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Berlin’s Ryan Lavender Voted High School on SI’s Top Linebacker in Connecticut

Lavender returns after missing all of last season due to an injury
Kevin L. Smith|
Ryan Lavender competing for the Berlin Redcoats during the 2023 season.
Ryan Lavender competing for the Berlin Redcoats during the 2023 season. | Ryan Lavender/Hudl

Ryan Lavender, a senior at Berlin High School, has been voted High School on SI’s top linebacker in Connecticut heading into the 2025 season.

McLaughlin received 44.56% of the votes to take the top spot. Final poll results can be viewed here.

After sustaining a baseball-related injury, Lavender missed all of his junior football season in 2024. Lavender, however, is back for his senior campaign.

Lavender recorded 123 tackles and three sacks during his sophomore season in 2023.

Berlin went 8-4 last year. The team opens the season against New London at 6 p.m. Sept. 11.

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Kevin L. Smith
KEVIN L. SMITH

Kevin L. Smith, a Rochester (NY) native and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, has been covering high school sports for over a decade. He started out as a freelance sportswriter in 2013. Since then, he’s held sportswriter and editor positions for newspapers in Coudersport (PA), Sayre (PA) and Oswego (NY). Smith currently covers high school sports in the Greater Syracuse Area for syracuse.com | Post-Standard, a position he’s held since 2021. You can follow him on social media @KevLSmittie. Story ideas can be sent to KLSFreelancing@outlook.com.

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