Season preview: Reading High Red Knights

Classification: Class 6A

League: Berks Section 1

Last season (spring): 0-3 United X League, 0-5 overall

Schedule: Click here

Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2014

Head coach: Andre Doyle, fourth season, 7-19 (.269)

Key losses: RB/LB Elijah Williams, WR/CB Marlowe Bowen, G/LB Kobe Hopkins, T/DE Nate Picazo.

Top offensive players: QB Amier Burdine, QB Daryonel Fontanez, RB Izayiah Wilson, WR DeShawn Wilson, WR Jayse Ganns, WR Ruben Rodriguez,T Aric Burton, T Jadien Grantham.

Top defensive players: ILB Josh Orozco, ILB Rylan Joseph, S Amier Burdine, CB Jayse Ganns, CB Deshawn Wilson.

For the record: Future NFL Hall-of-Famer Lenny Moore scored 22 touchdowns for the Red Knights in 1951. No one has topped that since.

Notable: The Red Knights played their first game in 1892, a 20-8 loss to Lancaster. This is their 128th season.

Quotable: “This may actually bond us. Everyone’s going to have to pick up the slack. Where they were (always) looking for Amier to make a play, now they really have to dial in and trust one another. That’s going to be our focus, building positive trust for one another.” — Red Knights coach Andre Doyle, on playing without quarterback Amier Burdine.

Outlook: As if the deck wasn’t already stacked against them, the Red Knights were dealt a potentially devastating blow in their preseason scrimmage when junior quarterback Amier Burdine was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury attempting to make a tackle. His status for the season heading into Friday’s opener against McCaskey is uncertain.

This on the heels on a 2020 fall season that was scratched due to COVID concerns. The Red Knights eventually got on the field for the spring season, playing five games in the United X League. They were short-rostered and over-matched against the District 1 schools they faced, and were out-scored by an average of 33 points per game.

Fewer than half of the 57 players now on the roster played in the spring, and even fewer have Friday night game experience. Some are playing fall football for the first time at this level.

Fourth-year head coach Andre Doyle was hoping to rebuild things around the 6-1, 175-pound Burdine, a multi-talent who played a key role off the bench during Reading High’s run to a PIAA basketball championship in March. He represents two of the Knights’ three returning starting positions; he also plays safety.

Burdine flashed his special game-changing abilities as a freshman when he helped the Red Knights go 6-5 and earn a berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The highlight of his season came in a 25-23 win against Twin Valley when he threw a 22-yard TD pass late in the game.

If he can’t go senior Daryonel Fontanez will run the offense. He saw limited time in the spring, when Burdine was knocked out by an injury.

Senior DeShawn Wilson, who moved to Florida last year when the Reading School District went to virtual learning, is back and will be counted on as a play-maker on both sides of the ball. He was the team’s leading receiver two years ago as a sophomore when he caught 22 balls for 325 yards.

The Knights have some other receivers with potential, including senior Jayse Ganns and junior Ruben Rodriguez. Ganns is a newcomer to the sport but he’s 6-2 and athletic. Rodriguez, an All-State basketball player, is returning to football for the first time since junior high. He has big-play potential, as well.

Wilson and Ganns will be keys on defense, joining LB Josh Orozco — the lone return starter on that side, other than Burdine — and LB Rylan Joseph.

The learning curve is steep, to be sure. For now the Red Knights will be focused on short-term goals.

“If you’re doing the right things, if you’re collectively working to make yourself better and your teammates better, then the wins take will care of itself,” said Doyle.

At the wire: Rebuilding season.