SCHUYLKILL VALLEY PANTHERS

League: Berks Section 2.

Classification: Class 3A.

Last season: 1-4 league, 3-7 overall (results, stats).

This season: (schedule, roster).

Head coach: Jeff Chillot, 12th season, 52-66.

Key losses: Section 2 Receiver of the Year Michael Knowles, Section 2 Defensive Lineman of the Year Luke Ammarell, all-league WR Alex Gonzalez, all-league QB Nicco Iaccarino.

Top offensive players: QB Drew Campbell, QB Michael Goad, RB Reinhold Louis, RB Chanz Stevens, RB TJ Green, TE James Stelluti, WR Tanner Mountz, WR Nate Schaeffer, WR Kyle Spotts, all-league G Nathan Woods, G Christian Davila, T Kyle Rautzhen, T Paul Engleman, all-league PK Zach Heffner.

Top defensive players: E Avery Adekola, E James Stelluti, T Nathan Woods, T Jadiel Mateo, LB Drew Campbell, LB Tanner Mountz, LB Reinhold Louis, LB Vladimir Caba, S Kyle Spotts, S Mike Krishock, CB Chanz Stevens, CB TJ Green, CB Nate Schaeffer, all-league P Zach Heffner.

Notable: The Panthers averaged a Berks-leading 188 passing yards per game last season; Nicco Iaccarino’s 1,873 passing yards are third-most in program history.

Quotable: “We have guys who can make plays and are athletic enough to make things happen in the open field. We don’t have the two guys that can run like last year (WRs Alex Gonzalez and Michael Knowles), but we can still get down the field. All the running backs are back; they can take the next step and give us a better running game.” – Panthers coach Jeff Chillot.

The skinny: The Panthers lost some big weapons from the league’s most productive passing game of a year ago but still have enough athletic skill players to put points on the board. The question, of course, remains defense, a sore spot last year. The Panthers scored 70 points twice a year ago but won only one other time. Junior Drew Campbell and sophomore Michael Goad are battling to see who takes over at QB for 1,800-yard passer Nicco Iaccarino. He had great weapons a year ago but the offense became too pass-dependent; Reinhold Louis and a better offensive line play will provide more of a running threat. Six starters return on a defense that should be bolstered by linebackers Tanner Mountz, Campbell and Louis. The key will be in the trenches where the Panthers have to play better than they did a year ago, when they ranked next-to-last in the league in total defense and yielded 35.7 points per game, fourth-most in program history. The biggest weapon on the team could be all-league kicker Zach Heffner; he has the ability to consistently boom the ball into the end zone. It’ll take more than that for the Panthers to move up in a section that’s heavy at the top with state-ranked Wyomissing and solid just behind that with Conrad Weiser, Hamburg, Fleetwood and Twin Valley.

At the wire: Back of the pack.

– Compiled by Mike Drago