Season Preview: Reading High Red Knights
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Classification: Class 6A.
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 1.
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 1-5 league, 3-7 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2014.
Head coach: Troy Godinet, second season, 3-7.
Key losses: All-League QB/S Amier Burdine, Receiver of the Year Ruben Rodriguez, WR Kahlil Samuel (transferred), OL Karim Martinez, LB Joshua Orbe.
Top offensive players: QB Jason Plylaharn, QB Kayson Fritz, RB Alexis Alvarado, FB/TE Gabriel Laws, SB Jeremiah Camara, WR Xavier Beatty, WR Cameron Small, WR Jahsir Wilson, WR Kenyon Sheriff, C Isiah Ruiz, C/G Efrain Bonilla, second-team all-league G Romello Fuentes, G Zachary Rogers, second-team all-league T Keyshawn Efese, T Jaydon Pinnock.
Top defensive players: All-League second-team E Michael Odeyemi, E Lenard Brown, T Kenly Rivera, LB Gabriel Laws, LB Dequan Small, LB Santhonax Labonte, S Xavier Beatty, S Jeremiah Camara, CB Cameron Small.
Did you know? Only two of Reading High’s 36 head coaches have compiled a winning percentages above .600: Paul Reed (.603), who coached 11 seasons between 1909 and 1923, and Al Wolski (.699), who coached nine seasons from 1995-2003.
For the record: Pro football Hall of Famer Lenny Moore set the program record for touchdowns in a season with 22 in 1951. That’s more TDs than the Red Knights scored in any of the last three seasons.
On schedule: The “Battle of the Border” rivalry game against Muhlenberg, traditionally played in the final week of the season, is now played in Week 2. The Red Knights won 33-20 last season to take a 10-9 lead in the trophy series.
Quotable: “We have more kids that are here for the long run, more that came back from last year, more that have been committed throughout the offseason and are dedicated to this team.” — Red Knights coach Troy Godinet.
Outlook: You think of Reading High football and you think of the many great backs, receivers and linebackers who have come through the program in recent decades: Sam and James Bryant, Elly Salamo, Tony Hardy, Charlie Randall, Kalise Cook, Lamar Stewart.
And the great linemen . . . ? The Red Knights have produced just two All-State linemen (Tony Brown and Sean Gaul) over the last 40 years.
“The one thing that Reading was always (missing) was the bigs,” said second-year head coach Troy Godinet, a former Red Knights linebacker. “This year you’re gonna see that we’ve got some bigs.”
The Red Knights lost about 80 percent of their offense when QB Amier Burdine and WR Ruben Rodriguez graduated. They don’t have those kind of playmakers in the passing game this season – few teams do – so they’re going to have to rely on their offensive line to carry the load.
“We’re gonna pound the football,” promised FB Gabe Laws. “We’re looking to run the ball. With our big guys up front and our bigger backs we should be able to take off.”
The Red Knights will have a giant at tackle in junior Keyshawn Efese, who’s 6-5, 315 with a seven-foot wingspan. He’s dropped 50 pounds in the last year and is on the radar of Power Five schools such as Florida State, Penn State and Maryland.
Senior guard Romello Fuentes, at 5-10, isn’t getting that kind of big-time attention but he’s a three-year starter and, like Efese, earned all-league honors last season.
If those guys can open some holes the Red Knights have guys who run through them in Alexis Alvarado and Laws. Alvarado will be the lead back in one-back sets out of the Spread and Godinet is expecting big things.
“He’s a whole lot quicker, a whole lot faster (than last year),” Godinet said. “His vision is a whole lot better. Some of the runs that you saw from him last year that were 10, 15 yards are gonna be 45-yard touchdowns. He has that explosion now.”
The Red Knights have speed and skill at the receiver positions in Cameron Small, Jahsir Wilson and Jeremiah Camara, who could be one of the league’s top freshman (you’ll hear the same thing come basketball season).
It remains a question as to whether they’ll have someone who can get the ball to them. The Red Knights are painfully inexperienced at the QB spot. Sophomore Jason Plylaharn and junior Kayson Fritz are battling for the position; neither has attempted a pass at this level.
Six starters return on defense, led by Laws, an active LB who had 14 tackles for loss last season, and 6-2, 245-pound DE Michael Oyedemi, a second-team all-league pick as a junior. Xavier Beatty, a starting defensive back as a sophomore, brings speed to the secondary; Godinet calls him one of the best athletes at the school.
“He has a 77-inch wing span and he jumps out the gym,” Godinet said. “He ran an 11.3 in the 100 without any kind of speed (training).”
In his short time leading the program Godinet has worked to build stability, continuity, and depth. He’s planning to use just three two-way, full-time players – Laws, Beatty and Cameron Small – which will be a huge plus against some of the larger-rostered teams in Section 1.
At the wire: Taking another step forward.
