The Middletown High School football team has won the state championship for the second straight year, and” it all starts with MVAA (Middletown Valley Athletic Association)” Says Varsity coach Kevin Lynott, “ Bill Poffanberger and Tim Evich have done a great job developing players so when they get to Varsity they are ready to contribute right away.” The Knights have been outstanding over the past three years posting a record of 39-3, while destroying their opponents.
“ It’s not only the MVAA, we have better players coming in overall,” MHS Athletic Director Tim Ambrose says “ but MVAA has developed a lot of our best players today, and that has really put us in a position to win.”
Zach Welch, who rushed for over 2,000 yards this season, has assumed a leadership position on this team “It really helped our team to have a leader like that,” says Lynott “He (Welch) was on the team as a sophomore when we lost to McDonough, and that really motivated him to do better over the past two years.”
Lynott says “the 2011 teams’ goal was to win the Championship, this year’s team wanted to be perfect and to do so in convincing fashion.”
“We had the Urbana game circled on the schedule,” says Lynott “We had a disappointing loss to them last season, and we wanted to make up for that” The Knights were able to do just that in a convincing 42-17 win.
“But it all traces back to the MVAA,” says Ambrose “When they (the MVAA) created their midget and I-70 league we had more players coming in freshmen year with football experience.”
The team has been cranking out great recruits over the past few years, like Syracuse Wide receiver Ben Lewis.
“In terms of recruits we are just getting better players than we did before, guys like (Ben) Lewis, have the make-up recruiters are looking for,” says Ambrose “Zach Welch is going to Monmouth and (Justin) Falcinelli is being recruited by big time programs across the country, and these guys have been playing football through MVAA since they were in second or third grade.”
Lynott knows how special this team is, as they are the first to go undefeated in Middletown history.
Lynott says “there is something special about this year’s team and the way they hold each other accountable every second to be the best players on the field that they can be, they have been working together for years going back to Elementary and Middle School”
“The seniors on this team have seen the highs and the lows,” says Lynott “and this year they were ready to finish 14, without a loss”
“The JV and freshman programs are a continuation of what the MVAA does, they just get the players ready for the varsity level so they work hard right away because they already know the system coming into their first Varsity season” says Lynott
“All we do in the future is predicated on the success of the MVAA, and the type of players they send up,” says Ambrose
Middletown will have their starting QB Tim Pirrone and most of their receiving core returning next year. They do have a suitable running back tandem returning next year in Tim Schumacher and Bradley Rinehart to replace the county’s leading rusher, Zach Welch. The anchor of the offensive line, Justin Falcinelli will be returning for his senior season. The Dunbar Poets, the team that has won eight out of the last ten Class 1A championships, and a national powerhouse is moving up to class 2A which could be an obstacle on the road to a three peat.