SV Football begins new tradition at Meet The Devils night
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Alex Kozlosky is tackled by his mother during Shenandoah Valley's senior mom tackle tradition at Meet The Devils night on August 6, 2023
SHENANDOAH – When Ed Moran took over as head coach of the Blue Devils, he knew he was taking over a program with a rich tradition.
In the time since, Moran has worked to bring back some of the traditions, including a new helmet design this year that blends the Penn State-esque lids of the 1980s with the Columbia blue tri-stripe used for most of the past 20 years.
Of course, at the top of the list is the winning tradition. Shenandoah is one of 80 schools in the state with 500 wins or more and football is the closest the school has ever come to a state team sports championship.
The football program Moran took over was one at its lowest point. Previously, the Devils hadn’t been winless since before they were officially the Devils — not since 1918 — but when Moran took over, the program was on its longest losing streak in program history. A streak which was snapped at 34 games in a 2020 victory over Columbia Montour Vo-Tech.
In the 1990s, as a Minersville Battlin’ Miner, Moran played against a Shenandoah program at its height, and knew the program’s storied tradition.
In his time as SV head coach, Moran has brought some of those traditions back and started new ones.
Meet the Devils night this past Sunday was no exception.
After all football players and cheerleaders were introduced, the moms and other relatives of senior players had the opportunity to don pads and a helmet and tackle the player onto a mat.
“It’s something I’ve seen other programs do, and it was a fun way to get our senior moms involved,” Moran told the Sentinel. “Being in a small community, there’s so much of a family atmosphere around our program and we embrace that and we appreciate that as coaches.”
As for the outlook for the season, Moran said the season’s success hinges on the first half.
“We feel there are a couple games there that we can win and a couple games that we can be competitive,” Moran said.
Multiple starters return this year from last year, including WR Nick Ryan and QB Ben Dempster.
He said he believes Ryan is one of the best receivers in the state and can break several school records with a good campaign this year.
The Devils open the season at home against Columbia Montour Vo-Tech on August 25 at 7pm.
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