6. Pine Richland 15-1
Silver medal winner Pine Richland graduated nearly the entire team but return many that got valuable time given the blowouts on the way to a record setting 15 win season. This year’s team will be built on that platform along with the return of OT/DL Matthew Hampton (6-4, 255, sr), OT James Williard (6-5, 270, sr), WR/SS Anthony Battaglia (6-1, 200, sr, 41/640) and MLB Grant LeMirande (6-1, 250, so). It appears that Coach Eric Kasperowicz has settled on starting sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovek (6-5. 210) to replace Ben DiNucci who had a remarkable season completing 69% of his passes for 3886 yards. His touchdown to interception ratio was 42 to 7. Also gone is running back Conner Slomka’s 1480 yards along with receivers Michael Merhaut and D’ondre Gastion. Merhaut caught 101 passes for 1488 yards with Gastion catching 58 for 1167 yards making Anthony Battaglia’s return key. Their first two games are home with the second being North Allegheny who they edged last year in Wexford 28-24! Payback? Then it’s clear sailing for the next four except for the speed bump at North Hills that could jolt them. Seneca Valley and Butler follow before the big encounter with Pittsburgh Central Catholic. So they get their toughest games at home, North Allegheny and Central Catholic.
7. North Allegheny 8-3
NA is looking for a quarterback with Riley Truman the leading candidate to fill the bill. They return good numbers at running back with Mike Pope (5-6, 160, jr, 65/552) and Nick Provenzano (5-6, 165, sr, 48/229) back in the fold joined by receivers Griffin Sestili, Matt Sell and Ethan Maenza. As always, they come at you with a big line hinged on the play of offensive tackle Joshua Lugg (6-6, 290, jr, Notre Dame). He’s joined with Josh Morgan (5-11, 230, jr), Charles Sanders (6-1, 260, sr), Vaughn Wallace (6-3, 270, sr), Nick Burks (6-1, 245, sr), TE Griffin Sestili (6-3, 230, jr) and others. Last year’s team like Central Catholic were close, losing to Pine Richland 28-24 then Penn Trafford in the Wpial 35-31. There were some key personnel losses to graduation with linebacker Layne Skundrich, TE/DE Paul Blendinger and WR/CB Clay Byerly moving on. Byerly was their leading receiver with 27 receptions for 405 yards and seven Tds. Quarterback Jeff Clemens (6-2, 200) also graduated and is more a loss for his running ability than passing, rushing for 414 yards on 112 carries while throwing for 1182 with a 48% completion rate. It’s never been Air Allegheny but that’s still a loss. The opening schedule is again brutal playing at Seneca Valley (whole new crew) followed by three difficult games, Pine Richland, Central Catholic and Upper St. Clair. Some people enjoy these games farther towards the end of the season but they do have the benefit of giving us an early sneak peek of the area’s power structure.
8. State College 6-7
With a ton of bodies coming back from last year, the Lions are loaded for big things if they can find a trigger man. Last year’s team was super young, starting six juniors and three sophomores on defense alone. But they still managed to hold teams like Central Dauphin to 10 points and CD East and Cumberland Valley to 14 each. It was their first year under Coach Matt Lintal who replaced Al Wolski (87-42) following his 10 year stint as the head coach. Lintal’s Lions made the Quad-A quarterfinals before bowing to silver medalist Pine Richland 49-29. Prior to that, they had narrow losses to Martinsburg-WV (11-2) 27-21, Central Dauphin (11-3) 10-7 and Central Dauphin East (10-3) 14-12, facing a difficult schedule where 10 of their 13 opponents had winning records and a combined won-loss of 100-29. So things are looking good this year with State returning most of last year’s team that is clearly battle and playoff tested. The task is to find a quarterback to replace John Weakland (6-4, 195, 1744py, 56%). Do that and they’re a force.
9. McKeesport 10-2
The Tigers return all their running backs and at least seven from the defense to give the Foothills the appearance of a good race. Quarterback TyWann Smith graduated but Tymar Sutton (6-0, 200) with 810 rush yards returns. Most of the primary ball carriers return, all seniors featuring Khaleke Hudson’s1644 rush yards at 6-2, 210. In support is Mark Cromerdie (5-7, 152) with 558 yards so they’re loaded in the backfield, ready to Flex it again. The line has at least four returnees, Miras Kelly (5-9, 270, sr), Lyle Petrosky (6-4, 275, sr), LB/OL Davon Brown (5-11, 215, jr) and Luke Eckels (6-0, 235, sr). Not to rain on anyone’s parade but the Tigers two losses were of the uncompetitive variety losing to Penn Trafford 28-0 and Pine Richland 42-7, while the ten wins came against opponents with a combined won-loss of 37-62. The schedule duplicates last year’s where they’ll likely open with big wins against Connellsville and Altoona (big rebuild) before the road trip to Penn Trafford. With a number of veteran teams in the Foothills led by returning quarterbacks, the competition should be stiffer playing Plum and Norwin, even Hempfield.
10. Cumberland Valley 9-3
They’ll break in a new quarterback to run the Wing-T supported by good numbers along the lines, people like seniors Chad Morris (6-1, 235), Shannon Dolan (6-0, 230) and James Koblick (6-2, 285), plus juniors Robert Goodrich (6-4, 240) and Brock Ragni (6-2, 270). A stable load of experienced backs return to help the new QB Josh Ferguson (6-0. 190, sr) transition to full time status. And a great nucleus of senior linebackers headed by Cole Kline (6-2, 215, 110 tackles) and Shannon Dolan (6-0, 230) return. Although the Eagles haven’t won a state title in years, last turning the trick in 1992 beating Upper St. Clair 28-12, they’ve been the alpha dog in the Mid Penn, winning ten Quad-A district titles and two more back when the large school classification was Triple-A. Others have challenged, most recently Central Dauphin (opened 1955) and Harrisburg High but the Eagles are always the team you have to beat in the Commonwealth. As good as the young Rams of Central Dauphin were last year and under rated Central Dauphin East, CV tied them both for Mid Penn-Commonwealth honors at 6-1, beating CD 7-0 while narrowly losing to Bishop McDevitt 6-3. The Mid Penn title always goes through this West Shore powerhouse.
Silver medal winner Pine Richland graduated nearly the entire team but return many that got valuable time given the blowouts on the way to a record setting 15 win season. This year’s team will be built on that platform along with the return of OT/DL Matthew Hampton (6-4, 255, sr), OT James Williard (6-5, 270, sr), WR/SS Anthony Battaglia (6-1, 200, sr, 41/640) and MLB Grant LeMirande (6-1, 250, so). It appears that Coach Eric Kasperowicz has settled on starting sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovek (6-5. 210) to replace Ben DiNucci who had a remarkable season completing 69% of his passes for 3886 yards. His touchdown to interception ratio was 42 to 7. Also gone is running back Conner Slomka’s 1480 yards along with receivers Michael Merhaut and D’ondre Gastion. Merhaut caught 101 passes for 1488 yards with Gastion catching 58 for 1167 yards making Anthony Battaglia’s return key. Their first two games are home with the second being North Allegheny who they edged last year in Wexford 28-24! Payback? Then it’s clear sailing for the next four except for the speed bump at North Hills that could jolt them. Seneca Valley and Butler follow before the big encounter with Pittsburgh Central Catholic. So they get their toughest games at home, North Allegheny and Central Catholic.
7. North Allegheny 8-3
NA is looking for a quarterback with Riley Truman the leading candidate to fill the bill. They return good numbers at running back with Mike Pope (5-6, 160, jr, 65/552) and Nick Provenzano (5-6, 165, sr, 48/229) back in the fold joined by receivers Griffin Sestili, Matt Sell and Ethan Maenza. As always, they come at you with a big line hinged on the play of offensive tackle Joshua Lugg (6-6, 290, jr, Notre Dame). He’s joined with Josh Morgan (5-11, 230, jr), Charles Sanders (6-1, 260, sr), Vaughn Wallace (6-3, 270, sr), Nick Burks (6-1, 245, sr), TE Griffin Sestili (6-3, 230, jr) and others. Last year’s team like Central Catholic were close, losing to Pine Richland 28-24 then Penn Trafford in the Wpial 35-31. There were some key personnel losses to graduation with linebacker Layne Skundrich, TE/DE Paul Blendinger and WR/CB Clay Byerly moving on. Byerly was their leading receiver with 27 receptions for 405 yards and seven Tds. Quarterback Jeff Clemens (6-2, 200) also graduated and is more a loss for his running ability than passing, rushing for 414 yards on 112 carries while throwing for 1182 with a 48% completion rate. It’s never been Air Allegheny but that’s still a loss. The opening schedule is again brutal playing at Seneca Valley (whole new crew) followed by three difficult games, Pine Richland, Central Catholic and Upper St. Clair. Some people enjoy these games farther towards the end of the season but they do have the benefit of giving us an early sneak peek of the area’s power structure.
8. State College 6-7
With a ton of bodies coming back from last year, the Lions are loaded for big things if they can find a trigger man. Last year’s team was super young, starting six juniors and three sophomores on defense alone. But they still managed to hold teams like Central Dauphin to 10 points and CD East and Cumberland Valley to 14 each. It was their first year under Coach Matt Lintal who replaced Al Wolski (87-42) following his 10 year stint as the head coach. Lintal’s Lions made the Quad-A quarterfinals before bowing to silver medalist Pine Richland 49-29. Prior to that, they had narrow losses to Martinsburg-WV (11-2) 27-21, Central Dauphin (11-3) 10-7 and Central Dauphin East (10-3) 14-12, facing a difficult schedule where 10 of their 13 opponents had winning records and a combined won-loss of 100-29. So things are looking good this year with State returning most of last year’s team that is clearly battle and playoff tested. The task is to find a quarterback to replace John Weakland (6-4, 195, 1744py, 56%). Do that and they’re a force.
9. McKeesport 10-2
The Tigers return all their running backs and at least seven from the defense to give the Foothills the appearance of a good race. Quarterback TyWann Smith graduated but Tymar Sutton (6-0, 200) with 810 rush yards returns. Most of the primary ball carriers return, all seniors featuring Khaleke Hudson’s1644 rush yards at 6-2, 210. In support is Mark Cromerdie (5-7, 152) with 558 yards so they’re loaded in the backfield, ready to Flex it again. The line has at least four returnees, Miras Kelly (5-9, 270, sr), Lyle Petrosky (6-4, 275, sr), LB/OL Davon Brown (5-11, 215, jr) and Luke Eckels (6-0, 235, sr). Not to rain on anyone’s parade but the Tigers two losses were of the uncompetitive variety losing to Penn Trafford 28-0 and Pine Richland 42-7, while the ten wins came against opponents with a combined won-loss of 37-62. The schedule duplicates last year’s where they’ll likely open with big wins against Connellsville and Altoona (big rebuild) before the road trip to Penn Trafford. With a number of veteran teams in the Foothills led by returning quarterbacks, the competition should be stiffer playing Plum and Norwin, even Hempfield.
10. Cumberland Valley 9-3
They’ll break in a new quarterback to run the Wing-T supported by good numbers along the lines, people like seniors Chad Morris (6-1, 235), Shannon Dolan (6-0, 230) and James Koblick (6-2, 285), plus juniors Robert Goodrich (6-4, 240) and Brock Ragni (6-2, 270). A stable load of experienced backs return to help the new QB Josh Ferguson (6-0. 190, sr) transition to full time status. And a great nucleus of senior linebackers headed by Cole Kline (6-2, 215, 110 tackles) and Shannon Dolan (6-0, 230) return. Although the Eagles haven’t won a state title in years, last turning the trick in 1992 beating Upper St. Clair 28-12, they’ve been the alpha dog in the Mid Penn, winning ten Quad-A district titles and two more back when the large school classification was Triple-A. Others have challenged, most recently Central Dauphin (opened 1955) and Harrisburg High but the Eagles are always the team you have to beat in the Commonwealth. As good as the young Rams of Central Dauphin were last year and under rated Central Dauphin East, CV tied them both for Mid Penn-Commonwealth honors at 6-1, beating CD 7-0 while narrowly losing to Bishop McDevitt 6-3. The Mid Penn title always goes through this West Shore powerhouse.
