Season preview: Muhlenberg Muhls
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Top Players To Watch in Section 2 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League
What to expect in Section 2 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League
Classification: Class 5A
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 1-5 league, 4-7 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2013.
Head coach: Rob Flowers, second season, 4-7.
Key losses: WR/CB Javiehn Ortiz, all-league OT Samson Evans, second-team all-league DE Dequan Small, CB Josiah Urbaez.
Top offensive players: QB Adriel Baez, All-State RB Cameron Small (2,051 rushing yards, 23 TDs), RB Ian Rodriguez, RB/WR Jayden Faulkner, WR/RB Michael Miller Jr. (25 receptions, 9 TDs), WR/RB Fred Lacey, WR Alexis Cantres, WR Rabentz Joseph, TE Danny Buzydlowski, C Conner Kantner, all-league G Zavier Otero, G Jeffrie Collado, T Tony Ferreria, T Trent Stoyer, PK Derek Shupp.
Top defensive players: E Jediah Quinones, E Jeffrie Collado, T Justin Jacquez, T Zavier Otero, ILB Ian Rodriguez, ILB Emilio Alvarez, OLB and second-team all-league DB Cameron Small, OLB Cooper Burr, S Michael Miller Jr., S Chase Zona, CB Freddy Lacey, CB Amir Pagan, P Derek Shupp.
Did you know? Cameron Small needs 1,653 yards to break the program career rushing record of 3,703, set by Jason Reinhart from 1997-99. Mel Fegely (1991-93) is the only other back in program history to top 3,000 yards.
On schedule: The Muhls will play eight of their 10 games at home, including all of their Section 2 games. They played at home just once last season because of safety issues at their newly renovated field.
For the record: Cameron Small last season became the first in program history to top 300 rushing yards in a game, going for 346 in 28 carries against Exeter. That smashed the record of 297, set by Jeremy Rodriguez against Wyomissing in 2007.
Quotable: “It definitely was great (to beat William Allen for the Eastern Conference championship) but we could’ve definitely done a lot better (last season). There’s always ways to improve. More can be done. As a team we can still grow. We’re expecting a couple more wins than last year; we’re expecting a big year.” – senior tackle Zavier Otero
Outlook: After spending the past half-dozen years at the bottom of the football food chain the Muhls ended last season holding aloft a trophy. OK, it was an Eastern Conference championship trophy, not one with the District 3 logo on it, but for a program that had produced just four wins in the previous six years that was a major achievement.
Now the Muhls want more. They tasted their first bite of success and now want a full plate of it.
“That last game set us up to know how high we can achieve,” All-State running back Cameron Small said of the season-ending 24-0 victory over William Allen. “We know how good winning something like that feels, but we want to win more than that.”
The Muhls are positioned to do so. It’s unlikely they’ll win any sort of trophies this year but with 15 starters back a winning record is achievable and a return to the district playoffs for the first time in 12 years isn’t out of the question.
Small, who became just the fourth back in Berks history to top 2,000 yards last season, is the centerpiece but the key will be the guys around him. They’ll need quarterback Adriel Baez and the passing game to improve and for the defense to get much, much better.
“Our passing game was atrocious last year,” second-year coach Rob Flowers said bluntly. “And our defense, period, was atrocious.”
Let’s start with the passing game (which ranked 34th out of 37 teams in the league). A couple games into his freshman year Baez unexpectedly found himself starting at QB. He didn’t put up any kind of impressive numbers but showed poise and that he could handle the job. He’s made big strides in the last 12 months, is making quicker reads in the pass game and delivering the ball on time.
He’ll certainly have the athletic targets to make the passing game go. Multi-talented Michael Miller Jr. is a three-year starter who led the team with 25 receptions a year ago. He also averaged nearly 8 yards per carry. He’ll be joined at wide receiver by Freddy Lacey, a dangerous open-field runner and threat to go the distance.
Flowers is high on a pair of sophomores who could add a spark to the offense: bullish 180-pound fullback Ian Rodriguez and speedster Jayden Faulkner.
The O-line should be better with three starters back, chief among them two-time all-league guard Zavier Otero and 6-8, 315-pound senior tackle Tony Ferriera Jr., who is getting big-school college looks.
With Small on the field the Muhls will find the end zone but they’ve got to get better at stopping people if they want to take the next step. They allowed 389 points last year, one of the highest totals in program history, and three times gave up 50 or more. They ranked No. 34 in the 37-team league in rushing defense, No. 35 in scoring defense and No. 36 in total defense.
They lost three of their top-rated guys on defense, so there’s work to be done. Small, an all-league DB, moves to linebacker; he’ll be a force wherever he lines up. Rodriguez could make an impact at linebacker. They’ll be athletic and experienced in the secondary with Miller Jr. and Lacey.
Even after making big strides in his first year back with the program Flowers knows more must be done and made some notable changes in the weight program and in his staff’s teaching methods.
The Muhls pushed Section 2 kingpin Exeter a year ago in a wild 56-28 loss but there’s still considerable distance between them and the Eagles. They are gaining ground on the top programs in Section 2 and aren’t the pushover they were not so long ago.
At the wire: Middle of the pack in Section 2 with shot at district playoff berth.
