Mike Brown and the Knights are writing a different story after a 1-9 season, which saw the departure of longtime coach David Brozeski after 9 seasons coming after the final game of 2022.  Through the first seven games, the Knights started 2-5, heading into a battle at Franklin Regional on Friday Oct. 6, which ended in a 29-37 defeat.

Norwin started the season hungry to take advantage of the fresh start that the team has been given. With major changes coming to the sideline, it was only a matter of time before fans saw an entirely new team than previous years.

Norwin’s offense, headlined by sophomore starting quarterback Tristan Tavares, and senior wideouts Jackson Pons and Luke Denny, have put up at least 30 points in each of their wins this year, a far cry from their 2022 campaign, as Norwin scored just 26 points total through their first 7 games. Senior wideout Luke Denny led the way with 5 TD’s and an impressive 28.3 yards per catch average. Sophomore Jake Knight and the team’s “Swiss-Army Knife,” Jackson Pons have accompanied Denny as the two receivers surpassed 25 catches and over 400 yards respectively.

Last year, Tavares started as a freshman and looked to be out of sync with the offense at times.  This season, Tavares has blossomed in the new offense and thrown for a 1,717 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 15/4. After a season of first-team reps and learning a new offense under Coach Brown, the quarterback has come into his own and is leading the Norwin offense in the right direction.

“We’re taking shots and giving our guys the opportunities to make plays,” said Tavares. “Coach helps make the reads easy for me, so I don’t have to read the entire field.”

Norwin’s rushing attack has also kept the chains moving this year with a 3-headed backfield, lead by junior running backs Christian Shogun, Jake Sincak, and Jackson Huss. Huss leads the team with 3.4 YPC on 18 rushes while Christian Shogun has carried most of the workload with 42 carries for 139 yards and a score. Aided by an improved offensive line, the rushing attack has showed up when called upon so far this year.

Norwin’s defense has also stepped up after a season where the defense made headlines and not in a good way. Going into Week 7, Norwin’s point differential of -52 is a far cry from their -242 difference last season. Norwin relied on their defense after halftime to keep opponents in check and limit their big play options.

“We’re just flying around and making plays,” said linebacker Jake Page. “We’ve upped our physicality; Coach Ritz helps build our confidence in practice by his honesty and the formations we face. Fixing the problems in practice helps us continue our physicality level throughout.”

Brown and company returned on Friday on the road against Gateway. The 2-5 Knights are looking to snap a 3 game skid after a .500 start through 4 games. The Knights need to win 2 of their last 3 to clinch a WPIAL playoff birth for the first time since 2008. On Friday, Oct. 20 the Knights went 20-48 against Gateway at a home game. The boys football team ended with an overall record of 2-7, and their last game of the season is this Friday, Oct. 27, where they will face off against Hempfield for senior night.