Season preview: Reading High Red Knights
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
Classification: Class 6A.
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 1.
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 0-6 Section 1, 1-9 overall
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2014.
Head coach: Troy Godinet, third season, 4-16.
Key losses: RB/CB Cameron Small, RB/DB Dequan Small, WR Jahsir Drayton, all-league DL Michael Odeyemi, DB Manuel Cordero.
Top offensive players: QB Kayson Fritz, QB Jason Plylaharn Jr., all-league RB Alex Alvarado, FB Gabriel Laws, WR Xavier Beatty, WR Jeremiah Camara, WR Kahlil Samuel, TE Kenly Rivera, C Efrain Bonilla, all-league G Romello Fuentes, G Bryant Del Carmen, all-league second-team T Keyshawn Efese.
Top defensive players: E Kenly Rivera, E Jamier Jacobs, T Keyshawn Efese, T Julio Castro, second-team all-league LB Gabriel Laws, LB King Blanding, LB Romello Fuentes, LB Zumar Boston, all-league S Xavier Beatty, S/CB Kahlil Samuel, CB Jeremiah Camara, CB Khalis Reyes, CB Idris Weaver.
Did you know? The Red Knights played their first game in 1892, long before any other Berks team. This is their 130th season.
For the record: Elly Salamo rushed for 340 yards in a win over McCaskey in 1998. That is regarded as the program rushing record. Accurate stats from the 1950s, when future Pro Football Hall of Famer Lenny Moore played, are not available.
On schedule: The Red Knights find three first-time opponents on their schedule: Phoenixville in Week 1, Emmaus in Week 3 and Oxford in Week 9.
Quotable: “We’re way ahead of where we were last year in every aspect of the game: numbers, expectations, standards, how we practice. We’re light years ahead of where we were last year.” — Red Knights coach Troy Godinet.
Outlook: Red Knights coach Troy Godinet says there’s an energy building around his program. After some lean seasons, including a 1-9 record last year, Godinet and his players are expecting to make a big step up.
Godinet enters his third season running the program; he and his coaching staff have had an impact on all of the players in the system. There are 5 starters returning, including all-league picks Alexis Alvardo and Romello Fuentes and college prospects Keyshawn Efese, Xavier Beatty and Gabriel Laws.
There’s a reason for optimism. After being shut out three times and being held to 67 first-half points last season the offense figures to be more productive.
Returning QBs Kayson Fritz and Jason Plylaharn each got starts and split time behind center.
All-League RB Alex Alvarado rushed for over 800 yards and will be running behind a huge offensive line that includes three 300-pounders, as well as three-year starter and all-league G Romello Fuentes. The lead guy up front is 6-5 Keyshawn Efese, who has several FCS offers.
There are play-makers on the wings, including track star Xavier Beatty at one receiver and basketball star Jeremiah Camara another receiver spot. Khalil Samuel, who returns to the program after a year playing out of state, will add depth to the wideout position, as well as on defense.
Gabriel Laws will be a key piece on offense at FB and the tone-setter on defense from his spot at LB.
“He’s a smart football player,” Godinet said. “He can play any position on the football field and know where everybody has to be.”
The defense has to get better if the Red Knights are to take the next step forward. They yielded an average of four first-half touchdowns per game and more than 36 points per game overall last season.
With their size, and with Laws running the defense, Godinet believes they should be better against the run.
Efese, who’s on the radar of some Power Five schools, including Maryland, could be a big part of that. He’s a relative newbie to football and just coming into his own. He has a seven-foot wing span and could emerge as a dominant defender.
There’s plenty of speed and athletic ability in the defensive backfield, led by Beatty; that unit could be a strength.
Things look good on paper but Godinet is realistic; he’s knows there’s still much work to do.
“We’ve gotta prove ourselves right, not proving everybody wrong,” he said after all of his Section 1 rivals picked the Red Knights to finish last or next-to-last. “Once we start proving ourselves right, there’s nothing else we need to worry about. Our kids have to understand: Everything you do in life is earned. If you want to picked to be a winner, you’ve gotta show people you can win.”
At the wire: With experience and talent throughout the lineup the Red Knights could take a step forward.