High School Football Countdown: No. 12 Rittman is 'hungry' for success

Optimism and expectations are higher in Rittman than they've been in years.

But will that translate to wins on the field in 2023? Rittman is hungry for its first winning season since 2005, and the program is trending in the right direction for that to happen sooner rather than later.

A preview of the 2023 Rittman football team:

Offense

Few players in the area will have a singular impact for their team like junior running back Artie Sonego. He's going to have the ball in his hands a lot, and he's shown he's more than capable of doing big things, rushing for 1,000 yards and 12 TDs as a sophomore in 2022. Logan Pelfrey and Justin Metheney could get some carries as well.

"He's worked his tail off," Rittman coach Tyler Dennis said of Sonego. "Pound for pound, he's the strongest kid on the team. He's put the time in and has some lofty goals set for himself this year."

Jaxon Miller (995 yards, nine TDs, 12 INTs) and Brayden Louk have spent the preseason competing for the starting QB job. Miller has the experience, but the sophomore Louk has shown a skillset that could demand playing time.

Dack Mutters (21 catches, 304 yards, TD) was Rittman's top pass catcher last season as a sophomore and has a chance to break out even further this season. Jake Newark, Izaiah Gaugler, Christian DuBiel and Luke Robinson should see snaps at receiver as well.

The line is where Rittman hopes to see the most improvement. It played as many as four freshmen on the line last year, which wasn't good for the 2022 team, but should help the 2023 team significantly. Max Pyle and Jay Perkins are the projected tackles, along with Jordan Killough and Nolan Frame at the guard spots. Hunter Cottrell or Wyatt Mills will start at center.

2023 High School Football Preview: 23 Players to Watch

Defense

The defensive side may determine how successful Rittman can be in 2023 as much as anything else. They surrendered 48.3 points per game in WCAL play in 2022.

It'll start up front with Justin Metheney and Perkins on the ends and Johnny Metheney and Hugo Hawkins in the middle. That's the greenest of all Rittman's defensive position groups, with almost everyone back at linebacker and defensive back, but could be its most crucial in a WCAL that looks to be full of run-heavy offenses.

Rittman only plans to start two linebackers but it's one of their strongest groups with seniors Frame and Pelfrey — last season's two leading tacklers — manning those spots.

The secondary is where Rittman expects to see the most rotation, with a handful of players seeing snaps, including Newark, Guagler, Robinson, DuBiel, Sonego, Louk, Mutters, Carson Smith and Ayden Kusemamuriwo.

Gamebreaker: Artie Sonego, Rittman, RB/DB, jr.

Opponents know Rittman is going to hand the ball off to Sonego. And many still won't be able to stop him.

Despite running behind an inexperienced line, Sonego averaged better than 100 yards per game on the ground last year and brings a combination of speed, agility and power needed to succeed as a running back.

Outlook

There have been several hurdles for Rittman's program over the past several years, but with 50-plus kids in the high school program, including the majority of them putting in dedicated offseason work, things are going in the right direction.

"We just have a lot of talent now," Sonego said. "We're not limited. We're not going to be tired all the time. It's going to help out a lot."

Rittman isn't going to win a state championship in 2023 but winning multiple league games for the first time since 2015 and snapping a 10-year losing streak to Chippewa are attainable building blocks for bigger things.

"We're all hungry," Frame said. "We all just want to put Rittman back on the map when it comes to football. We haven't won the league since '86, we haven't made the playoffs since '05 and we haven't beat Chippewa in 10 years. I think those are three goals everyone has on their minds going into the season."

Schedule

Aug. 18 STRASBURG

Aug. 25 at Windham

Sept. 1 at Fairport Harding

Sept. 8 NORTHWESTERN

Sept. 15 WAYNEDALE

Sept. 22 at Norwayne

Sept. 29 CHIPPEWA

Oct. 6 at Dalton

Oct. 13 SMITHVILLE

Oct. 20 at Hillsdale

Quick Hits

Last year: 2-8 (0-7 WCAL), missed playoffs

Head coach: Tyler Dennis (second season, 2-8)

Playoff region: Division VI, Region 21

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Football: a season preview of 2023 Rittman