New-look Norristown is back after a short offseason

WEST NORRITON >> Norristown did not have a traditional offseason heading into 2021 summer workouts.

The school did not compete in any fall sports in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and played a five-game football season in the spring.

A typical season ends around Halloween and then the players get a few weeks off to unwind. They’ll come back in early December for an introduction into the offseason program until Christmas break before hitting the weight room from January until they can head outside in May.

In 2021, their season ended with a win over Reading on April 16, about four-and-a-half months before their season-opener against Bensalem on Aug. 27.

“After the spring season we took probably about two or three weeks just to give them a chance to get mentally together,” Norristown head coach Joe Milligan said, “allow them to focus on their schoolwork and make sure their grades are up to par, make sure they’re up to date.”

There are benefits to the quick turnaround.

“It allows them to make sure that everything is still repped and make sure they still understand everything,” Milligan said. “It keeps it fresh in their brain and they understand the concepts that we’re trying to do. It also keeps them active – you hear about a lot of kids gaining weight during this COVID period – that helps prevent them from doing that. It also helps keep these guys off the streets and able to do something they like to do.”

“It’s better for us because we already know everything going into the season,” senior Kaden Cruz said. “It’s just about us coming out here and putting in the work.”

“There wasn’t really an offseason,” junior Robby Miller added. “Right from spring we went into summer workouts. It’s just been straight through. We’re in shape – I feel like we’re ready to play. It should be fun.”

Despite the quick turnaround, the Eagles will look a lot different in the fall than they did in the spring. They lost their quarterback, two running backs, three receivers and two offensive linemen on offense and two cornerbacks, three linebackers and three defensive linemen on defense.

Cruz is a player with experience on both sides of the ball – a running back on offense and middle linebacker on defense.

“We still have a lot of returning players, also, so we still have that chemistry,” he said. “but there’s also a lot of new players coming in. The offseason’s been more of the team bonding, getting to know each other. Our chemistry is coming along real well. We work together well, we come out here, we bond and have fun, but not too much fun – we’re still locked in.”

Cruz and Rashad Triplett bring some varsity experience to the running game, plus Milligan likes a couple underclassmen that could contribute on the ground. Wide receivers Nate Robinson and Julian Arthur also saw some playing time in the spring.

Miller and senior John Dinolfi are vying for the starting quarterback job. Milligan said the two are similar as big quarterbacks, but Miller has more experience and that makes a big difference. Miller played a few JV games and saw some varsity snaps in the spring.

“I feel like I’m a good pocket passer and I can read a defense pretty well,” Miller, who’s been playing with this group of guys since eighth grade, said. “If the defense wants to throw something different at me, I can react to what they’re doing.”

Defensively, lineman Chris Carter joins Cruz and Triplett, who plays strong safety, as defenders with experience.

The Eagles will see how their new pieces fit together in their opener against Bensalem next Friday night at 7 p.m. at Norristown Area High School.