GETTING DEFENSIVE: While Redbank Valley Offense Gets the Love, the Bulldog Defense Has Also Been an Imposing Force This Season

NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT/D9) — There’s speed and then there’s game speed. 

Brandon Ross doesn’t look like he would be the fastest player on the field.

“He’s a classic mauler,” said his Redbank Valley football coach, Blane Gold, about Ross. 

But when the senior defensive lineman has a ballcarrier in his sights, he’s as fast as anyone around. 

He’s always been that way. A nose for the football. Relentless in getting there.

(Pictured above, up front, from left, Jaxon Huffman, Christian Clinger and Brandon Ross have helped the rest of the defense shine, line middle linebacker Caden Adams/photo by Ripple Photography)

“I’ve always tried to play to the whistle,” Ross said. “If the guy is on the other side of the field, I’m going to get him on the other side of the field.”

Ross’ ability to close is what has made him special — and the Redbank Valley defense equally impressive this season.

“I’ve heard people mistakingly call him a linebacker because he’s making tackles in the secondary,” Gold said. “If you think back — and this ended up being a huge tackle because they didn’t score — but on one of (Port Allegany running back Peyton Stiles) runs in district championship game, Brandon ran him down and he started at the line of scrimmage.

“We joke with (receiver and safety Ashton Kahle) sometimes. I’ll say, “OK, Ashton, you and Brandon race but Brandon’s racing at game speed and you’re racing and practice speed, and Ashton will say, ‘Oh, Brandon will definitely beat me,’” Gold added. “He just he has the ability to kick it into another gear.”

Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.

The Redbank Valley defense has certainly kicked it into another gear this season.

While the offense gets a lot of love for all the points and touchdowns and flashy statistics they have been putting up on a weekly basis, the defense has been as stingy as the offense has been spectacular.

The Bulldogs shut out District 10 champion Cambridge Springs, 44-0, in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals last week, holding a team that entered the night averaging 257 yards per game on the ground to 51.

Ross has been just one of a group of players who have been intimidating opponents this season with their speed, aggressiveness and tenacity.

“I hope they are intimidated,” Ross said. “That’s what we want to be.”

Ross entered the starting lineup for Redbank Valley at outside linebacker during his freshman year. That campaign was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He learned under one of the best, Joe Mansfield, who left Redbank Valley after a legendary career that included 35 sacks, 59.5 tackles for a loss and 36 quarterback hurries.

But over the years, Ross got bigger and thicker and was moved inside this season.

Ross still plays with the same mentality that he did when he was an edge rusher — the thrill is just a little different.

“The most fun thing for me is driving the offensive lineman back and my linebacker or DB or even another defensive lineman gets the tackle and we can celebrate together,” Ross said.

One of those players he routinely celebrates with is another senior standout, Caden Adams.

The middle linebacker leads the team with 86 tackles and also has 11.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage. Ross is second on the team with 81 tackles and leads the way with 20.5 tackles for a loss.

“The DBs and linebackers come in to watch film for a half an hour and then the D-line comes in and watches with the linebackers. Caden is always pulling double duty,” Gold said. “He has to know what the coverage responsibilities are and he has to know what the run game responsibilities are. All week we install a new game plan, and on any given Friday night, I only make five or six calls because we completely trust our players to make the calls. We completely trust Caden to lead our defense.”

(Caden Adams/photo by Ripple Photography)

Adams takes that responsibility seriously.

Like Ross, his mission this season was to make the defense intimidating to opponents again.

Few in District 9 deliver harder hits than Adams.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” he said. “Coming into the year, the whole group wanted to get back to how we were in 2020 and 2021. Back then, teams feared our defense even more than teams fear our offense now. We had to get back to where teams were legitimately scared of our defense. I feel like we’re getting back to that.”

The first-team defense has given up very few points this season.

Adams, Ross and the rest of the starters have rarely played all four quarters with the offense, the third-highest scoring unit in the state, piling up points and triggering the mercy rule with regularity.

They notched their first shutout of the season against Cambridge Springs. Redbank has give up just 20 points in three postseason games this year.

Adams said the key to the stinginess is the swarming mentality the unit possesses.

“We all play with the mentality that you can’t assume someone else is going to make the tackle,” Adams said. “We want to get every single one of us to the ball.”

Adams emerged last season as one of the best middle linebackers, not only in District 9, but the state, in Class A with 118 tackles and 16 for a loss in 10 games.

He played mostly on the offensive line as a sophomore.

“Obviously, I’m proud of myself, but I can’t take all the credit,” Adams said. “I mean, the people in front are eating up blocks for me, allowing me to read the play and fly to the ball. It’s a whole team effort. Without the people in front of me, without the people behind me, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I just love being a part of and playing as a whole unit.”

Redbank will face one of its biggest challenges yet when the Bulldogs take on District 7 champion and undefeated Fort Cherry in the state semifinals on Friday at Farrell High School.

Fort Cherry features one of the best quarterbacks in the country in sophomore Matt Sieg, who has thrown for 1,338 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for another 1,785 yards and 33 TDs.

Some of the best college football programs in the nation are already recruiting Sieg.

“He’s a great player,” Adams said. “He can definitely run the ball and throw it and we’re gonna have our hands full. We’re going to need to be able to stop the run, but their team is more than willing to throw the ball deep. Together, this whole defensive unit is just gonna have to play as one and have great games all around.

“We’re gonna stick to what we’ve done, what got us here,” Adams added. “We’re definitely gonna have a game plan in place and they’re gonna have a game plan for us. We’re going to have to make good adjustments, but I think as a defense we can rise to that challenge.”

Adams and his teammates are certainly happy to be in a position to play this year for a spot in the state championship game.

Last year, the season ended abruptly with a loss in the district semifinals to Brockway. It served as supreme motivation to get back.

And not take anything for granted.

“That loss last year was very disappointing,” Adams said. “We wanted to get back on top and win a district championship and we took it one game at a time and we had fun along the way. But we also stayed motivated and stayed locked in. There are so many teams across the state that are watching right now instead of playing. So we can’t take that for granted and we have to go out every game, every play and play like we know how we can play.”

Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.