DiGIOVANNI: Coatesville may not be quite the same, but doubt them at your own risk

Anyone who follows high school sports knows graduation is the great equalizer. 

Teams are together for two, or maybe three years. And for the past three years the Coatesville Red Raiders have been tremendous, winning three straight Ches-Mont League National Division titles and the last two District 1 Class 6A crowns before making long runs into the PIAA playoffs. 

Coatesville, quite simply, has been head and shoulders above the rest of the district the past two seasons.

But, when you lose four-fifths of your offensive line, almost your entire defense, and a Division I running back in Aaron Young, you are not going to be the same finely tuned machine, especially early in the season. But, talent still dots the Coatesville roster.

So after five weeks of the 10-game regular season, Coatesville sits at 3-1 with good wins over Cumberland Valley and Unionville, But people keep asking what is wrong with the Red Raiders. 

Boy, how we have been spoiled by Matt Ortega’s crew. The Red Raiders have set the bar so high that anything less than a string of mercy rule games is treated like a failure.

The truth is Coatesville is not quite as good as last year. No team could suffer such losses and be the same. But Coatesville is still a very good team that is now dealing with a injury to Villanova-bound quarterback Ricky Ortega, who has a bum ankle that seems to be lingering.

Coatesville may have to bench the sterling signal-caller for a game to let the ankle heal. With a tough West Chester Rustin team next on the schedule, that may not be a viable option. But, make no mistake about it, Coatesville is a team that is improving and finding its way. It is a much better team now than it was back in August, when the Red Raiders lost to a very good Harrisburg team.

So when people ask me what is wrong with the Red Raiders, there is one clear answer: 

Nothing. 

The Red Raiders have a lot of new players, and they needed some time to get coached up by a marvelous staff, and get some real game experience.

The good thing is after the Rustin game, the schedule eases up for two weeks, allowing the Red Raiders to prepare for the two Downingtown games in the ninth and 10th weeks.

I don’t know if Coatesville can handle either Downingtown East or Downingtown West. What I do know is the Red Raiders will need a healthy Ricky Ortega to beat both the Cougars and the Whippets. 

But nothing is wrong with Coatesville. This is still a very dangerous group, it’s just an inexperienced bunch still learning its assignments.

Expectations have been raised to a ridiculous level, because that is what fans do. 

I think Coatesville overcomes the adversity and comes back as one of the top teams in District 1. Head coach Matt Ortega has said the Raiders will be better in October than they were in late August and early September.

Going by past performances, who is going to argue with the Red Raiders’ boss? And that declaration should be a warning signal for the rest of the Ches-Mont League and District 1.

Peter DiGiovanni covers high school football for the Daily Local News and Pa. Prep Live. You can reach him at pdigiovanni07@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteDLN.