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Rams striving for another strong finish

By Bill Hughes for The 3 min read
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Ringgold head coach Nick Milchovich surveys the field during practice.

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Darnell Graham RN

Ringgold returning starters include (from left) T.J. Burger, Austin Waggoner, Braden Pucel, Dezmier Majors and Max Maciejewski.

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Darnell Graham RN

Ringgold senior linebacker Justin Nemec begins group warm-ups.

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Darnell Graham

Ringgold returning lettermen pictured above are (first row, from left) Evan Higgs, Cameron Wise, Janathan Sage, Caleb Eisel, Richard Massey, Bo Haines, Marquez Bentley, Nathan Leaver (second row, from left) Darius Ryree, James Minnie, EJ Walker, Brendan Small, TJ Burger, Tyrese Youngblood, Andrew Verscharen, Skyler Hutton, Braden Pucel, Dezmier Majors, Logan Wellington, Max Maciejewski and Jake Mayer.

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Darnell Graham

Ringgold senior quarterbacks Bo Haines (left) and Celeb Eisel.

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Darnell Graham

Ringgold’s Braden Pucel (right) works on his lineman skills during practice at Ringgold High School.

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Ringgold’s James Minnie catches a pass during practice at Ringgold High School.

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Darnell Graham

Ringgold assistant coach Mike LeDonne leads Evan Higgs in proper blocking procedure.

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Ringgold’s Evan Higgs (left) and Cameron Wise (57) hone their blocking skills during practice

at RinggolD

High School.

By Bill Hughes

For the Herald-Standard

Keeping players on the field this year is going to be key for Ringgold this season, and one has to look no further than Max Maciejewski and Brendan Small, a pair of seniors.

Maciejewski suffered an injury recently and head coach Nick Milchovich is expecting him to be out until mid-October.

“Max makes plays and his size is a huge advantage for us,” Milchovich said of the 6-foot-4, 210-pound hybrid receiver. “He is a humble kid that is easy to coach and we know how bad he wants to play.”

Small is the featured back when on the field, but he missed six games a year ago.

“If Brendan is on the field for the whole season, he will be really productive,” Milchovich said. “He could be one of the leading rushers in the WPIAL, but he has to stay on the field.”

A year ago, the Rams reached the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals and if the Rams are to make another run like that, they will need leadership from Maciejewski, Small, Darius Tyree and Braden Pucel.

“We need those guys to be leaders on and off the field,” Milchovich said. “Darius is like a slash player as he could see time at quarterback, running back and receiver while Pucel is the only returning starter on the line.”

The Rams may start 10 seniors on both offense and defense, but according to Milchovich, but a lot of the players last varsity experience.

“We are an older team but the players we have sat behind some really good players the last few years,” he said. “But we have faith in the guys and if they play like we know they can play, we can have another successful season.”

Milchovich said that he hopes his team, just like last year’s team, can continue to grow as the season goes along.

“We want to use the last regular season games as a model of improvement and want to be playing our best football in November and I think that is what we did last year,” he said. “For that to happen, our guys will have to keep improving as the season progresses.”

When asked if he will water down expectations because of inexperience, Milchovich balked at the idea.

“The goal is to always make the playoffs and this year will not be an exception,” he said. “We have enough weapons on offense and I feel that our defense will be better than it was a year ago.

“We will work to get better every week and hopefully we can get into the playoffs and make some noise again.”

Thomas Jefferson is the heavy favorite again in the Big Nine Conference.

“Thomas Jefferson is Thomas Jefferson, West Mifflin will be up there, and Belle Vernon will be good,” he said. “A team that I think the sleeper that no one is talking about is Trinity.”

Ringgold, which only has four home games this year, opens its season in Week 1 when it hosts Greensburg Salem in a conference tilt.

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