Alle-Kiski high school football teams begin march toward playoffs

By: Michael Love
Monday, August 14, 2023 | 10:16 PM

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Rocco Cecere felt a ton of positive energy in the minutes and hours leading up to the Riverview football team’s first two-a-day practice Monday at Riverside Park in Oakmont.

The Raiders senior quarterback and defensive back is part of sizeable group of returning starters who hope to lift Riverview to its first winning season since 2010 and its first playoff victory since 2001.

Not even rain, which started as a light mist and developed into a steadier shower as the practice went on, could dampen Cecere’s spirits as 45 players were on the field.

All 13 Alle-Kiski Valley football teams kicked off official preseason practice Monday. The journey has begun, with the first stop being Saturday’s scrimmages followed by the Week Zero openers Aug. 25.

“Everyone came out excited to be back on the field and were ready to get to work,” Cecere said.

“We have a lot of guys back who have some big goals this season.”

Riverview won four games in 2022, the most since also capturing four victories in 2016.

Raiders head coach Trevor George said last week’s mandatory heat acclimation workouts allowed each area team the opportunity to set practice expectations for what it’s going to look like from here on out.

“(Monday) was exciting,” George said. “This first day, it’s what everybody anticipates. All of the offseason work is done, and you start to really see what kind of team you will have.”

Highlands, Freeport, Leechburg, Burrell, Apollo-Ridge and Deer Lakes opened camps Monday with goals of returning to the WPIAL playoffs after earning tournament berths last year.

Deer Lakes (4-7, 2-3) finished fourth in the Allegheny 6 Conference and recorded its first playoff trip since 2015 and only the third in the program’s 53-year history.

The Lancers are 0-3 in those playoff games including last year’s 17-3 first-round setback at Beaver Area. But optimism they can make history in 2023 is prevalent.

“I was sitting around at home all day waiting to be here,” Deer Lakes senior Wayne Love said Monday afternoon as the Lancers’ first practice began in the wet weather conditions.

“It felt like it was taking forever. Now, we find out who is ready to play.”

Freeport popped pads Monday in traditional fashion as it continues the process of finding new starters after several standouts were lost to graduation from last year’s team.

The Yellowjackets went the furthest of any A-K Valley team in 2022. They reached the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals before falling to eventual WPIAL and PIAA champion Belle Vernon at Gateway.

It is a clean slate for Riverview, as well as Kiski Area, Valley, Fox Chapel, Knoch, Springdale and Plum, as those teams began their journeys to what they hope is improved play and a return to the WPIAL postseason mix.

Plum, which finished one game out of a playoff spot in the Class 5A Big East Conference last year, boasts a healthy roster of more than 70 players.

“We’ve had a couple years around 70 to 75 kids, and it’s great to see so many here are excited to play football,” said Mustangs head coach Matt Morgan, who enters his 11th season at the helm of his alma mater.

“Our numbers are pretty high across the board, down to the junior high and Midget levels.”

Morgan said they were getting after it during the first two-a-day practice that kicked off at 3 p.m.

He said there were a couple of live drills in the first practice and a couple of others in the evening session, which began at 8.

“Other than that, we kept it pretty controlled,” said Morgan, who watched steady rain make it challenging, at times, to snap, throw and catch the football in the first practice.

“We want to keep our guys as healthy as possible. But it’s a new year and new opportunities for some guys. Some guys looked really good in shorts during the summer, and some will look good in pads.

“The cream will rise to the top, so to speak, once they start playing real football.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Riverview