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Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

Titchnell plays one last season with the boys

This season will be a bittersweet one for senior Justin Titchenell as he looks to end his Friar career strong.

titchnell

After a breakout season in 2015, number 58 yearns to wreak havoc on opposing offensive lines for one more year.

Standing six feet tall and 250 pounds, Justin Titchenell has the size necessary to play Defensive Tackle and anchor the interior of the Friar defense.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Everything we do is not always fun, but going out on the field on gameday makes the hard work and sacrifices worth it.”

– Justin Titchenell ‘17[/perfectpullquote]

As defender on the defensive line, you need to be able to engage with the offensive lineman, read the play, and make a split second decision on where to go.

“There are three key things you need to play the position: Toughness, strength, and a mean streak,” Titchenell said.

And Justin has those three qualities in spades, receiving All Inter-Ac and All-Area honors for his play on the defensive line as a junior.

“Every play you have a collision, and every play you have to react to what happens in front of you on defense, and that’s what he’s best at,” Head Football Coach Aaron Brady said. “He’s very strong, he’s spent some time in the weight room.”

Titchenell’s personal football career can be traced back to the third grade, when he was only eight years old.

“I first started playing flag football when I was in third grade at St. Agnes, but I eventually started playing tackle football in 5th grade,” he said.

Brady not only lauded Titchenell for what he does on the field, but off the field as well.

“You’ll see him out there this past winter and spring in the morning running and doing extra work and working on his technique,” Brady said. “He’s definitely put in a lot of time into his craft in playing football and getting better at the little things.”

The praise for Justin doesn’t end with the coaching staff, however. He’s also received glowing reviews from his teammates.

“He’s the hardest worker on the field and you can always count on him to be there for you,” senior wide receiver Mike Fay said. “He’s super passionate about football and probably loves it more than anyone on the team.”

Although this will be his final year donning the Malvern Prep blue and white, Tichnell plans on playing at the collegiate level after graduating.

“He’s gonna play in college,” Brady said. “We don’t know where yet, but he’ll definitely play somewhere.”

Justin has mostly been getting looks from Centennial schools, such as Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins, Franklin and Marshall, and Dickinson, as well as a few FCS programs like Butler and Bucknell.

“Whether its Division III or I-AA… [he’ll play] Division 3 but with high academics,” Brady said.

However, Justin still has his focus on this season, and plans to go out with a bang.

“We want to win each game as it comes,” Titchenell said. “Our schedule for the first half of the season is probably the toughest in all of southeastern PA. We play powerhouses all across the area like La Salle, Gilman, Pope John Sparta, and Imhotep.”

Their main goal for this season, however, is the same as always.

“[We want to] win the Inter-Ac and beat the Fords,” Titchenell said with a smile.

Along with his accolades, Justin’s favorite memory from Malvern also comes from his Junior year.

“My favorite memory would be beating the Prep last season,” Titchenell said. “We were the underdogs but we still came out with great confidence and executed our gameplan perfectly.”

Although that may be what Justin will remember the most, what he’ll miss the most is the Malvern football experience.

“Playing high school football is an experience like no other,” Titchenell said. “Everything we do is not always fun, but going out on the field on gameday makes the hard work and sacrifices worth it.”

“I will miss the O-line vs. D-line rivalries at practice, the excitement of gameday, but mostly my teammates and the coaches that have done so much in helping me grow as a person over the past couple years,” he said.

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    Bob TitchenellSep 26, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    Great article. Very proud of the young man.

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