5 things to watch in Week 6: Move over quarterbacks, is the WPIAL now the cradle of kickers?

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 4, 2024 | 12:24 AM

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Which decades-old kicking record might be broken this week?

This season has already been a memorable year for WPIAL kickers, with record-tying performances celebrated on each of the past two Friday nights.

In Week 5, Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio made a 55-yard field goal that tied the longest in WPIAL history. A week earlier, Pine-Richland’s Grant Argiro tied a PIAA single-game record with five field goals and broke a state mark with 19 kicking points.

One record had stood since 2002, the other since 1994. Touchbacks on kickoffs into the end zone and field goals of 50-plus yards are almost commonplace nowadays.

How did the kickers get so good?

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko said. “I look around the WPIAL and see all these kids.”

He would know. Junko’s all-conference kicker from last season, Bennett Henderson, is now starting as a true freshman at Fordham. And Upper St. Clair replaced Bennett with a junior whose leg might be even stronger yet.

Junko says the kicking craze across high school football is no accident. There is more information available to them.

“They’re really dialed into some of the camps that are out there now,” Junko said. “Before, in high school football, it was like, ‘Does anybody on our staff know how to teach someone to kick?’ Now these kids are going out and seeking these specialists.”

Among the most popular events are the Kohl’s Kicking Camps. The organization holds camps across the country, including two upcoming ones at West Allegheny on Oct. 6 and Nov. 3. The camps aren’t free, with athletes charged $200 or more to attend the workouts.

At some events, Kohls gives out national rankings to kickers, punters and long snappers. Western Pennsylvania’s specialists are appearing on those lists quite often. North Allegheny’s Peter Notaro was ranked fourth nationally among senior kickers, Central Catholic’s Billy Lech was 69th and Argiro fell just outside of the top 100.

When Notaro, an Alabama recruit, and Lech shared the field last week, it was Lech who made a 54-yard field goal.

“Peter and I are really good friends,” said Lech, who has college offers from Akron and Slippery Rock. “It was good to be able to kick against him, to be able to see two of the best in the WPIAL. It’s a loaded class.”

But the WPIAL’s talent doesn’t stop there.

Kohls ranks Fox Chapel’s Harran Zureikat as the No. 1 kicker nationally in the junior class and Upper St. Clair’s Jacobo Echeverria Lozano is ninth. Three more WPIAL juniors are among the top 100: Marcantonio (54), Seneca Valley’s Max Eisenhut (62) and Woodland Hills’ Jacob Mroz (98).

Junko said some strong-legged kickers like Echeverria, who might’ve focused on soccer in past years, have made football their primary sport. As a result, the WPIAL is a hotbed for kickers.

“You’d think Western Pennsylvania is about linebackers, or quarterbacks like Joe Montana,” Junko said. “No. It’s freakin’ kickers.”

The comeback king

Gateway’s quarterback can leave opponents all shook up.

Elvis “Dino” Koutsakis Jr. put up a passing night to remember last week, making his comeback from a couple of injuries that had limited his freshman season. Koutsakis passed for 447 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-20 Big East win over Armstrong.

The 5-foot-9, 170-pound passer missed all or part of four games with separate knee and ankle injuries. But on the heels of last week’s stellar return, he’ll be behind center again Friday for a clash with Big East rival Penn-Trafford.

Either Gateway or Penn-Trafford has finished first in the Big East every year but one since 2017. Gateway tied for first with Franklin Regional in 2022 and lost the head-to-head tiebreaker.

But this year, the Gators (3-3, 2-1) and Warriors (4-2, 1-1) are looking up at Franklin Regional (3-0) and Woodland Hills (2-0). That makes Friday’s matchup in Monroeville even more important.

Gateway lost to Franklin Regional, 36-34, without Koutsakis.

Against Armstrong, Koutsakis was initially credited with 377 yards passing, but Holl said coaches noticed a 70-yard pass mistakenly credited as a run. That addition of that big play pushed him over 400 yards.

Down to the wire

Highlands fans can’t ever leave early.

The Golden Rams are just 2-3 overall, but coach Matt Bonislawski and his players could reasonably say they are a touchdown away from being undefeated.

Take a look at the scores: Highlands lost to Armstrong, 38-37 in overtime, Imani Christian, 12-10, and Deer Lakes, 27-26.

That’s four points combined.

Adding to the drama, the Rams also celebrated a 53-52 win over Elizabeth Forward in triple overtime. Their next chance for a nail-biting finish comes Friday when Freeport (4-2, 2-1) visits in the Allegheny 7.

Unusual circumstances

Beaver Falls and Union enter Friday’s matchup in an unusual position: winless.

Beaver Falls reached the WPIAL finals four years in a row before this season, winning Class 2A titles in 2020 and ’23. Union won the Class A title in 2022. But now the Tigers are 0-6 and the Scotties are 0-5.

They’re each 0-3 in the Midwestern Conference and will battle for a win Friday at Union.

A tough matchup

Springdale has already had a challenging season, starting with a Week Zero cancellation when the team didn’t have enough healthy players.

The Dynamos since were outscored 241-6 in five losses, and the WPIAL schedule does them no favor this week. They draw a conference matchup with No. 2-ranked Clairton (6-0, 3-0), which has outscored its opponents 273-7.

The teams play Friday at Burrell.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.