Photos: Colleen Claggett, Donna Eckert, Kathy Leister, Lennie Malmgren, Mike Nance, Marc Narducci, Ryan Nix, Ethan Puth & Lou Rabito

BY: RICH FLANAGAN

Malvern Prep did something that they had hoped to do during the shortened season in 2020. It was a goal head coach Dave Gueriera had set for his program from the moment he took the job six seasons ago and one that has carried the Friars to three league titles under his regime.

The Friars (8-2, 5-0 Inter-Ac) secured the 2021 Inter-Ac title by downing Springside Chestnut Hill, 14-0 in the final week of the regular season, relying heavily on its defense led by league MVP Coltin Deery, now at the University of Maryland, and a stout running game led by Isaiah Wright, who rushed for 1,100 yards and tied for the league lead with 13 touchdowns on the ground. Wright is now playing at Villanova along with linebacker Dale Law.

Last season’s title meant more than others of the past due to the significance of a season that was stripped away by the COVID-19 pandemic and the gauntlet that was the Inter-Ac slate, particularly a matchup with Episcopal Academy in the second-to-last week of the season.

He has four touchdowns through the air and three on the ground thus far this season.

Yaahdir Nash, who posted 325 yards and four scores last year, takes over for Wright in the backfield. The 5-10, 175-pound back who holds offers from Cornell and Marist has “shown that he could run outside on the perimeter, but he’s also shown that he can go in between the tackles. He’s really smart and picks up things well,” as Gueriera frames it. He had 133 rushing yards versus Delaware Military Academy (Del.).

Smith will have a few options to throw to on the outside such as returning starter Ryan Falkenstein, the 6-1 wideout who had 230 receiving yards last season. Chris Lake, a 6-4, 190-pound junior who played JV last year, will have an opportunity to make plays in the passing game as will a pair of sophomores in PJ Holmes (6-1) and Zade Smith-Johnson (5-10). Ennis Udo, a 6-1, 205-pound junior, will start at tight end.

With the departure of Deery and Bowman, there will be some changes upfront, but Gueriera will have the stalwart play of 6-5, 295-pound starting right tackle Peter Jones to rely on. The junior, who is only 16 years old and holds multiple offers including Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Texas A&M and Kentucky, was part of a unit that helped the Friars average 186.8 rushing yards per game a season ago. “He’s a great leader by example and a work ethic I’ve never seen duplicated by a player his age. He’s always trying to get better,” according to Gueriera.

There are four new starters in the secondary beginning with Andrew Pelliciotta, a 5-11, 165-pound sophomore, at free safety, and Cameron Paquette, a 5-10, 180-pound senior, will also see time. Smith-Johnson will start at one of the corner spots and Peri DiBartolomeo, a 5-10, 175-pound junior who is nursing an injury and will be out 4-6 weeks, should be an impact player upon his return.

Gueriera understands that repeating is never easy but taking the experience gained combined with the perspective of having accomplished what it takes to secure a league title could very well help this year’s group.

“What you don’t want to do is take the prior year for granted and not acknowledge it,” Gueriera said. “But you do want to distance yourself from it because this team needs their own identity. The old identity graduated and now they need a new one. I definitely talk to them about last year’s team, but they need their own identity.”

Rick Knox and Springside Chestnut Hill (3-7, 0-5) will begin their first season without quarterback Aidan Dooley, now at West Chester University. Not only will the Blue Devils be grooming a new signal caller, but they will also be without their top two wide receivers on the outside in Ivan Thorpe, now playing at VMI, and Tommy Shelinsky. That duo combined for 1,088 yards and 10 touchdowns. Furthermore, Dooley led the Inter-Ac in passing yards and touchdowns despite not playing the entire season.

As Knox begins year 18 at Springside Chestnut Hill, he has his work cut out for him in establishing an offensive identity.

“He’s a good athlete and one of the faster guys on our team. He can get out of the pocket and run, and we feel good about that. Different quarterbacks throw different balls well, and we’re feeling good about how he’s throwing the deep ball right now,” according to Knox.

The vaunted backfield starts with 6-1, 205-pound junior Elio Colavita, who rushed for 478 yards and two scores as a sophomore. Finn Whittle, a 5-9, 170-pound sophomore has been a welcomed addition to the Blue Devils backfield as evidenced by his 120 rushing yards and one touchdown against Martin Luther King. The biggest addition of the offseason may have been 5-9, 180-pound junior and Neumann-Goretti transfer Jayden Sumpter. Sumpter rushed for 1,109 yards and 13 scores in helping the Saints reach the PIAA Class 3A semifinals last season. He has already posted performances like 188 yards and two touchdowns against Hill School then 143 yards vs. Cheltenham.

Danny Reagan, the 6-1, 195-pound junior who had 352 yards and two touchdowns a year ago, returns as the starting tight end. Tyler Roberts was terrific as the third wideout behind Shelinsky and Thorpe last season with 216 yards and four touchdown receptions. The 5-11, 185-pound junior will be one of the top targets for Markey this season as will Julian McFadden, the 5-10, 150-pound sophomore who saw time as a freshman and has made strides as shown in his four-catch, 61-yard game vs. Hill School. Ron Brown, a 6-foot, 175-pound junior who is a standout on the boys basketball team, will also get snaps at receiver.

Rascoe, who led the Blue Devils with 14 TFL last season, is back along the defensive line and Colavita has “moved to a standup, weakside defensive end,” as Knox notes. Mitch Karp, a 6-6, 245-pound junior, moves from defensive end to tackle this season. Amari Fallen, a 6-1, 260-pound freshman, will begin his varsity career at defensive tackle.

Reagan, who was tied for the Springside Chestnut Hill lead with 87 total tackles in 2021, will man things in the middle amongst the linebackers. With Reagan assigned as a captain, this is the first season Knox has ever designated a junior in that role. Harry Kull, a 5-11, 190-pound freshman, will be a major contributor.

McFadden is slotted as one of the starting defensive backs while Tommy Andrews, a 5-10, 170-pound senior, is at one of the safety spots and Roberts, who had 87 total tackles, will be at the other. Roberts had 12 tackles (one TFL) and a forced fumble against Northeast High School earlier this season.

Episcopal Academy (6-4, 3-2) was tied atop the Inter-Ac standings with Malvern Prep heading into their matchup last season but fell short of their goal as the Friars took the game (and the title) with a 17-7 victory. Todd Fairlie’s 12th season at the helm of the Churchmen will feature a lot of new faces at various spots as an accomplished 2022 class has moved on.

Quarterback Jake Fant is seeing time at Franklin & Marshall while running back Andrew McMeekin is playing lacrosse at Princeton. Neo Vossschulte is at Army and Bryce Cooper is at Williams College. Jake Jaszcz is playing baseball at Holy Cross, Mekhi Rogers is at Hobart College, and CJ Jones is at Ithaca College.

Fairlie led the Churchmen to the 2019 title and is hoping to reignite the program with some key returnees.

TJ Cadden will see time at running back and receiver this season. The 6-foot, 185-pound senior with offers from Bucknell and Davidson, had 23 catches for 230 yards and two scores as a junior and already has 360 yards through nonleague play. His 5-10, 175-pound junior brother, Michael will see time in the backfield along with junior Zeke Kane.

Joining Cadden at receiver will be 6-4 senior and Cornell lacrosse commit TJ Lamb, who was sensational as a junior with 408 yards and three touchdowns. Lamb had 80 yards and two touchdown grabs vs. Blair Academy (N.J.) earlier this season. Eric Demyun, a 6-2, 190-pound junior, will see time at wideout and Ryan Appaneal, a 6-5 senior who missed much of last season, will be the starting tight end.

Senior Jack Gallagher had 62 total tackles and 7.5 TFL last season and returns to MLB. Will Hohn is another returning starter at outside linebacker after tallying 62 total tackles and 10 TFL as a junior.

TJ Cadden is back as a starting safety where he had 55 total tackles, three pass breakups and an interception a year ago and Michael Cadden will play the opposite safety spot where he had 42 tackles and five TFL.

Matt Dence heads into year 11 at Germantown Academy (5-4, 2-3) without the blazing speed and vision of running back Brian Allen, who led the Inter-Ac with 1,435 rushing yards and scored 13 touchdowns last season. Also gone from a team that lost to Episcopal Academy and Penn Charter by a combined four points are Donny Lattanze and Sean Spinosa, both at Ursinus College, Jack Brookman (Bowdoin College), Coulten Grasela (Widener University), Jake Hsu (Penn) and Brendan Donnelly, who is playing lacrosse at Drexel.

The rushing attack was centered around one player who put together one of the best single seasons in Patriots history, but a new group of backs will take the reins alongside a veteran passer for Dence’s offense.

“We really established an identity as an offense in a lot of ways,” Dence said. “We made a lot of changes defensively that I think will be helpful and show we are better. Brian was a huge positive for us last year and Tristian took a huge step forward as an all-league player at quarterback.”

“He established himself as one of the top skill guys in the area,” according to Dence. Aidan Donahue, the 6-1, 180-pound senior who had 29 receptions for 307 yards and a touchdown, and A.J. Towsen, the 6-1, 185-pound sophomore who had six catches for 88 yards and a score against Hill School earlier this season, will be options for Machado.

On the other side of the ball, Logan Woodward, a 6-1, 225-pound senior who had 2.5 sacks last season, returns at defensive end. CJ Kearney, a 6-3, 225-pound senior, is in his first year as a starter, and Zach Kniese, a 6-3, 275-pound sophomore, starts at nose tackle. Colin Pugh, a 6-1, 275-pound senior who “has battled injuries his whole career” as Dence notes, will see action as will 5-11, 225-poud junior CJ Merskey. Two freshmen are also in the mix in 6-4, 275-pound lineman Greg Thomas, who Dence raved is “as talented a player as I have ever coached,” and 6-6, 250-pounder Brandon Truszkowski.

Knox returns at linebacker after accruing 66 total tackles (four TFL) last season and he will be joined by 6-foot, 210-pound junior Stephen Tracanna and 5-10, 200-pound senior CJ Bauer.

In the secondary, Lara, who had 17 tackles a season ago, starts at free safety and Spivey, who had 30 tackles including four TFL and will play one of the two deep spots in college, starts at strong safety. Zakarewicz and Capers are the starting cornerbacks.

Brian Martin’s third season at the Haverford School (5-4, 3-2) might be his best as he has a savvy group to work with. Despite the losses of Isaiah Boyd (Tulane), Sam Gerber (Amherst College), Michael Benincasa (Franklin & Marshall), Michael Galasso (Delaware Valley University) and Finn Bonner (Navy), the Fords will not be surprising anyone with their array of talent, particularly upfront.

Noah Andrewson, a 6-6, 315-pound junior, Sean Dugery, a 6-4, 290-pound senior and returning starter, and Adon Gross, a 6-3, 225-pound junior, will even out the rest of the line. Michael Barnes-Pace, a 6-1, 230-pound junior, and Thomas Barr, a 6-3, 282-pound sophomore, will see plenty of time to fill out a line with a lot of size, speed, and versatility.

Barnes-Pace will also play defensive end and Billy Brosko, a 5-11, 280-pound senior who had 53 total tackles including 10 TFL and 2.0 sacks last year, should be a force upfront once again.

Louie Atkinson leads the linebacking corps after recording 75 total tackles (eight TFL) last season and the 6-2, 205-pound senior is primed for another dominant year. Michael Dean, the 5-11, 180-pound senior who had 37 tackles a season ago, is another returning starter.

Wills Burt, a 6-foot, 174-pound senior and Virginia lacrosse commit, returns in the secondary after leading the Fords with two interceptions in 2021, and 5-10, 165-pound senior Yasir Denmark, who had a pick six against Academy Park, is slotted in at corner.

Penn Charter (4-5, 2-3) racked up 509 total yards in its season finale against Germantown Academy last year and it’s hoping for much of the same in 2022. Senior quarterback Colin Schumm, who threw for 746 yards and six touchdowns a season ago, returns and has been outstanding in nonleague play with 631 yards and six scores. His top target is tight end and 2021 All Inter-Ac First Team selection Isaiah Grimes, who had 22 receptions for 439 yards last year.

Junior Zach Curtin has 406 rushing yards, which included 189 against Father Judge, and six touchdowns on the ground through the early part of the season. The defense is anchored by senior linebacker Liam Rowan, who had an interception return touchdown and two fumble recovery scores while recording 33 total tackles and two sacks as a junior. Rowan already has seven TFL and 2.5 sacks this season while Seamus McCain has been a nice addition after moving from running back to linebacker with eight TFL.