Losses end seasons for Lebo, BP, USC
After early exits in the WPIAL Quad-A football playoffs, ‘wait until next year’ was the rallying cry of Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair.
The Blue Devils finished the 2014 campaign with an even 5-5 record after falling to McKeesport, 35-10, in the first round of the tournament. The loss was Lebo’s fourth in a row.
“It was a tale of two seasons,” said Lebo skipper Mike Melnyk. “We played fast and healthy the first half of the year and were 5-1 and we were sick, banged up and a step slower and it showed in the second half.
“No one had any expectations for this team and they proved many wrong,” Melnyk continued. “Injuries and bad breaks slowed us down the second half of the year.”
Nevertheless, Lebo never gave up. Their no-quit attitude was evident against McKeesport. The Blue Devils had taken a 3-0 lead on Rob Costantino’s 38-yard field goal but an interception by Khaleke Hudson sparked the Tigers to a 14-3 lead by halftime. Hudson scored twice in the second stanza, including once from two yards away after the pick. After Tymar Sutton made it 21-3 Tigers, Joey Stabile narrowed the gap for Lebo, 21-10, but TyWann Smith tacked on two, fourth-frame touchdowns to seal the victory for McKeesport.
“Our kids played very hard,” said Melnyk of the McKeesport game. “Once again, a few bad plays tipped the tide to the opponent. Five plays could have changed the outcome, but every play counts. I told our players how proud I was of them.”
However, there is work to do if the Blue Devils wish to reach the upper echelon. They graduate some 16 seniors including Costantino and Stabile as well as leading tackler Ben Bruni, Shane Lefever, Vince D’Orazio, Matt Papich, Jake Simmons, Alex Englert, Brendan Corse, Brennan Wells, Dan Dillon, Eddie Irons, Prajesh Janardanan, Matt Christman, Evan Averberg-Johnson and Matt Hoffman.
Eddie Jenkins returns at quarterback. He passed for 101 yards against McKeesport. For the season, he threw for 1,234 yards and 12 scores. His top target, Nick Tommassi also returns. The junior had 39 receptions for 525 yards during the regular season.
“We have a lot of quality players coming back,” said Melnyk. “My hope is that all of our returning players will dedicate themselves this off-season to becoming bigger, stronger, and faster, and that a few kids get back to playing football next year so they can contribute to their teammates’ and the program’s success. I know that this year was the first brick in a foundation of a rising program.”
Fourteen seniors laid the foundation for success at Bethel Park. Despite a roster numbering under 50 players, the Hawks finished 6-4 overall after an 0-2 start against two of the WPIAL’s top-ranked programs, Central Catholic and Woodland Hills. Bethel Park finished 5-2 in the Southeastern Conference. The Hawks dropped a heartbreaker to Altoona, 27-17 in the first round of the playoffs.
“It was a tough outing for sure,” said Jeff Metheny of the trip to Altoona. “We did not coach, tackle or block very well. I’m not sure if it was the drive or we were just worn down.”
Despite a leg injury, Levi Metheny wore the Mountain Lions down with his passing. He threw a 75-yard scoring strike to Alex Minton and a four-yard TD toss to Chris Papalia to stake BP to a 14-7 halftime lead. Altoona, however, outscored the Hawks in the second half, holding BP to a 31-yard field goal by Matthew Monte.
Metheny finished with 198 yards passing. He completed 14 of his 26 attempts. For the season, the junior was 99 of 161 attempts for 1,156 yards and 11 scores.
Minton led the ground game, which rolled up 153 yards against the Mountain Lions. During the regular season, Minton ranked among the WPIAL leaders with 1,149 yards.
Minton is one of the seniors on the team along with Papalia and Monte. The others include: Chiante Pryor, Spencer Hayes, Max Michalski, Jake Lewis, Connor McGinnis, Hayden Bussard, Lucas Fondelier, Craig Yarger, Ryan Kelly, Joshua Trusnovic and Nicholas McGowan.
“The seniors were excellent, great leaders, players and they worked extremely hard,” said Metheny.
“In my mind, this team accomplished a lot. Having so few numbers, losing more [to injuries] and still fighting for the conference championship,” he added. “We got the most out of these kids.”
And, while Metheny returns many veterans, including his son and talented linemen, there is no predicting future success. “We have a lot of kids back,” Metheny admitted, “but every year is a new year.”
Over at Upper St. Clair, next year will be nothing like this year for Jim Render. He started new faces in every position but one. Jesse Slinger, a punter and linebacker, was the lone veteran from a 2013 squad that reached the WPIAL semifinals.
Though the Panthers compiled a 4-6 overall record, they won three of their final four league games to finish 4-3 in the Southeastern Conference and claim a playoff spot. USC succumbed to North Allegheny, 24-0, in the playoffs.
The Panthers graduate 16 seniors including Slinger, Mike Krenn, Dan Trocano, Max Herold, Andrew Bartusiak, Sean Parker, Marcus Galie, Austin Himler, Robbie Deutsch, Wyatt Keith, Dan Pituch, Sean Thomas, Nick Rutkowski, Mike McGinnis and Yuya Kaneko.
Trocano passed for 1,062 yards and nine touchdowns but his back-ups, Gunnar Lund, a junior, and Jackson Geisler, a sophomore, received valuable playing experience and should battle for the starting slot at quarterback next fall.
While Bartusiak, Galie and Krenn provided versatility as rushers and receivers, the Panthers return their top skill players. Sophomore Thomas Vissman rushed for 855 yards and six touchdowns while junior Doug Wagner hauled in a team-high 25 receptions for 407 yards and two scores.