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RESERVE — Riverside Academy had a solid season in 2020 and now is looking to see if they can have consistent success.

  “The thing I’m looking for this year is, can we have consistent success? I knew the first couple of years were going to be tough while we rebuilt this team, but now that we had success last year, we’re looking to see if we can be a consistent winner,” Riverside Academy coach Kevin Dizer said.

Dizer, who begins his fourth year as Riverside’s head coach, guided his team to a 6-2 record last season. The Rebels reached the quarterfinal round of the Division IV playoffs before being defeated by semifinalist Vermilion Catholic, 33-20.

  Riverside Academy has 10 or 11 returning starters with five or six coming back on each side of the ball.

  “We’ve just got to fill some holes, and I think we’ll be fine,” Dizer said.

  Offensively, Elijah Davis was an all-state running back as a sophomore, and Dizer said they are looking for him to get better.

Quarterback Luke Hymel, who threw for almost 1,000 yards last year in a two-quarterback system, is now the full-time signal caller.

  Lineman Alex Ross is a returning all-state player.

  “Once we get some cohesion together, I think we’ll put together another explosive offense,” Dizer said.

Defensively, Dizer said he expects his team to be really fast.

  “I look for us to be a team that gets a lot of takeaways. I look for us to have organized chaos on defense,” Dizer said.

  The unit is led by junior safety Cade Middleton. He is in his third year as a starter. Dizer said Middleton is a big-time player and he is expecting him to be a household name this year.

  Safety Kayon Brumfield is a senior leader on the defensive side.

  Linebacker Hunter Champagne is a junior, who Dizer said had a really good year last season, though it was cut short by injury in the sixth game.

  Riverside Academy will start the season with a home game against Thomas Jefferson on Sept. 3.

BY CHRIS KINKAID

THE DAILY NEWS

SPECIAL TO L’OBSERVATEUR