Ringgold seeks strides in Manges’ 2nd year
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Ringgold players practice at Joe Montana Stadium.
Evan Parsons, left, and Marlous Johnson play a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to see who will go first during a drill at practice.
D.D. Dotson runs the football on a play during a Ringgold practice.
Ringgold's Wyatt Nicklow doesn't let an injury stop him from helping at practice as he hands the football to Alex Coccagna to start a play.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Ringgold coaches made sure blocking pads and shields were cleaned during player transitions.
Ringgold head coach Darwin Manges gives insgtructions during summer workouts.
A Ringgold player awaits the snap of the football during a practice at Joe Montana Stadium.
By Bill Hughes
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
MONONGAHELA – A year ago, Ringgold went 2-8 under first-year head coach Darwin Manges.
A Ringgold graduate, Manges knew it was going to take time to turn around a program that went 3-16 over the two previous seasons.
Playing the 2019 season with a young and inexperienced team, Manges and his squad took some lumps but gained valuable experience.
“We have seven or eight starters back on both sides of the ball and others saw significant time,” he said. “We were dealing with a lot of freshmen and sophomores and in a perfect setting, those kids would have played JV (last year) but nothing can replicate varsity football.
“We were baptized by fire as far as that goes.”
The Rams took two weeks off after last season ended, and while Manges and his staff wanted to give the team a little more time off the players insisted on getting the offseason program started.
“The kids wanted to get it rolling,” he said. “We saw a tremendous growth in lifting and the mild winter helped.”
Then the coronavirus hit.
“We had 30 to 35 kids involved up until March 13,” Manges said.
“It was a buzzsaw and slowed us down, but we had been able to get things accomplished,” Manges said. “Everything halted and was at a standstill until the voluntary workouts could begin.”
When asked to elaborate more on the young players who had to gain varsity experience out of necessity, Manges spoke positively.
“We are looking for those kids to take the next step, mature and become the players we think they can become,” he said. “A lot of the players, both older and younger, put on 10 to 20 pounds, their strength has improved and hopefully that leads to improvements on the field.”
Manges spoke highly of his returning starters as well as other key players who should see playing time.
Among the players he mentioned were junior John Polefko (fullback and linebacker), junior Braydon Fine (slot and outside linebacker who could see time at quarterback), junior Donte Kinds (offensive back, safety), senior Julien Altamare (center, defensive line), senior Wyatt Nicklow (quarterback), junior Dante Compagni (offensive tackle and defensive line), junior Jacob Frahlich (guard, defensive line), junior Jacob Meyer (guard, defensive line), junior D.D. Dotson (running back, outside linebacker), nationally ranked senior kicker and punter Clay Rosensteel, senior Jacob Walsh (cornerback) and senior Jason Walsh (quarterback).
The Rams are competing in the Class 4A Big Eight Conference, and Manges is aware of how talented the top of the conference will be.
“It is a tough conference and it is starting to resemble the same section as when I was a player here in the 1980s with the local rivalries, he said. “McKeesport, TJ and Belle Vernon have programs that speak for themselves.
“We aspire to be at that level, and we know that there is not one Friday night where we can look at the schedule and can say it is an easy win. It will be intense, there is no wiggle room and it really is a tough conference.”
Other teams in the conference include Laurel Highlands, Trinity and West Mifflin.
What kind of expectations does Manges have for this year’s team?
“We want to see growth from year 1 to year 2,” he said. “The players are now comfortable with our system and understand why we do what we do.
“I love our kids, respect them and they are totally committed. When you have to kick kids out of the weight room and off of the field, those are good things and we weren’t seeing that last year. … I wouldn’t trade these kids for anyone.”
Ringgold opens the season Sept. 11 at Trinity in conference play, but it will be bittersweet for Manges as his father passed away May 23 and won’t be at the game.
“It was his dream to see me as the head coach at Ringgold,” Manges said. “I am thankful that we were able to make it happen and he was able to see it.”