Season Preview: Muhlenberg Muhls

Classification: Class 5A

League: Berks Section 1

Last season: 0-4 league, 0-7 overall

Schedule: Click here

Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2013

Head coach: John Lorchak, second season, 0-7.

Key losses: All-league OT Carlos Collado, all-league DE Justin Solensky, all-league SS Shawn Shuker, QB Aaron Reinhart, RB Alex McGeary.

Top offensive players: QB Kyle Archie, QB/WR Adam Zaorski, second-team all-league RB Aaron Shuker, RB Gio Cavanna, RB Chris Rivera, TE Brodie Faessen, TE Anthony Little, TE Mekhi Adonis, WR Warren Reinhart, WR Cody Zerr, WR Jordan Rosario, WR David Rosario, C Tucker Bellanca, G Kevin Rosario, G Estavan Salguero, G Justin Hernandez, G Ulices Ramerez, T Dylan Wixon, T Damien McMullen, T Kenneth Rosario, T Robert Mogel.

Top defensive players: E Anthony Little, E Mekhi Adonis, E Kenneth Rosario, T Kevin Rosario, T Estevan Salguero, T Justin Hernandez, T Damien McMullen, all-league LB Brodie Faessen, LB Aaron Shuker, LB Chris Rivera, FS Kyle Archie, FS Warren Reinhart, SS Cody Zerr, CB Adam Zaorski, CB Gio Cavanna, all-league P Matt Hnautick.

Notable: The Muhls won 10 league or section titles in a 15-year span, from 1991-2005, under head coach John Yocum.

Quotable: “For the players, (winning a game) is the No. 1 priority. They talk about it all the time. Their No. 1 goal is just to get that first victory. These (players) haven’t experienced the better part of Muhlenberg football.” — Muhls coach John Lorchak, on ending a 17-game losing streak.

For the record: Jason Reinhart set program records in 1998-99 that still stand, including touchdowns in a game (6), season (39) and career (70), points in a career (426), and rushing yards in a season (1,883) and career (3,703).

Outlook: The dominant Muhlenberg teams of the 1990’s and early 2000’s are now a distant memory. The Muhls have had just one winning season in the last seven years. They had just one victory the last three seasons, going 1-26. They enter the season with a 17-game losing streak, unimaginable not all that long ago.

John Lorchak remembers those powerhouse teams in Laureldale. He was an assistant coach for John Yocum during the best of times. He’s been part of championship programs at Wilson, Exeter and Spring-Ford.

He’s never faced a rebuild quite this steep. The Muhls allowed a school-record 59 points in last year’s season-opener to Notre Dame-Green Pond, and a program-record 44.6 points per game for the season.

A lot of players return with starting experience — 10 on offense, nine on defense — and progress is being made, Lorchak said.

“We have grown as a team; we’ve gotten to the point where the mistakes we were making last year we’re not making now,” he said. “Our kids are comfortable with the system now; they got game experience last year. We’re moving forward.”

The Muhls will be inexperienced at QB, where sophomore Kyle Archie and senior Adam Zaorski have competed for the starting job; neither threw a pass last season. (That job was handled by Aron Reinhart, who has transferred to Berks Catholic.)

There is depth and talent at running back and receiver. Aaron Shuker was a second-team all-league pick after averaging 6.4 yards per carry and rushing for 504 yards last season. He accounted for five of the Muhls’ eight TDs.

Seniors Warren Reinhart and Cody Zerr have shown promise at WR. TE Brodie Faessen returns after leading the team with 12 receptions. 6-4 Anthony Little and 6-3 Mekhi Adonis will also see time at TE.

The key to it all, Lorchak said, will be how the O-line comes together.

Faessen was an all-league pick at LB and will be leaned on heavily to keep the defense together. Adonis, Shuker, Zaorski, Reinhart and Zerr will also play key roles there.

At the wire: Still building.