5 things we learned in Week Zero of high school football

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, August 23, 2025 | 9:35 PM

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Bethel Park’s Evan Devine led all WPIAL passers in Week Zero with 359 yards, a remarkable feat considering the quarterback was off playing golf at this time last year.

Devine had given up football and joined the golf team, partly because of a nagging issue with his throwing shoulder, he said. But the senior returned in the winter after basketball season, won a QB competition this summer and possibly helped the Black Hawks set a school record Friday for most offensive yards in a game.

That’s because the team also rushed for 301 yards in a 43-26 victory over Seneca Valley. Not bad for an offense that graduated its leading passer, rusher and top five receivers from a year ago.

“A lot of people doubted us, but nobody knew what we had except us and our coaching staff,” said Devine, who was the team’s JV quarterback as a sophomore. “We, obviously, lost a lot of talent from last year, but we’ve got a lot of dudes ready to step up and make big plays.”

That includes senior running back David Dennison, who rushed for a WPIAL-best 238 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries in Week Zero. Wide receiver Santino Nowozeniuk had 160 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Will Sabatos made seven receptions for 127 yards. Both receivers are juniors.

The Black Hawks averaged 40.6 points per game last season as the highest-scoring offense in WPIAL 5A. So far, this year’s offense doesn’t seem much different. Bethel Park can claim the WPIAL’s leading passer, leading rusher and second-leading receiver after one week.

Third-year coach Phil Peckich said he was optimistic after seeing his players battle through winter weight room sessions, spring days outside and, ultimately, summer camp on the practice field. They stayed busy with passing camps and tried to get as much work as possible.

“We felt like we’d done a lot throughout the course of the offseason,” Peckich said. “But you really don’t know with these guys who are inexperienced … what they’re going to do when they get out under the lights on Friday. It’s just a different environment.”

That’s a key part of Week Zero.

Every team across the WPIAL was relying on players — whether seniors or underclassmen — who were making their first varsity start. Some adapt faster than others.

“A lot of our guys were very mature with how they went about this whole process,” said Peckich, crediting some for learning from their former teammates who’d graduated. “We have a long, long way to go, but this was a big first step.”

Peckich said nobody would know the Bethel Park record for most yards in a game, but he couldn’t imagine this one wouldn’t top the list. The offense rolled up 660 yards from scrimmage.

Dennison’s best game before Friday was a 127-yard rushing effort vs. Upper St. Clair as a sophomore two years ago. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was largely the backup running back before now.

Devine also waited his turn behind three-year starter Tanner Pfeuffer, who graduated as a 6,000-yard passer. Devine, a 6-4, 180-pound quarterback, completed 15 of 28 passes on Friday in his first varsity start while tossing touchdown passes to Nowozeniuk (57 yards) and Charlie Simmons (13).

“Me and him had a couple of conversations when he decided to step away,” Peckich said. “Obviously, I wanted him to be a part of our program. I understood where he was coming from, and we stayed in pretty good contact.”

Devine golfed, played basketball and strengthened his shoulder with physical therapy. He said the season away from football did more than improve his shoulder.

“I’d lost the love for the game,” Devine said. “But being away from it for a year made me realize how much I missed it. I had to come back.”

Hurricane warning

One of the more unexpected scores of Week Zero was New Castle’s 12-0 victory over Penn Hills. Not because New Castle won but because Penn Hills hadn’t been shut out in almost five years.

“We played tremendous defense all night,” said second-year New Castle coach Fred Mozzocio. “We pressured the quarterback. We made it very uncomfortable the entire evening. Our defensive staff did a hell of a job scouting and taking things away from them that they like to do. We were able to hold them out of the end zone the entire night.”

Leading the effort was senior defensive end Jayden Shaffer (6-foot-3, 227 pounds), whom coaches voted the Parkway Conference most valuable defensive lineman last year. He had help from pass rushers Mason Cook (6-2, 174) and Qualin Davis (6-5, 220) and linebacker Travis Whetzel (5-10, 175).

All four are seniors.

The Red Hurricanes allowed 31.7 points per game a year ago, but they handed Penn Hills its first shutout since October 2020. Mozzocio, a 1985 New Castle graduate, was hired by his alma mater after winning 101 games in 12 seasons at Neshannock.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We still have to get better at some things. But the effort is there, and the commitment is there.”

Scouting report

If James Franklin was keeping tabs on WPIAL football this weekend, the Penn State coach is surely happy. The Nittany Lions have two seniors and two juniors already committed, and those four players lived up to the hype with a combined 11 touchdowns in Week Zero.

McKeesport’s Kemon Spell scored nearly half of those TDs himself.

The junior running back scored five times Saturday, including a 98-yard return on the opening kickoff of a 51-24 victory over Delaware Valley. Ranked by some recruiting outlets as the top junior running back nationally, Spell scored on runs of 56, 80, 38 and 54 yards.

Penn State-bound defensive backs and Imani Christian teammates Gabe Jenkins and David Davis rushed for a touchdown each in a 19-12 win at Clairton. Jenkins, a junior, also threw a touchdown pass.

Fort Cherry senior quarterback/safety Matt Sieg rushed for a score and passed for two in a 49-6 win over Northgate.

Independent success

Albert Gallatin, Butler and Connellsville left WPIAL football in recent years to pursue an independent schedule meant to bolster the struggling programs.

Those efforts got a boost in Week Zero when each defeated a current WPIAL team. All three lost their openers last season against the same opponents.

Connellsville defeated Latrobe, 28-13, a drastic turnaround from losing 41-0 to the Wildcats a year ago. Butler avenged last year’s 20-14 loss to Shaler with a 32-26 overtime victory this year. And Albert Gallatin won 48-33 over Greensburg Salem a year after losing 28-6.

Two other independent teams, Brownsville and Uniontown, lost Friday to WPIAL opponents.

Coaching debuts

Week Zero wasn’t all that welcoming for first-year coaches. The 21 newcomers who made their coaching debuts Friday, either as a first-time coach or with a new school, went 7-14 combined.

Celebrating wins were Kiski Area’s Colyn Haugh, Laurel Highlands’ Aaron Raffle, Quaker Valley’s Tom Eschenbaugh, Southmoreland’s Dustin Shoaf, Shady Side Academy’s Andrew Geisler, Waynesburg’s Joe Kuhns and Frazier’s Tony Battaglini.

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.