5 things we learned in Week 2: Rough night for defending WPIAL champions

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, September 11, 2023 | 1:51 PM

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Week 2 was a rough night for defending WPIAL champions.

Three of the six teams that celebrated district titles last season were defeated Friday, with Pine-Richland, Steel Valley and Union all taking losses.

But Pine-Richland knows better than anyone that it’s a long football season and one game doesn’t define it. The Rams know because they also lost in Week 2 last year, but went on to win conference, WPIAL and state titles.

“You have to finish the season,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “It’s one loss in conference play, which is tough because of the way the (Class 5A) playoffs are set up now, but we were in this situation last year. So we kind of know how to respond. It’s just, can we do it?”

No. 1 ranked Penn Hills used a big night from Pitt-bound quarterback Julian Dugger to defeat No. 2 Pine-Richland, 26-20, in a Northeast Conference opener Friday. Dugger rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns and also passed for two scores.

A year ago, Pine-Richland lost to Penn Hills, 33-28, but later finished the year with 12 wins in a row. The last win was in the PIAA finals.

The two other losses Friday by defending WPIAL champions might be considered more surprising.

Steel Valley lost in overtime to Seton LaSalle, which has seen improvement this fall under second-year coach Tim Storino. A year ago, Seton LaSalle had lost badly to Steel Valley, 62-7.

This time, Seton won 23-20.

Cornell, another team off to a good start this season, improved to 3-0 with a win over reigning Class A champion Union. The Raiders won 30-14 on the road Friday.

Steel Valley and Union were No. 1 teams in the TribLive HSSN rankings. They were replaced at the top by Washington in Class 2A and Bishop Canevin in A.

Sophomore sensation

Mars sophomore Gabe Hein had a record-setting night when he caught six passes for 105 yards Friday. The Planets announced on social media that he’d broken the team record for career receiving yards.

Yes, as a 10^th grader.

The 5-foot-9 wideout has more than 900 yards in two seasons. Mars had a long, successful history of running the football, but the offense has become more pass-focused under second-year coach Eric Kasperowicz.

The previous career record of 889 yards was set by Josh Keil in 2006, according to team stats. Hein also owns the team’s career receptions record with 58. Noah Nesselroad, a senior in 2022, had 46 catches.

Hein and quarterback Luke Goodworth connected on a 31-yard touchdown pass in Friday’s 49-7 win over Blackhawk.

Mars’ would-be starting quarterback Eric Kasperowicz Jr. was injured before the season, but Goodworth has filled in admirably. In three games, the junior QB has passed for more than 650 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

Mars WR Gabe Hein had 6 catches last night for 105 yards and 2TDs.

With that performance he became the Mars All-Time Career Receiving Yards Leader. Congrats on a tremendous achievement. ???????????? #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/URYsu2XgPB

— Mars HS Football (@MarsHSFootball) September 9, 2023

46 points in a loss

Sometimes, stats don’t tell the whole story.

Among the Week 2 leaders, Bethel Park quarterback Tanner Pfeuffer ranked second with 289 passing yards, and running back JaVaughn Moore had the fifth-most rushing yards with 213.

Sounds like a good night for the Black Hawks, right?

Well, it could’ve been, but they were the latest opponent to run into the Central Catholic buzzsaw. The Vikings led by 42 points at halftime and won 62-46 in a nonconference matchup.

Bethel Park is no pushover. Yet Central Catholic quarterback Payton Wehner passed for 298 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for two more scores.

This Central Catholic dominance came after a 47-6 victory over St. Ignatius of Ohio in Week 1 and a 43-7 win over Woodland Hills in Week Zero.

Next up for the Vikings (3-0) is a Week 3 conference game at Mt. Lebanon (3-0).

New year, new team

Coaches talk about their teams starting fresh each season, a message Waynesburg and Knoch clearly have embraced.

Both are 3-0. What makes their starts remarkable is Knoch finished 1-9 a year ago, and Waynesburg went 0-10.

Knoch stayed perfect Friday by defeating Beaver Falls, 27-24, in a nonconference win. Codi Mullen and Kaden Spencer combined for three touchdown passes, with the longest being a 72-yarder. Knoch’s Tony Nicolazzo also returned an interception for a touchdown in the win.

As for Waynesburg, Jacob Stephenson and Jack Riccluti combined for two TD passes in a 27-9 nonconference win over California.

Strength in numbers

Twenty-one WPIAL teams have a 3-0 record after three weeks, including three of the five teams in Class 6A.

But the only other conference with the distinction of having three 3-0 teams is the Class 3A Western Hills. Avonworth, Beaver and South Park are 3-0. However, that perfection can’t last much longer because Beaver hosts South Park next week.

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.

Tags: Knoch, Mars, Pine-Richland, Steel Valley, Union, Waynesburg