The 2008 season is over, and Port Richmond became PSAL champions for the first time in school history! Now the Raiders are working a sweat to get in shape for the 2009 season and to prepare for a second run at the PSAL title. That's what Port Richmond Varsity Head Coach Lou Vesce is trying to make clear to his players. And as for the 20 seniors departing the school and heading off to various colleges to play football or continue on with there lives, their run in with Port Richmond Football Program is over. Do expect to see many of last year's stars to return for games and possibly coach in the future. But as of right now the 2009 Port Richmond Raiders main goal is to go for the repeat and hold that trophy in back to back years.
Coach Lou Vesce and his fellow coaching staff have a huge challenge up ahead this season replacing 20 seniors including superstars such as Torian Phillips, Jeremy Ramos and Zamel Johnson. The three MVP's announced by Vesce at the Football dinner in March. After that night, that was their very last moment of being a part of the program but they will forever be known as part of the 2008 PSAL Varsity Football Champions. The common questions for the 2009 season are; who is replacing Torian? or who is replacing Zamel? And probably the biggest question of all, who's replacing Jeremy Ramos?! The remarkable Port Richmond starting quarterback and fan favorite for 3 straight years! Vesce became the head coach of Port Richmond the same year Ramos became the #1 starter at quarterback. So it will be interesting to see this year how Vesce will handle the quarterback situation.
John Hernandez, the brother of a Port Richmond Football legend Joe Hernandez who won 2 MVP's under Vesce's rule in 2006 and 2007, is expected to get the majority of the snaps. John last year played back up quarterback and started at safety and became a force at the secondary position in the later part of the season especially in that classic game against Curtis High School that decided who the number 1 seed would be in the PSAL Playoffs. Hernandez played some quarterback on Junior Varsity in the 2007 season and has been developing his arm strength, something every quarterback needs. One problem with Hernandez is, he's considered too short for the quarterback position. But, Jeremy Ramos was also considered a little to short by colleges and look at his success. A three year-run as the varsity starting quarterback. Oh by the way, Hernandez can hit hard but so did Jeremy Ramos! Ramos played safety too, so you want your Jeremy Ramos? John Hernandez will be your Jeremy Ramos. Expect a good year from Hernandez.
As for the Zamel Johnson replacement, its pretty much set in stone right now. Who can run, catch and lead as similar as Zamel-Ziggy-Johnson did? Why, his brother of course Quadir-Q-Dog-Johnson! Quadir was the secondary receiver in the Port Richmond Offense and will be penciled in at the #1 spot this year and it would only be fitting to see little brother fill big brothers shoes.
Now the Torian Phillips replacement, there are two candidates for the Torian-Slot. One consisting of a sophomore with huge potential in Mark Clark and the other Robert Schroeder, who has been waiting for his moment to be an everyday starter on offense and this year may very likely be his year. If Port Richmond is going to have a successful year, Schroeder has to produce and be the leader and number one guy. Schroeder has been part of Varsity since the beginning of his sophomore year and when getting the chance to play offense, Schroeder delivers and expect him to do the same this year, only this year, you'll see him hopefully in the end zone many more times. Now, Torian Phillips, a player of his stature who can score 30 touchdowns in a season is extremely hard to replace, but if there is one guy on the team that could possibly replace Torian, its Robert Schroeder. Consider Schroeder the starting slot and outside linebacker for this year. Mark Clark, if not granted the slot position, he will be starting at running back and more than likely at safety on defense so John Hernandez does not risk getting injured playing safety and can focus on one thing, quarterback.
The 'Skill' players are important but, the big line is where it all starts. The starting offensive line last year was the the best in the PSAL by far, but consisted of five seniors. That why a huge key player this year is going to be John Hines. Hines is a very strong, great football player that came up with Robert Schroeder in his sophomore year. Hines is incredibly strong and can be very intimidating to opposing teams. Last year he rotated between linebacker and defensive end on defense and this year is expected to start at guard and start at either linebacker or defensive end. John Hines is a hot head but if he can control himself and become a leader, expect big things from this young man. The expected starting offensive line consists of Anthony 'Fat Tony' Ennab at tackle and Nathaniel 'Bird' Ryan at center, while the other guard and tackle position are still in the air. Nathaniel 'Bird' Ryan patiently waited to become the starting center for varsity, behind the shadow of Phillip Terra who was the starting center this year while Ryan was his back up. As for Anthony 'Fat Tony' Ennab, coming into last year, he had the 2007 Junior Varsity MVP under his belt and was expected to have a great first year on varsity but grades let him down and he had to fight to get back on the team. After the first term he was back on and suited up for the playoffs and this year is expected to start both ways and show teams why he is a big, strong brick wall, a force to be reckoned with and what the true definition of 'Fat Tony' is. Ennab cannot wait for HSPD (High School Player Development), because he is ready to smack heads and I personally cannot wait to see this football player lay some kid out at the defensive and offensive tackle position.
As the returning players of last years complete success it consists of 15 juniors and 2 sophmores. Even with that, those 17 players don't even add up to 20 seniors. Vesce has a lot on his plate, and the players have a lot of shoes to fill but, with team leadership, chemistry, good coaching and hard work, a championship is certainly not out of the question. The team is projected to go 3-6, not the record you think about of the upcoming season for a team that just won the championship. The team looks to prove the experts wrong, but a big thing varsity should aim for is keeping the 2008 legacy. Do not fail, and failure isn't losing the championship or not even making it to the championship. Its not acting like the team the 2008 Raiders were. The 2008 Raiders had the greatest team chemistry and put the most hard work in that I have ever seen. The 2009 Raiders should go no less then 7-2 and they should make the playoffs. But the road to the 2009 Football season is only just beginning. Port Richmond looks to keep their crown and make sure rival schools like Tottenville and especially Curtis do not dethrone them. If all goes well and according to plan, we'll be partying again this winter!
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