Building depth paramount for Red Devils

By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
LONDON GROVE >> Going helmet-to-helmet with the big boys of the Ches-Mont National is a weekly challenge for Avon Grove football. That’s why second-year head coach Joe Coffey is prioritizing the building of depth for 2021.
Identifying and developing players to fill in for the starters is going to be a key in order to hang with team like Coatesville, Downingtown East and Downingtown West. The Red Devils have a nice group of returnees from last year’s abridged 1-4 season, but need to find inexperienced and/or young talent to provide a breather. He is also hoping some will seize a spot on one side of the football in order to limit the need for two-way starters.
“We need to keep guys as fresh and as fast as possible, with what we are going up against,” Coffey said. “We even have some sophomores, and I’ve told them if they can tackle and they don’t let anybody run by them, we will use them on defense to keep everybody as fresh as possible.”

Senior quarterback Connor Walsh headlines the returning skilled players, but the strength of the team lies up front, with big and athletic linemen like Joshua Reuter (6-foot-2, 230 pounds), Nate Fish (6-2, 280) and Clay Nagy (6-2, 275) back for their senior seasons. Add in junior Josh Oswald (5-11, 230) and Ramsay Haartz, who is back after missing last season with an injury, and you have a solid core.
“We had very few one-way guys last season,” Coffey pointed out. “Even if we have to exchange some guys for a series, we have to do that.”
Five of six return along the offensive line, and the outlier – center Marco Quiroz (5-10, 230) – missed last season due to COVID-19. Coffey envisions rotating 8-9 players on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We have some guys that will be able to provide a breather, and there isn’t a drop off,” he said. “We want those guys as fresh as possible in order to compete.
“We are confident with a lot of these guys. And if they are young, they are only a sophomore for about three games, then they will be experienced.”

Reuter is one of the league’s better two-way ends. He is a big target and blocker at tight end and is a leader on defense.
“I really like our defense,” he said. “Our line is going to be brutal. We have good size and we have a bit of everything. We are well-rounded.”
A tackle, Fish agrees.
“I love this group,” he said. “We are all competing, we are all getting better and I think it could be a strength.
“Being in the Ches-Mont, we have to be better on both sides of the line. We have to get bigger and stronger from last season, and I think we’ve done that.”
That’s good news for Walsh, and an offense that is looking to replace runners Colby Riddell and Sean Glatts, who have graduated. Coffey said Walsh is dynamic and can extend plays.
“Connor is a big-time run threat – very athletic and fast,” he said.
“It won’t be easy to replace (Riddell and Glatts), but Anthony Russo will do a good job.”
The top prospects at receiver include seniors Cooper McDannald and Hunter Traa, and Ethan Peterson.
“We had a young team last season, and now that people have been through it, we know what to expect and are ready to go,” Walsh said. “Most of the guys on this team have been playing together since middle school.
“I’ve noticed a big difference this year in commitment.”
The back end of the defense is much more uncertain than up front. Inside linebackers Connor Clukey and Anthony Calabretta are seniors but will be first-time starters. The secondary will feature many of the skilled players from the offense.
“There are some young guys I fully expect will fill in with the skill guys from offense,” he explained. “That’s kind of a challenge I’ve given them: if they can play, I will play them if it helps the team.”
Another big void to fill is at kicker-punter. Standout Bobby Smith is now at West Virginia, but sophomore Adam Okonowicz has shown promise.
“The mindset of this team is to do your job, and that effort is going to be the thing that will separate us from being a good team or a bad one,” Reuter said.
“We took our lumps in the first three weeks last season, we came out semi-healthy and then were able to rebound and play competitive the rest of the way,” Coffey added. “We need to build on that. We want to get some more wins.
“The best thing about 2020 was that we did was get the young guys reps. Even if we didn’t play a lot of games, they were coached in practice.”