Millersville, Pa. - Millersville boasts plenty of options at safety but corner is a question mark after losing Lou Brown.
Brown picked off three passes and ranked 12th in the PSAC in passes defended. That kind of production is not easy to replace, and with so many teams in the PSAC East running spread offenses, teams need more than two corners to play at a high level.
Newcomer Cory Harrison, who transferred in from Wesley College and played his high school football at Upper Darby, claimed one of the starting roles in spring ball. Trey Pinkney started over half of the games in 2012, totaling 22 tackles. Redshirt freshmen P.J. Santos and Joey Pham are also expected to crack the lineup. Coach Greg Breitbach also thinks incoming freshmen Kenny Brown and Tymere Wilder can challenge for a role. Brown, a graduate of Harriton, stands 6-2 and is a physical player. Wilder was All-Catholic League and All- City for Bishop McDevitt in Philadelphia.
Millersville boasts five veterans at safety in seniors David Rene and Dan Miller, redshirt junior T.J. Richardson, redshirt sophomore Rasheed Johnson and junior Andrew Wolfgang. Defensive coordinator Ron Rankin could certainly utilize more than two of them on the field at the same time.
Expectations were high for Rene heading into the 2012 season, but he was forced to sit out due to academic reasons. He played in 22 consecutive games prior to that as a nickel corner and safety. Richardson, too, logged starts at both corner and safety. He owns 21 games of experience and ranked eighth on the team in tackles in 2012. Currently, Rene is slated as the starter at free safety and Richardson as the strong safety.
Johnson missed spring workouts but is the team's returning leader in tackles after piling up 62. Wolfgang served as a valuable special teams player in 2012 and notched 12 tackles. Miller, a do-it-all player for the Marauders over the previous two seasons, is a heady player and understands the team's schemes.