40 teams in 40 days – Day 17: Garnet Valley (1)

Written by: David Mika on Tuesday, August 7th, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

Garnet Valley had three really good runners last season that led their team. Justin Pyle led the way with 1,745 yards on 274 carries and 21 touchdowns. Quarterback Ryan Corkery rushed for 845 yards and six touchdowns. Jordyn Bennett added 775 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Corkery passed for 1,407 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Kyle Keyser was the leading receiver with 23 catches for 436 yards and five scores.

On defense Steven Elf led the team with 86 tackles and Ryan VanHorn added 83 tackles.

Garnet Valley had big wins against Conestoga, Strath Haven, Ridley and Springfield-Delco during the regular season.

They had two playoff wins against Ridley and Central Bucks South before losing to Council Rock South.

The Jaguars finished the season with an 11-2 record.

Q & A with Garnet Valley head football coach Mike Ricci

We sat down with Ricci and talked to him about his team for the 2012 season.

How is your off-season going this summer?

It’s been great. The kids are working hard. We have 120 kids, 10 through 12^th grade that signed up.

 

Who do you have coming back on offense?

The key returners on the offensive line are OG Matt Donoghue (6-4, 280), OG Dan Herbster (6-3, 275) and C Donte Burgese (6-2, 200). All those kids are seniors. Donoghue is attracting lots of Division one interest.

There is a battle going on at the tackle spot between, Tom Kollhoff, Brandon Hitner, David Bertone and Connor Walsh.

At tight end we have Jude DiGiacomo. At split end we have Aaron Parenti, John McGrogan and Nick Marvulli. They are battling for a spot.

At running back Jordyn Bennett has worked really hard during the off-season. He put on some weight and he is stronger than he was. He averaged about 10-yards a carry. We have some newcomers this year like Jake Irving. At fullback is another newcomer Vince Razzano. Mike Bruette will battle Razzono for the fullback spot. Sophomore Zach Nelson will play at halfback.

Ryan Corkery returns as a starter at quarterback. He was first team All-County. He had a fantastic year for us. He tore his ACL in our last playoff game against Council Rock South. He had surgery in December and had a great recovery from it.

We have five really good players returning.

 

Who do you have coming back on defense?

The key players on the defensive line are, two returning starters, DE Dalton Mayberry and DE Andrew Grzybowski. In the middle we have Vince Juliano and Ian Goeke. Both those guys saw some action last year. Bobby Adams and Anthony Bartone are looking to get in the mix.

Both of our middle linebackers are back, Ryan Van Horn and Steven Elf. They both had great years for us.

We also return our free safety David McGrath. Mitch Rose had a lot of playing time at safety and corner. He will be one of our guys back their somewhere. We also have some newcomers, Matt Taulane and Frankie White. Sean MacNeal and Connor Faith will battle for a spot.

 

What do you have to do to be success in your league this year?

Our league is always fantastic. There are always solid teams like, Ridley and Strath Haven. Conestoga has a great quarterback back. Harriton has a great quarterback back. So we have some teams that have some firepower on offense this year. To be successful we have to execute and take care of things that we control and hope we can slow down some of these big guys on the other team.

 

What about special teams?

Brandon Dowd will be our kicker. He was excellent last year for us. He was 62 of 63 on extra points. Our punter will be Andrew Grzybowski. We aren’t sure who will do kick returning.

 

To have a successful season you have to?

Stay healthy, execute on offense and make plays on defense.

Home Opener

Garnet Valley opens at Unionville on August 31^st

40 teams in 40 days

Day 1 – Mount Carmel Area (4)            Day 11 – Scranton (2)

Day 2 – Manheim Central (3)                Day 12 – Pottsville (11)

Day 3 – Delaware Valley (2)                 Day 13 – Cardinal O’Hara (12)

Day 4 – Southern Columbia (4)             Day 14 – Shenandoah Valley (11)

Day 5 – Berwick Area (2)                      Day 15- Central Dauphin (3)

Day 6 – Easton Area (11)                       Day 16 – Scranton Prep (2)

Day 7 – LaSalle (12)

Day 8 – Downingtown East (1)

Day 9 – Council Rock North (1)

Day 10 – Riverside (2)

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2 Responses to “40 teams in 40 days – Day 17: Garnet Valley (1)”

1. Jeff Smith says:
   August 25th, 2012 at 6:16 pm

   District 1 Championship in store for Garnet Valley this year!

   ….and a 4A state champ as well

2. James Loney says:
   August 15th, 2012 at 12:21 am

   Garnet Valley is gonna continue their dynasty!!!