2021 Team Preview: Great Valley Patriots

Written by: David Mika on Saturday, August 14th, 2021. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

 

Head Coach: Jeff Martin

Assistant Coaches:
Glen Hughes
Chuck Chiccino
Jacob Schiela
James Thorpe
Brett Capobianco
Tim Bryan
Ryan Schmidt

Team Name: Great Valley Patriots

2020 Record: 2- 3

Stadium: Valley Stadium

District: 1

Class: AAAAA

League: Ches-Mont League, American Division

Key Starters lost: Jake Ruppert, Michael Corrigan, Ryan Banavitch, Danny Crouse

Offensive Starters Returning:
Sr. QB Andy Talone, 6’0” 180
Sr. OT Brandon May, 6’3”, 280
Sr. OG Sean McNamara, 6’0”, 180
Sr. OG Archer Crane, 6’1”, 185
Sr. TE Ryan Magargal, 6’1” 205
Sr. WR Dylan Cave, 6’2” 155
Sr. WR Cullen McDaniel, 6’0” 165

Defensive Starters Returning:
Sr. NG Brandon May, 6’3”, 280
Sr. DE Nick Mort, 6’1” 175
Jr. DE Lawron Short, 6’3” 220
Sr. OLB Jake Snyder, 6’0” 190
Sr. OLB Riley Craven, 5’9” 175
Sr. SS Cullen McDaniel, 6’0” 165

Special Team Starters Returning:
Jr. K Seth Turner, 6’2” 170

Key Newcomers:
Jr. OL/LB Justin Nadwodny, 5’11” 195
Jr. RB/DB Nick Pellicciotta, 5’8” 160
Jr. WR/DB Jackson Callahan, 5’11”, 155
Jr. WR/DB Aidan Poggi, 5’8” 160
So. LB/RB Nate Riccairdi, 5’11”190

2020 Returning Player Stats: 

Sr. LB Jake Snyder was the third leading tackler as a sophomore and second-leading tackler as a junior.

Brandon May and Nick Mort will be three-year starters on the defensive line and 4 of 7 returning offensive starters including our QB Andy Talone will be 3-year starters.

2021 Outlook: Controlling the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively will be the key to our success. Although we are generally undersized on the offensive and defensive lines, we have a lot of experience returning on the line. We will need some of our promising underclassmen to step up and compete for positions that were lost due to graduation.

Offense: Offensively, the key will be to sustain drives. We will have strong competition to fill the running back spots. With both our key running backs loss to graduation, we will look to Sr. Jake Snyder, 6’0” 190 to step in at running back and take over. And, I’d expect for Jr. Nick Pellicciotta and So. Falls Johnson, 5’9” 165 to compete for carries as well.  We will look to Andy Talone who will be a three-year starter at QB to be the leader of the offense. We have a few young and talented WR’s who look to compete for playing time while 2-year starter Sr. Dylan Cave 6’2” 155 has looked good in the off-season and at 7 v 7’s. Both TE’s Ryan Magargal and Lawron Short have also looked good early on and provide us with good options in the passing game and good size to help in the run game as well.

Defense: Defensively, our key will be to use our athleticism and experience and be aggressive. We feel good about our returning starters but, will also need to fill key spots and create depth at all positions. Sr. OLB Jake Snyder 6’0” 190; Sr. DE Nick Mort, 6’1” 175; Sr. NG Brandon May, 6’3” 280; and Jr. DE Lawron Short, 6’3” 220 provide experience and athleticism within our interior seven. We are optimistic about their potential to compete in a tough Ches Mont league. On the back end, Sr. SS Cullen McDaniel will be relied on to lead our DB’s. He is one of our best tacklers and has a strong football IQ. Justin Nadwodny, Archer Crane, Riley Craven, and Nate Riccairdi will compete to fill the other LB positions which will be essential to our success. Along with Sr. Dylan Cave, we have a strong group of young DB’s who will compete for our remaining DB positions.

Special Team: Jr. Seth Turner return as our kicker. With an already strong leg and the added off season training, he has the potential to hit 50 plus yard field goals and provides us the ability to create a good field position within the kicking game.

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