Submitted photo / Robert Senn Studio The 2024 Western Reserve football team.

BERLIN CENTER — Western Reserve coach John Armeni wants the Blue Devils to be hitting on all cylinders when they open the season Aug. 22 against Crestview.

With eight returning starters on defense and six on offense, the perennial Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Division contenders have the resume to do just that.

“Expectations in Berlin Center are always high,” said Armeni, who has six playoff appearances in 11 seasons at LaBrae and Western Reserve. “They’ve become accustomed to being good. Our kids want to win [and] our coaches want to win. We won the league last year [and] we won a playoff game. We certainly want to be able to replicate that and take the next step, push further into the playoffs; compete with programs that we haven’t been able to beat in recent history. So, expectations are high. It just kind of comes with the territory here.”

The Blue Devils return the majority of an outstanding defensive unit that allowed 15.3 points per game last season in fashioning an 8-2 record, a share of the MVAC Scarlet title and a win in the postseason.

“We do graduate quite a large senior class and that’s always troubling when you’re a small-school football program,” said Armeni. “We have some big shoes to fill but we have a good group of experienced young guys coming back and so far they’ve shown themselves up for the challenge.”

The Blue Devils hadn’t experienced a losing season since 2005 before an uncharacteristic 3-7 campaign in 2022.

“I think it was a real simple formula of being consistent with the kids,” said Armeni of the five-win improvement in 2023. “[There was] a lot of change in a short period of time and the kids didn’t know which way was up. So just being consistent, with the schedule and the scheme and how we were going to approach things, and who was coaching them. A lot of really simple things have done an awful lot of good here for our young men.”

The 2024 schedule is, in Armeni’s words, a “meat-grinder.” Nine of the Blue Devils’ 12 opponents last year qualified for the postseason and this year Western Reserve opens with Crestview, Garfield Heights Trinity and Columbiana, all playoff teams a season ago. The MVAC Scarlet Division had six of its seven teams qualify last season and four of them won at least one playoff game.

“There is no gimme. Every week you have to put your best foot forward,” said Armeni. “We want to look sharp [in Week 1]. We started off last season with Malvern and we didn’t look real sharp. We were able to make a dramatic improvement in Week 2 and Week 3. We want things to be clean, we want mistake-free football. We think if we play mistake-free football we can play with anybody on our schedule.”

OFFENSE

The Blue Devils will continue to utilize a spread formation with a number of players who will carry the ball.

Jack Darney, a senior, rushed for 777 yards and six touchdowns last season and caught 21 passes for 273 yards and four more TDs.

“Darney is kind of our big-play threat,” said Armeni. “He’s a guy who can make people miss [tackles].”

The power back is senior All-Ohioan Nate Hemberger, who rushed for 217 yards but a 7.8 yards per carry average, and seven TDs. Another senior is Dom Ricciardi who rushed for 189 yards last season.

“Hemberger is our downhill runner and Dom Ricciardi has a little bit of speed [and] a little bit of power,” said Armeni.

Quarterback Luke Henning has graduated after passing for 1,228 yards and rushing for 1,106. He accounted for 28 touchdowns.

“We took our strongest, fastest player and put him [at quarterback],” said Armeni, laughing. “Chris Pater, who will be a junior, was all-league last year at DB and wide receiver. He is, pound for pound, our strongest kid. He is our fastest kid. He’s also a 4.0 student, so we picked a good one. He’s got good stock, he listens well, he is a Western Reserve kid through and through so we have high hopes for him being able to take the steering wheel for us.”

Pater caught 20 passes last season for 232 yards and a touchdown. On defense he had 54 tackles and also returned kickoffs.

“When you are a receiver, you are worried about running your route. It’s a very one-and-done deal,” said Armeni. “At quarterback you have to see the whole picture so we’ve taken a few more 7-on-7s than we normally do to give him that whole picture. But he’s an athlete so we’re going to move him around and let him make plays. We also think he can be a special ball carrier, too.”

The Blue Devils also graduated their leading receiver, Ethan Cannon (26-416-4). Senior Alex Abrams averaged 10.3 yards per reception in a backup role. Juniors Nate Alexander and Peyton Hartzell are also competing for playing time.

“We’re likely to throw some of those tailbacks out there too just to give them an opportunity to have more touches in a different setting,” said Armeni. “We do need some guys to step up. We graduated some seniors who took some good reps there.”

The offensive line is anchored by senior All-Ohioan Isaac Burnett at left tackle and junior Dylan Krut, an all-MVAC pick last season who will move to center.

“We think those two guys are as good as anybody in the league,” said Armeni.

“We graduated three seniors on that O-line,” he added. “We have a lot of guys competing. We have some big strong guys who helped out as sophomores last year that got their feet wet and we’re hoping they step up big time here. Joe Rovnak, Parker Namie, Alton Ramsey, Caleb Sinn and Hunter Taylor are all competing for those spots.”

Armeni said special attention has been paid in the summer to the offensive line.

“One of the things new starters lack is that sense of urgency about making sure that they gas it up for every play, kind of go like it’s going to be your last,” he said. “A lot of young guys try to keep something in the tank and it gets a little sloppy so we’re really pushing those guys to go hard every play. We haven’t changed scheme, which has been good. A lot of those guys are letterwinners so they’ve played before. It’s been a pretty smooth transition with those guys.”

DEFENSE

Western Reserve returns not only experience but loads of talent in its 4-2-5 defense.

“That group has looked really good this summer,” said Armeni. “We return eight starters so we’re really counting on them to lead us early in the year while we get our momentum offensively.”

The star of the unit is Hemberger (6-1, 210) at linebacker. As a junior he set a school record with 176 tackles – including an astounding 28 for loss – en route to being named the Mahoning County Defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-Ohioan.

“He makes us look good,” Armeni said. “Sometimes you get players who can just do all kinds of different things. He can pick off passes, he can rush the quarterback, he can take on double teams, he can run hash to hash, he can do just a little bit of everything. He’s just a special football player and that’s certainly someone we need to play big-time if we’re going to have success.”

On the defensive line, Burnett (6-3, 235) was second team All-Ohio. Last season he registered 60 tackles, including 10 for loss.

“Burnett rushes the passer well [and] stops the run well,” said Armeni.

Junior Jackson Young and Namie return as starters on the line. Sinn has impressed so far this summer.

“He lettered last year as a sophomore, is a wrestler, a very physical, fast kid,” said Armeni. Dylan Krut will provide depth.

Ricciardi also returns to the starting lineup at outside linebacker. Noah Gonzalez, Hunter Taylor and Wyatt Len are also competing for a starting role.

The secondary is anchored by Darney, Pater and Abrams, who are all returning starters.

Pater finished last season with 54 tackles and an interception, while Darney had 48 stops and two picks.

“We have a couple of guys competing for spots, Peyton Hartzell and Nate Alexander,” Armeni said. “Both of those guys lettered last year as DBs, so all those guys have taken lots of reps back there. That’s a place that we are very comfortable there, we have some speed, we have guys that can up and stop the run, we have guys that are very football smart back there.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

Senior Andriy Chuta Suy will handle the kicking and punting duties. Last season he was 34-of-38 on PATs and 2-of-3 on field goals with a long of 32 yards.

“He has a very powerful leg,” said Armeni. “He had a bunch of touchbacks on kickoffs last season, and for field goals, his range is 45 [yards] in. He’s got a pretty big leg so we’re excited about using that as a weapon.”

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