The Reading High School football team has yet to have a winning season since the Red Knights joined the Berks League in the 2010-11 season. After going 2-5 last season the league, and 3-7 overall, the Knights have their sights set on breaking that string of losing seasons with a winning one in 2014.
They have the talent and experience to accomplish the task. There were a lot of younger and inexperienced players on the team last year. They will be back with a year of experience and maturity to help this team win.
They are led by Sterling Young-Trapp who led the team in rushing last year with 397 yards on 122 carries. He was second on the team on scoring with three touchdowns and a two-point conversion for 20 points.
They also have their leading receiver back from last year in Dontae Owens. In 2013 he caught 23 passes for 519 yards for a 22.57 yards per catch average.
The defense will lose middle linebacker Matt Sensenig, but there is a lot of talent coming back on the defense which needs to improve if this team is going to be a winning one. Last year the Red Knight defense surrendered 307 points, while the offense scored just 135. Obviously, those numbers must change.
The second quarter was especially rough for Reading on both sides of the ball. The defense gave up 117 points in the second quarter during the 2013 campaign, while the offense scored just 12.
The Red Knight offense will need to get a ground game going this year after covering only 1,100 yards on the ground last year. Young-Trapp and Jai Whitlock acrued most of the yards last year on the ground. Both will be back for more this year.
There are a lot of questions concerning this team, but there is no doubt it has the potential to turn things around and get a winning season. It will defend on how much the returning players have improved in the offseason.
The Red Knights will host Harrisburg on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. in a non-league game. They will follow that up with a road game at McCaskey on Sept. 12. The Berks League season will start up Sept. 19 and it will start with a bang for Reading. The Red Knights will host preseason favorite Governor Mifflin at 7 p.m.
