Defense making Avon Grove competitive

 

When Mike Burritt came back to the Avon Grove football program this past offseason after taking off his junior season, it was like he rejoined a different team.

In its 14th year of existence, Avon Grove has still yet to find roots, with only one winning season. It’s been a Catch-22 of sorts, as the Red Devils try to compete in the Ches-Mont National Division. While there’s been talent to make an impact, at times that talent has been impatient and transferred out.

But Burritt sees something different about this year’s team.

“The biggest difference is the attitude and commitment,” Burritt said. “We never had to whole team show up to the weight room in the offseason before and there’s a commitment to improvement.”

Second-year coach Harry O’Neill has preached from the beginning that to compete with the big boys of Chester County, his team has to play defense. Avon Grove and defense have been anything but synonymous, until this season.

The Red Devils’ defense is currently second in the area in points, rushing yards, passing yards and total yards against per game. While the squad isn’t the Steel Curtain quite yet, it has give Avon Grove a newfound belief.

“Last year almost every game we were just hoping to stay in it,” senior linebacker Ryan Hoffman said. “This year every game is a winnable game and we’re ready to play.”

Avon Grove’s one winning season came in 2009, with Jordan Harris and Brendan McLaughlin in the backfield. The Red Devils went 7-44 the following five seasons. In that five-year stretch, Avon Grove’s defense gave up 33 points, 235.7 rushing yards and 381.1 total yards per game on average.

This year, Avon Grove is 3-3 and has been in every game outside of Downingtown East. In the other two losses to Unionville and West Chester East, the defense gave up just 14 points in each but were unable to win tight decisions.

“It kind of sucked (in the past) when the other team would bring in its second team,” senior linebacker Dan Hazewski said. “This year it’s usually been a good game and it’s exciting and much more fun this year. … Coach O’Neill is a fantastic guy and he gets us. He believes in us and that really helps. He makes us buy in and everyone believes they can do something because he thinks we can.”

With more wins this season than the previous three combined, Avon Grove is becoming the program O’Neill had hoped when he left his post as Unionville’s defensive coordinator.

“We’ve preached all along that if we play defense and not make mistakes and turn the ball over we can stay in every game,” O’Neill said. “This year they’ve bought in and we’re a pretty scrappy defense and a pretty good tackling team. The message from the beginning is that attitude and effort is what they can control and we’ll take care of the football part.”

O’Neill credits the work of his defensive staff of defensive coordinator Eric Schuibbeo, Kevin Borcky, Brian Kirby and Rollie Walker.

He also has a core group of veterans on that side of the ball. Through six games the defense has given up 73 points. The past two seasons opposing offenses reached 73 points during the third game of the season.

“They ran a 4-3 when I got here and weren’t very good against the run and gave up a lot of points,” O’Neill said. “It was the same last year, and we went back and forth from a 4-3 to a 3-4. This year the kids have bought in to the program to a much higher level and have a better understanding of what we want. The scheme has helped us, but probably the bigger adjustment has been the buying in and effort and practicing the right way.”

Burritt has been a stabilizing force on the defensive line, while Hoffman moved from inside linebacker to outside to “take advantage of his strength” according to O’Neill. Hazewski is the leader at inside linebacker, calling the plays and making the checks.

Nate Jones, Dillon Estes, Matt Walters and Joe D’Antonio have interceptions for the Red Devils.

With West Chester Henderson, Coatesville, Downingtown West and Bishop Shanahan left on the schedule, Avon Grove will have its work cut out to stay at .500 or beyond. According to Burritt, this season is a potential foundation for a striving program.

“The change is yet to happen,” Burritt said. “This year is the deciding factor if football can come back to Avon Grove. The youth program is substantially smaller and the lacrosse program has been good, but the football has dwindled. We want to bring the culture back to when kids were flooding in to play football. This year is hopefully gonna make the change.”