CTK 2013 – WPIAL Single-A Big 7 Conference Preview

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 23, 2013 | 9:30 PM

Every team in Class A has been chasing the Clairton Bears and their 64 game winning streak for the last five seasons. Could this be the year that the Bears are dethroned? That is still to be determined but several of the candidates to try and knock off the Bears will come from the Big Seven Conference.

Sto-Rox has played at Heinz Field the last two seasons and the conference had three teams of the top four seeds(thanks to the WPIAL creative seeding process) in last year’s playoffs. The Vikings, longtime conference power Rochester and Neshannock, all tied for the Big Seven championship last season. And the spotlight will shine bright on the Lancers and Vikings on September 12th for a Thursday night Root Sports matchup which can be heard live on MSA Sports.

Here is a look at the Big 7 Conference:

LAUREL SPARTANS:

The Spartans have now missed the post-season the last three seasons, going 5-4 in their return to the Big Seven from the Midwestern Conference in 2012.

Laurel also begins the season under a new direction as Jerry Holzhauser has stepped down after thirty plus seasons as an assistant under George Miles and as head coach. Pat Cuba takes over, he is very familiar with the Laurel district as a retired teacher and a former head basketball coach of the Spartans. He is also blessed with knowledge of the conference, serving as head coach at Neshannock for five seasons.

The Spartans have a good foundation to build on for 2013 with senior quarterback Josh Dando returning. Dando threw for almost 500 yards and ran for 500 more with eight touchdowns. Junior running back Matt Conway showed a lot of promise, scoring five touchdowns, as a sophomore but battled the injury bug almost all season. Look for Laurel to establish the run as a staple of their offense this season.

Laurel played a lot of close games as the scoring would indicate as the Spartans scored 206 points and allowed 198.

One thing the Spartans do not have to worry about is a kicking game, junior K/P Noah Wertz was all conference as a punter, he also connected on 17 extra points and two field goals last season.

Both the offensive and defensive lines have a number of underclassmen from last season playing for spots.

On the defense, Dando was all conference in the secondary, junior Christopher Peluso made a number of plays at linebacker last season, Conway should figure in the mix there too, along with all conference second team member Spencer Pulliam.

NESHANNOCK LANCERS:

The Lancers had their best season ever, advancing to the semifinals before running into the Clairton Bears and Neshannock looks to challenge again for the conference title and the WPIAL with a number of returners back from a 10-2 team.

Coach Fred Mozzocio shared conference coach of the year honors in his first season as a head coach, as teams had trouble dealing with the Lancers no-huddle spread offense that averaged 36 points per game.

Neshannock returns a ground game that ran for over two thousand yards in 2012, in junior running back Eli Owens and senior quarterback Ernie Burkes. Owens ran for 1,268 yards and nine touchdowns, Burkes added 802 yards and 11 scores on the ground. Add in Gianni Oliva as a short yardage back, who found the end zone six times last season, including four in the playoffs, that makes the Lancers a multiple threat out of the backfield.

The key will be finding receivers for Burkes to throw to, he was 116-198 for 1,560 yards and 15 touchdowns. Both Alex Welker and John Conglose have moved on, they accounted for 81 catches last season.

The Lancers do have an all conference tight end in senior Steven Jeffries and senior Ralph DoVidio returns on the offensive line, also all conference. Neshannock only dressed two senior lineman in 2012, they have a number of options once again this season, led by Steven Senko and Nate Nativio.

Jeffries and Senko return to a defensive line that was very good at forcing turnovers last season, a trend that the Lancers look to continue. Mike Rodriguez was honorable mention at linebacker last season, Oliva and Jimmy Medure also return to the linebacking core.

ROCHESTER RAMS:

The Rams have won or shared the conference title in seven of the past eight seasons, but head coach Eugene Matsook will tell anyone that will listen that the Rams are a very green football team heading into 2013.

Rochester was 9-2 last season, falling to North Catholic in the quarterfinals. Gone is one-thousand yard passer Ben Richko at quarterback and all everything back Dante Marsick. Marsick accounted for 32 of the Rams 45 scores last season.

The Rams will build the offense around two returning seniors, Brent Johnson and O’Shea Anderson. Johnson figures at both running back and tight end, Anderson could be everywhere on the field for the Rams. Also keep an eye on sophomore Montrail Strozier in the backfield.

Senior Kane Lee is the lone returner on the offensive line, Igor Babic and Brandon Hopkins will have to step quickly into starting roles.

Defense could be a huge question mark as well for the Rams, who allowed just 17 points per game last season. Lee will start on the line, Johnson is a returning starter at linebacker, Strozier and Anderson will be in the secondary.

OUR LADY of the SACRED HEART CHARGERS:

The Chargers were poised to make a playoff run in 2012 but a devastating injury to senior running back Isiah Neely hampered OLSH’s bid as the Chargers limped to a 1-8 record and averaged a conference worst 11 points per game.

The program has been in place for four seasons and head coach Bill Daniels has steered the ship since the beginning. The Chargers return eight starters each on both sides of the ball, led by senior QB Bill Mulcahey.

The backfield is solid with junior Joe Sebes and senior fullback Tom Marra. Mulcahey can also run with the football and will have a couple of good targets to throw too in senior Nick Metz and junior tight end Eric Hall. Junior Cedric Grey will also start at wideout.

The middle of the offensive line is strong with guards Ryan Theobald and Jay Pflugh both returning, along with center Connor Riley. The trio will also start on the defensive line as well.

Marra, Sebes and Hall all return at linebacker, Mulcahey and Grey return to the secondary.

If the Chargers find a way to score points, they could figure in the mix for a playoff spot, but they will have to avoid injuries, OLSH is not a deep program heading into 2013.

SHENANGO WILDCATS:

The Wildcats enter the season on a three game losing streak overall and have lost the last eight home games played at Glenn “Pop” Johnston Stadium over the last two years. One way to change that kind of negative streak is to change the day for home games, Shenango  joins the trend of moving away from Saturday football to Friday nights.

The Wildcats will also have another big change as Ryan Mayo stepped down as head coach. Mike Commesso is the new head man at Shenango, after serving on Dave Vestal’s staff at Hopewell since 2001, the last five as the defensive coordinator. Commesso will look to reverse a trend, the Cats have not made the playoffs since 2006 in the old Tri-County North conference.

Shenango struggled to score points last season, the Wildcats averaged just 15 points per game. One thing Coach Commesso will have going for him is experienced players, the Wildcats had just five seniors on the roster in 2012.

Senior Brian Tanner and sophomore Evan Kendall will battle out for the quarterback job, Tanner did start several games last season.

The backfield should be strong, with the three top rushers returning. Senior Anthony Prestopine was all over the field last season as both a running back and wildcat formation quarterback. Senior Tyler Welsh battled injuries to run for 728 yards and eight touchdowns. Speedy sophomore Tyler Root and senior Ryley Ferrari will also figure into the mix, Ferrari missed the 2012 season.

Sheanango had little to no success throwing the ball last year, senior Mike Thompson and junior Brenton Booher both return. The line could be a strong suit as Vince Albertini, Trent Burkes and Brent McCormick all return.

Albertini was all conference on the defensive line, McCormick and senior Sam Sibeto received conference honorable mention at linebacker and Thompson in the secondary. Prestopine figures to have mulitiple roles on defense as well.

SOUTH SIDE BEAVER RAMS:

The Rams haven’t made the playoffs since 2009 and are 3-25 in those last three seasons. Glenn McDougal returned to coach the Rams last season and was able to end a 14 game losing streak and took the Rams to a 2-7 record.

The Rams also look to reverse their recent fortunes by changing their home games from Saturday afternoon to Friday nights with permanent lights at the Richard Ashcroft Complex for 2013 and beyond.

With coach McDougal also comes the Wing-T offense, that formation helped take the Rams to a WPIAL and PIAA title in 1999. Jacob Berger takes over at quarterback this season, he started at tight end last year for the Rams. In the backfield, junior Nathan Block and senior Hunter Beaumont look to get the bulk of the carries, both can also catch the ball out of the backfield. Block tied for the team lead with four touchdowns last season.  Senior split end Richard Fayed also returns.

The line is solid with three returning starters in juniors Joseph Arrigo and Austin Boone along with senior John Orison.

Kyle McLaughlin joins Arrigo and Orison on the defensive line. Fayad and Block will be in the secondary, also look for a pair of sophomores, Quae-Shawn Thompson and Cameron Smith at DB too.

STO-ROX VIKINGS:

When one talks about the Vikings program over the last three seasons, it doesn’t take long before the name Lenny Williams comes up. Williams has started every game since he was a freshman and has thrown for over 5,300 yards with 2,227 of those coming in an 11-2 2012 season.

Williams has a chance to break the WPIAL passing mark of 7,162 yards but will miss some time at the start of the season due to a hedge-trimming accident that required surgery to his hand. Williams could miss as many as four games, although he is hopeful to be back for the Thursday night matchup with Neshannock in Week 3.

The senior ran for over 11 hundred yards last season and 14 touchdowns. He is looking at offers from Rutgers, Akron, Temple, Bowling Green and Robert Morris. Add in senior running back Brendan Blair with 19 touchdowns and 800 yards, it’s a good 1-2 duo for the Vikings.

Add in two top targets for Williams in seniors Javelle Kirkland and Elisha Bonner, plus senior Craig Johnson and Perry transfer Mallory Claybourne, looks like the Vikings could equal or better their 37 point per game average for second year head coach Dan Bradley.

The line is also strong with first team all conference senior Jessie Rippole, along with Dom Trombetta and Jessie Mayes. Rippole was named the lineman of the year by the Big Seven coaches.

On the defense, Bonner and Blair were all conference at linebacker and Williams in the secondary.  Add in Deion Redman at linebacker and Johnson in the secondary, that makes the Vikings easily one of the favorites in both the conference and Class A.

UNION SCOTTIES:

Head coach Stacy Robinson pulled off one of the best coaching jobs in all of the WPIAL last season. The Scotties dressed as few as 22 players for games but advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-4 record and Robinson shared coach of the year honors in the conference.

Unfortunately for Union, out of last year’s 26 players, many were seniors, leaving major question marks in the off season if Robinson would return for 2013.

One player that does return and is not a question mark for Union is senior Ben Young. Young led the team in receiving yards with 322 and averaged 24 yards per catch, he was named second team all conference. Young also racked up over five yards per carry on the ground, he’ll have a bigger role in 2013 for sure and will add on to his seven touchdowns from last season.

Tyrone May and Robert Clark figure into the offense, along with Clarence Parchman, the Scotties return just seven backs and receivers from last year.

Union does return a number of lineman including Malik Williams, Kody Smith, Dakota Cameron, Curtis Caughey and Brady Stewart, all who started on both sides of the ball last season.

WESTERN BEAVER GOLDEN BEAVERS:

2012 was a year the Golden Beavers would like to forget, going 3-6 and allowing an average of 35 points per game. Coach Matt Grey returns for another season and looks to get Western Beaver back in the playoff chase.

Grey will have to find a way to replace all everything back Zach Perry, but the Golden Beavers will switch things up for 2013 with a couple of key players. Hunter Roknich started at quarterback and Steve Robison at running back, they have flipped roles after Roknich missed games at the end of last season and Robison took over. Nick Miller returns at wide receiver, Billy Drear is back in the backfield for the Golden Beavers. Western Beaver will have to score, the Golden Beavers averaged just 15 points per game in 2012.

The strength of Western Beaver will be the line play as all five starters return this season. Nick DeDominicus was second team all conference on offense and honorable mention on defense. Matt Girting was honorable mention on offense, Western Beaver also returns Ken Gailey, Anthony Ward and Zach Paine.

Drear is not the biggest kid but he seems to be in every play on defense at linebacker, he’ll be counted on heavily there this season. The defense has to find a way to get off the field, allowing a conference high 35 points per game in 2012.

MSA SPORTS PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH IN THE BIG 7 CONFERENCE:

9.  UNION SCOTTIES

Tags: Western Beaver