Coach Joe Rossi

Talk about resiliency of a team! Riverview Raiders' Coach Joe Rossi saw last year's starting quarterback go down with a serious injury and miss several games. Now this year's starting quarterback is dealing with a potentially season-affecting injury. It's the third straight year the team has lost their quarterback. Maybe the Raider team physician should put the position on the Endangered Species List: Raiderus Quarterbackus Bangupus!

Last year's squad bounced back from the change in quarterback. "We met some goals we wanted to achieve," Rossi says. "We got into the playoffs in a rough Eastern conference. Our kids did a nice job, and we went 5-2 in the league. We lost in the first round of playoffs, had a couple of injuries going into that game. But we lost to a good football team. So we achieved a goal and want to build on that this year."

Even though the injury to this year's quarterback will certainly be a factor to deal with this season, Rossi believes they'll be ok. "Our starting quarterback this year broke his wrist [in summer-league basketball,]" explains the coach, "But he should be ready about week one or two…he's still been able to throw. It's his none-throwing hand. We've got a good back-up quarterback who's done a great job coming out for us. Between those two we should be sound."

The Raiders' record has gotten better each year and Rossi is pleased with the direction the team is going. "Number-wise, this is the best year. We suited up for camp with 47 [players,] a nice physical team," he says. "We're a young team, mostly sophomores and juniors: 47 guys working hard.

Coach Rossi's staff has a new but familiar face this year, and one that is a part of the AK coaching fraternity. "Our defensive coordinator from last year had to step back," Rossi commented.

"So we started our search for a new defensive coordinator and we ran into Todd Massack, who's an '84 graduate of Riverview. So bringing him on board is great for us. This is one of the better staffs I've had." Massack brings nearly 20 years of coaching experience with him, including several years recently as Fox Chapel head coach.

Joe Rossi appreciates the Raiders' football legacy and knows where he wants to take the team. "It's a great history—a lot of history in this program," he says. "We just want to be able to represent our program well…be glad to be a part of it." Joe goes into detail about this year's Raiders squad at: http://www.alle-kiskitoday.com/webcasts/1476