DiCrecchio.
Other newcomers that might have an impact on the offense are Nate Hofmesiter (junior, WR) Rafe Hamilton (senior, WR) Mitch Walraven (junior, WR) Aiden Rieger (senior, OT) and Ryan Ionescu (senior, OT).
With just four returning starters on defense, Coffey has high expectations for senior co-captain Zach Sheridan, who will anchor the defensive unit from his middle linebacker position. Also returning on defense are Ben Webb (senior, OLB), Jake Stein (senior, DB), and Jacob Lott (senior, DE).
Vying for playing time on the defensive are Grayson Pitman (junior, DE), Gavin Smith (junior, NG), Lucas Henning (sophomore, DE), Aiden Rieger (senior, DE), Dylan Laganelli (junior, OLB), Jack Reilly (senior, MLB), Graham Picard (sophomore, LB), Zander Binstead (junior, OLB), Evan Olander (junior, DB), Nolan Whitney (junior, DB), Aiden Bolt (senior, DB), Chris Zavala (senior, DB) T.J. Daddario (sophomore, DB).
“Our defense has been impressive with their athleticism, aggressive play and their understanding of our defensive philosophy,” said Coffey. “The defensive line is familiar in size to last season but with more athletic ability and linebackers we have depth where we have eight players that all could be starters.”
The special teams will have big shoes to fill as kicker extraordinaire Adam Okonowicz, who also handled punting duties, has graduated and moved on to the University of Rhode Island.
“Adam Okonowicz will be difficult to replace,” said Coffey. “Our special teams will be schematically sound and aggressive in covering and returning. We are excited about seeing players in our program understand their role on special teams is as equally important to the success of the season as the offensive and defensive units.”
The Red Devils kick off their season Aug. 24, when they play host to visiting Warwick from the Lancaster-Lebanon League. The Ches-Mont schedule won’t get underway until Oct. 4, when Avon Grove will square off against the Unionville Longhorns.
“We are excited for the 2024 Red Devil football season” said Coffey. “Our program will have two fundamental principles to guide us each day: work hard (and) support your teammates.”
