After an 0-8 season, Riverview football is one that has to continue its rebuild and it has plenty of options at each position to put the best team on the field it can.

Gone is senior quarterback Ryan Aber. Now, the Raiders will have a three-man quarterback competition among sophomore Rocco Cecere, sophomore Nate Sprajcar and Central Catholic transfer Ben Hower, a junior. The quarterback, along with a lot of other starting roles, will be an open competition, making for an interesting summer to decide who will start under center.

“At the end of the day, someone’s going to show that they’re the guy for the job and competition brings the best out of you so we’re going to, hopefully, day in and day out, get all three of their best,” second-year coach Trevor George said.

However, two other players on offense will be the ones expected to play big roles. Wide receiver Jordan Hart-Brown and running back Dean Cecere both had good 2020 seasons and George wants them to be leaders as well as carry their success into the 2021 season.

“Jordan was the guy in the weight room. He was the one showing the junior high guys how to lift, he was kind of the big brother of the program and his athleticism kind of speaks for itself. I think he’s going to be a great slot guy for us,” George said.

“Just his presence. He walks into a room and you just know there’s something special about that kid,” George said of Cecere. “He’s a phenomenal kid, his moral compass is spot-on, unbelievable worker and he’s a tank to try to bring to the ground. So he’s going to be huge for us. I’m glad we have him.”

One player who is back who will have a big impact on both sides of the ball is Christian McDowell, who was the team’s starting center as well as a game-changing defensive tackle.

“Our returning starters kind of have high expectations and there’s quite a few,” George said.

A major theme of this season will be changing the culture around the program. Last year, George said that he didn’t get to have a ton of actual contact with his team over the summer and they weren’t able to do a lot of summer work because of it. This year, they have been doing that and the first step is getting a lot of work done in the weight room in order to better match up with their opponents from a physical standpoint.

“You could definitely tell that last season our kids didn’t lift weights, just because we weren’t able to get in the weight room. I’m not sure there was a present expectation in the weight room, but that’s something we came in this offseason with as a priority,” George said. “The weight room is a huge priority for us and the kids did a fantastic job with it. They’re all bigger, faster, stronger.”

If they do well in the weight room, George said that it will create a belief that they can win on the field. George said that his players have already bought into the culture he wants to have off the field, but this year will be about translating it to the field and winning games, trying to snap an 11-game losing streak that dates back to 2019.

“The biggest thing for our kids is that they bought into our culture but now seeing the culture flourish. We need them to understand that they can get the job done, they can win football games,” George said. “It has nothing to do with their athletic ability, it’s them believing.”

Coach: Trevor George

Years at school: 2

2020 record: 0-8

Returning starters: Offense 5, Defense 7

Key returners: Dean Cecere (6-0, 195, Sr., RB-S), Christian McDowell (6-0, 250, Sr., C-DT), Anthony Mazur (5-9, 185, Sr., RB), Jordan Hart-Brown (5-10, 165, Sr., WR)

Keys to success: Translate winning culture to on-field success. Get great leadership from seniors.

Schedule

*Non-conference game

First Published: August 14, 2021, 4:00 a.m.