2022 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Sto-Rox’s Dre Miller-Ross

By: Antonio Rossetti
Friday, July 8, 2022 | 6:43 PM

5225313_web1_ptr-AvonStoRox04-091821 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Sto-Rox’s Dre Miller-Ross catches a pass as Avonworth’s Brandon Biagiarelli defends during their game on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Ohio Twp.

Editor’s note: The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 15 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park.

The Sto-Rox Vikings won 12 games for the first time since 2013 and went undefeated in their conference for their second straight season. Senior Dre Miller-Ross played a vital role in the team’s second double-digit-win season since 2019.

Miller-Ross had a productive season offensively and defensively. He finished with more than 500 receiving yards and scored four touchdowns.

But despite Miller-Ross’ success last season, his football career wasn’t always glamorous. He battled adversity early in his freshman year.

“The coach had workouts that I never been through before, and it made me really think about life. ‘Do I really want to play this game?’ But going into it, it was fun,” Miller-Ross said.

“But I then broke my arm the third day of camp. I tried stiff-arming one of my teammates, and he pulled my arm down and then I fell to the ground and fractured my forearm.”

The injury caused Miller-Ross to miss his freshman season, which took its toll.

“I was really depressed,” Miller-Ross said. “I went into a depression without playing sports because I didn’t know what to do with my life. I was younger, and I thought it was just over.”

Miller-Ross thought he had hit rock bottom. His father, his brothers, his teammates and his coaches were by his side and motivated him to come back.

In his sophomore season, Miller-Ross helped lead the team to the playoffs in 2020. In the second round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs, Miller-Ross caught four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

The competitive environment sculpted Miller-Ross, and in 2021, he notched another productive season offensively and defensively.

On the defensive side of the ball, he doesn’t overcomplicate things.

“Don’t let them catch the ball,” Miller-Ross said. “That’s it. I can’t let him catch the ball, and I won’t let him catch the ball. You can’t overthink it.”

Miller-Ross enjoys playing man coverage, and he has faith in his other corners to play man as well. Their competitiveness and the trust they have in each other led to a successful year on defense. The Vikings had four shutouts last season and outscored opponents by an average of 39 points.

Miller-Ross and the team are motivated after falling short in the WPIAL playoffs last season.

“We just got to come back 10 times stronger and stop trying to downplay all of our opponents,” Miller-Ross said.

The team’s goals remain the same, but this time the Vikings want to make it to the state playoffs.

“States, and it’s nothing less than that,” Miller-Ross said. “It’s our senior season, so we have to go all-in.”

Dre-Miller Ross

Sto-Rox

Senior

6-foot, 171 pounds

WR/CB

Committed to: None

Division I offers: Akron, Central Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Howard, North Carolina A&T, Stony Brook, Fordham

2021 statistics: 26 receptions for 544 yards and four touchdowns