Senior Kian Krzyzanowski returns as Williams Valley's top wide receiver.

Williams Valley

Head coach: Stephen Sedesse

2023: 10-3, District 11 Class AA champion

Story by Leroy Boyer

It’s hard to replace a player that rushed for 3,056 yards and 34 touchdowns, threw for 329 yards and eight more scores, led the team in receptions with 15 and was the area leader in touchdowns (37), scoring (238 points) and interceptions (6). But that’s the task facing coach Stephen Sedesse and his staff at Williams Valley this season.

Three-time Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State running back Alex Achenbach graduated after guiding the Vikings to a 10-3 overall record and the District 11 Class AA championship in 2023. It was the sixth district title in the past eight seasons and eighth overall for the Vikings, who have made the postseason every year since 2008. Williams Valley has gone 145-45 (.763) in that 16-year span and is 79-19 (.806) over the past eight seasons. The Vikings’ 2023 season ended with a loss to Dunmore in the opening round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs.

To continue that run of success, Sedesse must find a new offensive leader. He has some candidates. Junior quarterback Brady Shomper is back after throwing for 414 yards and seven TDs while rushing 62 times for 216 yards and five scores. Senior Kian Krzyzanowski was the team’s leading receiver with 14 catches for 430 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior tight end Brayden Crisswell, senior fullback Skylor Green, junior wideout Evan Achenbach and junior halfback Evan Kandybowski also figure in the mix, along with freshman running back Fletcher Thompson and junior Blazer Lords.

The Vikings’ strength comes up front, where senior Jesse Koons and juniors Cam Green, Robbie Hoffman and Bryce Zilinski all return on both sides of the ball. Defensively, Williams Valley returns nine players that collected 50 or more tackles last season. Skylor Green (102) led the way from his linebacker spot, followed by Kandybowski (96), Cam Green (80), Crisswell (71), Koons (70), sophomore linebacker Trevon Bair (68), Shomper (66), Evan Achenbach (56) and Krzyzanowski (54). Bair and Crisswell each had a team-high nine tackles for loss while Crisswell had five sacks.

Sedesse, in his second year at the helm, said the biggest thing the Vikings need to work on the preseason is “defending the run/running the football.” He said the Vikes can have a winning season if, “We win the line of scrimmage on both sides (of the ball) and find our identity offensively early on.”

Williams Valley will remain in Class AA for the next two-year cycle and should extend its postseason streak since eight of the 10 teams qualify for the postseason. The Vikings will compete in the new small-school Blue Division (Division III) of the Schuylkill/Colonial Football Cooperative along with Mahanoy Area, Marian, Minersville, Nativity, Panther Valley, Pine Grove, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley and Tri-Valley. The Vikes open their season Friday, Aug. 23, at backyard rival Upper Dauphin.

“It’s a great league,” Sedesse said of the new alignment. “Every week is competitive when you’re playing more league games.”