Big Playback Preview: Ridgeview and Redmond

The high school football season is just of couple days away (as is the return of The Big Playback!) Tonight, a look at the season prospects and outlook for the Redmond Panthers and the Ridgeview Ravens.

The Ravens open their season on Friday at Crook County. They look to build on their success from last year that led them to their first playoff appearance since 2013.

That success is in large part due to their second-year head coach Patrick Pileggi . Last year was Pileggi’s first as a head coach. He’s spent the previous 15 years coaching as an assistant.

Pileggi said Tuesday the team is focusing on the little things like lining up correctly and tucking in your jersey.

“Just cleaning up on a lot of little things,” he said. ” Doing the little things right is something we preach around here. It’s easy to get carried away and just let these things slide and ultimately that leads to mistakes when it comes to game time, ” Pileggi added.

Pileggi went on to say the team’s biggest weakness is its depth. The Ravens are only returning five seniors.

Team captain and wide receiver Kevin Edmonson is expecting to continue where the team left off last season.

” We obviously don’t want to go backwards. We want to keep winning more games like we did last year and get higher in the win column, ” Edmondson said.

The year before Pileggi took over, the team went 1-8 and 0-5 away from home. Pileggi improved that record overall to 4-7 in the 18-19 season.

” Oh, I can’t wait. This is the worst time of the year for me. These last two or three weeks, where you just got to practice against each other. Getting to hit someone else is the best part of the year, ” Pileggi said.

Meanwhile, the Redmond Panthers look to bounce back after a disappointing 2018 season in which they finished 2-7, winning just one league game.

They hope first-year Head Coach Seth Womack can turn things around. He comes from Eagle Point high School and said building trust with the players has been his top goal.

Womack said he likes what he’s seen so far from the team, and the players are buying in.

” I had the opportunity to coach against these guys last year, when I was the head football coach at Eagle Point High School, ” he said. ” Even then, when we would scout these guys, we knew they were a tough group, they were physically talented, they were a close-knit group. Getting the opportunity to work with them has been very exciting. ”

The goal is simple, to Redmond senior and offensive/defensive lineman Dylan Moss: ” Just go to the playoffs. Senior year — go to playoffs and go to state. We haven’t had a winning season in a while, so it’s time to turn it around. ”

The Panthers open their season on the road Friday at St. Helens.