Williams Valley's Brady Shomper drops back to pass during a game earlier this season. (Photo by Charlie Roth).

Unfinished business.

Williams Valley had another banner year in 2024, winning a second straight District 11 Class AA championship and reaching the PIAA playoffs for the second consecutive year.

A heartbreaking 28-21 loss to District 2 champion Riverside, a game in which the Vikings committed six turnovers and nearly pulled off an amazing second-half comeback, has left a bitter taste in the Vikes’ mouths the entire offseason.

The loss has served as motivation for a veteran squad that returns in 2025 looking to make that next step.

The No. 1-ranked team in the preseason T102 Sports Now Super 7 poll, the Vikings went 12-2 last year and have gone 22-5 over the last two seasons, falling in the first round of the PIAA playoffs each time.

“We definitely use that game as motivation, the (2023 playoff against) Dunmore game as well,” senior quarterback Brady Shomper said. “We know we could have definitely won those games, but we just came up short, shot ourselves in the foot.”

Added head coach Stephen Sedesse: “The motivation has been good since we started coaching here. Going into this year … Last year, with that loss to Riverside, we thought we were a game better. We thought we could take that step last year and get through that. We turned the ball over a lot of times. Looking back at that film, we can kind of correct some things and move on.

“The motivation and the confidence are there. We knew what we can do when we play our game. Our kids are pretty confident.”

4TH AND SHORT PODCAST: Get an in-depth look at Williams Valley’s 2025 squad as Leroy Boyer and Eli Doyle sit down with the Vikings for their preseason podcast:
LINK: 4TH AND SHORT PODCAST

That confidence stems from the return of seven starters on offense and eight on defense.

Shomper, the T-102 Offensive Player of the Year, leads the way after leading the area in passing in 2024 with 2,413 yards and 35 touchdowns while rushing for 1,124 yards and 18 more scores.

Sophomore Fletcher Thompson is back after a breakout freshman season in which he ran for 1,462 yards and 17 touchdowns while senior Evan Achenbach will pace the receiving corps after hauling in 19 passes for 539 yards and nine scores.

Fullback Trevon Bair and receivers Blazer Lords and Colin Crisswell also return, giving Sedesse plenty of weapons to utilize offensively. The Vikes averaged 41.9 points per game a year ago.

“Fletcher is just a bigger, stronger kid this year,” Sedesse said. “He’s a lot faster, another year mature. That jump from 14-15 years old to now being 16 is huge for him.

“For Brady, it’s all about progressions. Last year he’s stay on target a couple of times and threw some picks. He’d lock onto a guy. This year we’re working on moving it around, dump it off to the running back, leak him out, know where you’re going with the ball before the snap.”

Williams Valley at a Glance

Head coach: Stephen Sedesse (3rd season, 22-5)

2024 Record: 12-2, District 11 Class AA champion, PIAA qualifier

Conference: Schuylkill-Colonial Blue Division

3 Key Players to Watch

Brady Shomper, senior QB/DB

Fletcher Thompson, sophomore RB/LB

Trevon Bair, junior RB/LB

3 Key Newcomers to Watch

Shawn Romberger, senior OL/DL

Cole Hubler, freshman WR/DB

Koen Zilinski, sophomore OL/DL

3 Key Graduation Losses

Kian Kryzanowski, WR/DB

Jesse Koons, OL/DL

Brayden Crisswell, TE/DE

Key Position Battles in Camp

Slot receiver, offensive guard, defensive end

It starts up front

A big key to Williams Valley’s success in 2024 was its play in the trenches.

The Vikings return four starters on offense in seniors Brayden Archer (6-2, 245), Bryce Zilinski (6-3, 220), Robbie Hoffman (5-11, 230) and Camron Green (6-1, 290), with sophomore Koen Zilinski (6-1, 265) and senior Eli Weiss (6-2, 215) mixing in.

Defensively, senior Shawn Romberger (6-0, 333) joins that group in clogging up the running lanes and putting pressure on the quarterback.

The Vikings did lose guards Jesse Koons and Tyler Koppenhaver and tight end/defensive end Brayden Crisswell to graduation, but Williams Valley’s bunch up front is a big, strong, veteran group.

“Our line starts everything up front,” Sedesse said. “They get everything going for us. We’ll go where our line goes. Our skill players are the guys that have to make plays, but our line will take us where we need to go.”

Dominating Defense

Williams Valley had the best defense in the area in 2024, yielding just 14.9 points per game and holding six opponents to one touchdown or less.

All-State linebacker Skylor Green, who led the area with 141 tackles, and speedy wide receiver/defensive back Kian Kryzanowski both graduated, but plenty of talent returns.

Middle linebacker Trevon Bair, who was second in the area in tackles with 136, leads a talented group capable of posting similar numbers.

“I think this defense should be 10 times better than last year,” said Bair, who gave a lot of credit for his success to Skylor Green. “We’re missing two key players, but we have a great freshman class coming up. Our D-line going to be amazing. Our linebackers, same thing. Our corners, we return everything. Our defense is going to be great.”

Big Expectations

The Vikings begin the season as the No. 1 team in the T102 Sports Now Super 7 preseason poll and ranked seventh in the state in Class AA by PennLive.com.

They enter the season looking to extend a 17-year streak of qualifying for the District 11 playoffs and have won eight or more games nine straight seasons. Since 2008, Williams Valley is 157-47, a .770 winning percentage.

Expectations are always high between the pines and this year isn’t any different.

With a talented group returning, the Vikings have lofty expectations.

Whether or not they meet them, Sedesse says, is up to them.

“This team is going to be as good as we allow ourselves to be,” Sedesse said. “As long we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot … turnovers, penalties … and just be disciplined.

“We’ve been playing together for three years now and we think it should click if we clean up some of the stuff from the past two years that held us back.”

Williams Valley’s Schedule

(All games start at 7 p.m.)

Friday, Aug. 22 — Upper Dauphin

Friday, Aug. 29 — at Mahanoy Area*

Friday, Sept. 5 — Nativity*

Friday, Sept. 12 — at Minersville*

Friday, Sept. 19 — at Tri-Valley*

Friday, Sept. 26 — Schuylkill Haven*

Friday, Oct. 3 — Panther Valley*

Friday, Oct. 10 — at Marian*

Friday, Oct. 17 — at Shenandoah Valley*

Friday, Oct. 24 — Pine Grove*

* Schuylkill-Colonial league game

Williams Valley’s Roster