Starting Lineup: After big debut, Michael Miller poised to take lead role with Muhls
To recognize the top players in Berks football MikeDragoSports.com has selected the “Starting Lineup,” a preseason All-Berks team that includes the top linemen, backs, receivers, linebackers and specialists.
Players were selected based on past performance, expected performance this season and college potential. Two-way players were given special consideration. One player will be introduced each day, in random order (the players are not ranked).
Michael Miller, Muhlenberg
| 6-1 | 180 | Sophomore | RB/OLB/KR |
BACKSTORY: It didn’t take long for Michael Miller to display his potential on the football field.
In Muhlenberg’s season-opener last year against Octorara the freshman outside linebacker intercepted a pass and took it to the house. The touchdown was nullified by a penalty on the return but that didn’t diminish his play.
“At that point you knew that (he) was going to be a playmaker,” said Muhls coach John Lorchak, “and (that) he has a knack for the football.”
Lorchak and others around the Muhlenberg program knew years before that he would be something special. He was so advanced as a seventh-grader that he spent time playing with the Muhls’ freshman team; he was in the varsity starting lineup on defense in Week 1 as a ninth-grader.
The next week, against Reading High, he was added to special teams and returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score.
He was in the starting lineup on offense by Week 3 and scored on a 50-yard run in a Week 4 win over Lebanon. He had just 11 more carries the rest of the season but averaged a whopping 10.2 yards on his chances.
“There’s a confidence in him that he accepts the challenge of playing against the next level of competition,” Lorchak said. “He wants to make himself better and he knows to be better he had to come up and face the challenge of competing for a varsity spot. Michael is pushing himself to be better all the time.”
No one was too surprised when Miller, as a freshman on a deep Muhlenberg basketball team, carried them to an upset over Unionville in a PIAA Tournament opener. He scored 13 of his career-high 15 points in the final quarter, igniting a rally that carried the Muhls to a 64-54 win on the road.
“He’s gonna be phenomenal,” Muhls basketball coach Matt Flowers said afterward. “He didn’t fade away from the big stage.”
Lorchak and the football team are expecting similar things from the sophomore. In addition to his spot at outside linebacker and on special teams he’ll be a big part of the offense this season as a running back or wide receiver – or both.
“He’s a tremendous running back; he’s also a tremendous receiver,” Lorchak said. “He’s a natural runner. He reminds me of (former Daniel Boone star) Nate Romig; he has the ability to be in the backfield but also in the slot. Mike is in that category. (His) athleticism enables him to be a playmaker on the field.”
Miller, now 6-1, 180, has shown tremendous growth in his game since last season, especially in the receiving game where he can use his speed and 38-inch vertical jumping ability to be a threat. He’s one of the reasons Muhlenberg is returning to a Spread offense and plans to throw more than last season when the offense depended on 1,000-yard back Gio Cavanna.
“Last year he couldn’t catch anything,” Lorchak said. “This year, he catches everything. He excelled in our 7-on-7’s and caught the eye of the Lehigh coaches at a camp at Penn State.”
Miller will be a pillar on defense, too. Last season he recorded five sacks and had three interceptions.
The Muhlenberg staff thinks so highly of Miller that he was named a team captain; Lorchak, who has been around the program for decades, can’t remember another sophomore who earned that distinction.
“For him to be in that role shows his maturity level, his ability on the field and the respect (he gets) from the team,” he said. “When Mike speaks he has the voice of the locker room.”
ROLE: Lead running back, receiving threat, anchor on defense, weapon in kick-return game.
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: If he continues to add size and speed will earn scholarship offers at PSAC level or higher.
Starting Lineup
| Edison Case | Wilson | WR/S/KR |
| Dominic Giuffre | Schuylkill Valley | RB/OLB |
| Michael Miller | Muhlenberg | RB/OLB/KR |
| Nathan Pashley | Exeter | S/QB/WR/P/KR |
| Mason Semmel | Hamburg | HB/TE/DT |
| Ean Winchester | Twin Valley | HB/TE/DT |
| Zack Zandier | Exeter | TE/DE |
