’22 Preview: Muhlenberg Muhls
Classification: Class 5A
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2
Schedule: Click here
Last season: 1-4 Berks 1, 1-9 overall
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2013
Head coach: John Lorchak, third season, 1-16.
Key losses: QB Adam Zaorski, second-team all-league RB Aaron Shuker, all-league DT Anthony Little, second-team all-league LB Brodie Faessen.
| LL2 | Projected finish |
| 1 | Exeter |
| 2 | Manheim Central |
| 3 | Gov. Mifflin |
| 4 | Warwick |
| 5 | Conestoga Valley |
| 6 | Muhlenberg |
| 7 | Lebanon |
Top offensive players: QB Drew Fidler, RB Tito Cruz, RB Jermicky Gumby, WR Gio Cavanna, WR Jordan Rosario, WR Luis Alcea, TE Mekhi Adonis, TE Wesley Clemison, second-team all-league C Tucker Bellanca, G Ulices Ramirez, T Damien McMullen, T Kevin Rosario, T Robert Mogel.
Top defensive players: E Mekhi Adonis, T Damien McMullen, LB Tucker Bellanca, LB Wesley Clemison, LB Ulices Ramirez, S Jordan Rosario, CB Gio Cavanna, CB Luis Alcea, CB Jermicky Gumby, CB Jayvion DeJesus.
Did you know? The Muhls snapped a 26-game losing streak, longest in program history, with a season-ending 38-6 win over Reading High in October.
For the record: Jason Reinhart (1997-99) owns nearly a dozen program rushing and scoring records but he no longer owns the single-game rushing mark. His record-setting game, 270 yards vs. Schuylkill Valley in 1998, has been topped three times. Jeremy Rodriguez possesses the record after going for 297 yards, in just 16 carries, at Wyomissing in 2007.
On schedule: The Muhls have three first-time opponents on their schedule this season: They have never played Octorara, Lebanon or Conestoga Valley. The latter two are Section 2 opponents.
Quotable: “(That win) was tremendous, something for the kids to build off of, lead into the beginning of the (off)season (and) going into the new league. That was a good sendoff for the seniors and also a great way to start the offseason.” — Muhls coach John Lorchak, on last year’s season-ending win over Reading High.
Outlook: The addition of 13 Berks County football programs to the Lancaster-Lebanon League will be beneficial to many involved, but not the Muhls. This partnership did them no favors.
They couldn’t compete with Gov. Mifflin and Exeter in Section 1 of the Berks League — they haven’t beaten the Mustangs since 2003 and they own just one win over the Eagles in the last decade.
Now, in addition to those two familiar foes, the Muhls must compete with District 3 kingpin Manheim Central and Warwick, a program on the rise the past several years.
“You’re in there with some heavy hitters,” said Muhls coach John Lorchak.
Muhlenberg’s roster includes some good hitters — guys such as Gio Cavanna and Drew Fidler, who played on the Berks League championship baseball team in the spring. The football program hasn’t had that kind of punch for a long, long time.
Muhlenberg recorded back-to-back winless seasons, in 2019 and 2020, for the first time in program history and has just two wins to show for the past four seasons. Hard to believe from as program which not that long ago dominated the Inter-County League like few teams before or since.
The Muhls will try to attack the tough schedule with a relatively young team. A dozen returning players had starting experience last season but many of those came in small doses.
“We definitely took a hit,” Lorchak said of graduation.
Drew Fidler saw time at QB because of an injury; he was soon injured himself and attempted just two passes all season.
Gio Cavanna, a three-year starter and one of the leaders on that championship baseball team, returns to WR after leading the team with 21 receptions. He also rushed for more yards (120) than any of the other returning players. He’ll likewise be counted on heavily on defense at CB.
Tucker Bellanca in the lone proven lineman; he was an all-league pick at C last year; he’ll also be a key defender at LB.
Mekhi Adonis was a two-way starter at end, Ulices Ramirez started most of the season at LB and Luis Alicea got seven starts at CB. Otherwise, the Muhls are basically starting over.
Despite the heavyweights at the top of the section the Muhls will be paired with a couple of programs they should be able to compete with. Lebanon is coming off an 0-10 season in which it was shut out five times. Conestoga Valley went 3-7 last year.
At the wire: Muhls are still in early phase of a rebuild.
Lancaster-Lebanon League
| Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5 |
| Cedar Crest | Conestoga Valley | Daniel Boone | Berks Catholic | Annville-Cleona |
| Hempfield | Exeter | Elizabethtown | Cocalico | Columbia |
| Manheim Twp. | Gov. Mifflin | Ephrata | Conrad Weiser | Hamburg |
| McCaskey | Lebanon | Fleetwood | Donegal | Kutztown |
| Penn Manor | Manheim Central | Garden Spot | Elco | Lancaster Catholic |
| Reading High | Muhlenberg | Solanco | Lampeter-Strasburg | Northern Lebanon |
| Wilson | Warwick | Twin Valley | Octorara | Pequea Valley |
| | | | Wyomissing | Schuylkill Valley |
