The Middletown High School Knights varsity football team is ready to attack. It is going out there with nothing but positive attitude and readiness to play its best.
But that might not be enough.
With a tougher schedule and the loss of many of the stars that led the team to state championships the past two years, positive attitude and readiness to play might not be enough for a team that is about to run into the new obstacles that await.
“It’s going be tough with the new schedule,” said MHS assistant coach Lorne Ridenour, “but it will help to better prepare us for the playoffs.”
This year the team has a more strenuous schedule, with a more difficult opposition, than the past few years. On top of that, the tough opponents come early in the schedule when Middletown will still be trying to get into the swing of things.
The Knights are going to be playing against Westminster during week one on Sept. 6. They will follow that up by facing Winters Mill and Boonsboro back to back.
Walkersville also appears earlier in the schedule during week four, whereas in the past it has been around week 10.
“Whether it’s week four or 10, we will go out and be the best team we can be,” said MHS senior football player Rick Leonard, “but they are a good team and we will have to prepare the best we can.”
Although some people feel the Walkersville and Middletown game will be just as intense as the past, others are upset because they are used to it being at the end of the season.
“It will still be a great rivalry but I was sad to see it moved from week 10 to week four,” said MHS varsity assistant football coach Lorne Ridenour. “I feel the reason for that happening is because we have played them back-to-back, played them in week 10 and then took a week off and played them again in playoffs. I think they wanted to play us earlier so that wouldn’t happen again.”
Middletown has lost some very good players, including Zach Welch and Jess Powell, difficult positions to fill their spots as they meant so much to this team in the past. Welch had a total of 2,359 yards last season and Powell always cleared way for Zach.
These two are often looked at as Welch being the superhero and Powell as his sidekick.
“It will be very hard to lose these two players, but we also have many people stepping up and our team is more of a team effort not individual,” said Ridenour.
Many of the seniors will need to step up, including Frankie Meighan, Mitch Sgrignoli, Logan Casey and Bradley Rinehart. In addition, junior Pat Moore will be asked to do his part.
Rinehart will be replacing Welch while Moore is replacing Powell.
Even though the Knights seem to have it tougher this year, they will still have a good shot at going back to Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association (MPSSAA) 2A State Football Championship.
As Meighan said, “I think we have a target on our back with two state titles and we need to go out there and make a statement.”
