Playoff eligibility in doubt for talented West Mifflin team led by Pitt recruit Nahki Johnson
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Sunday, August 23, 2020 | 6:01 AM
West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson goes through drills during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
West Mifflin’s Israel Rose goes through drills during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
West Mifflin’s Delricco White goes through drills during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
West Mifflin’s J’Shawn Schofield goes through drills during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
West Mifflin head coach Rod Steele looks on during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
West Mifflin head coach Rod Steele looks on during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
West Mifflin’s Tyrese Ogletree goes through drills during workouts Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 at West Mifflin High School.
As camps finally begin across the state, every high school football team has questions, from competition for starting spots to trying to stay healthy during a pandemic.
However, one district school has another massive question hanging over its heads as practices begin. Will West Mifflin be eligible for the 2020 postseason?
Last November, the WPIAL learned that the West Mifflin football team used an ineligible player during the recently completed 2019 season.
Ni-Keese Hodges-Demery, an all-conference wide receiver who transferred from New Castle to West Mifflin during the 2017-18 school year, was ruled ineligible after his fifth-year status was overlooked because he was new to the district and didn’t play any sports at West Mifflin the previous year.
“The young man was 17 years old at the start of camp and played as an 18-year-old senior,” West Mifflin coach Rod Steele said. “We had no idea of any semester issues. I received an eligibility list from the school each week and he was never listed as an ineligible player or participant.
“As a coach, you can’t act on something you don’t know. I’m a newly hired coach that had never seen this kid’s transcript. I look forward to the appeal process to further explain myself and my team’s innocence.”
The WPIAL came down hard on the program and ruled West Mifflin ineligible for the 2020 postseason.
“Making the playoffs and competing for a WPIAL and PIAA championship is always something of significance,” Steele said.
No date has been set yet for the Titans’ appeal of the decision to the PIAA.
West Mifflin has five starters back on both sides of the ball from a team that finished the regular season with a 5-5 record (before having to forfeit all its wins) and lost in the Class 4A quarterfinals to South Fayette.
The key player back is tight end and defensive end Nahki Johnson. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior has committed to Pitt.
“I look forward to seeing his growth and play,” Steele said of the player he coached as a freshman and sophomore at Steel Valley. “He missed some games last year to an early illness that he recovered from. He’s put on 25 pounds of muscle and has improved in his strength and conditioning.”
The historically strong West Mifflin ground attack will be led by sophomore Tyrelle Olgetree.
“After going into the fire as a freshman due to the dismissal of a senior running back, he showed a lot of toughness and speed back there,” Steele said. “He put on 20 pounds this offseason, so I’m excited to see what he’s able to do this year.”
Olgetree is the younger brother of former West Mifflin running back great Jimmy Wheeler.
Other key contributors back for the Titans include senior linemen J’Shawn Schofield and Maurice Demery, junior running back and linebacker Israel Rose and junior wide receiver and defensive back Andre Spencer.
Some newcomers to the program Steele is excited to see on the field include sophomore lineman Braeden Crousey and freshman twin linemen DelRicco and DelRon White, who are already bench pressing 300 and 275 pounds before their high school careers begin.
Whether a postseason carrot dangles in front of the West Mifflin football team this season or not, Steele knows life in the 4A Big Eight Conference is always difficult.
“I believe we have a physical conference that each and every week, you will need your A game,” Steele said. “There are a lot of talented teams in this conference.”
Schedule
Coach: Rod Steele
2019 record: 0-11, 0-7 in Class 4A Big Eight Conference
All-time record: 290-293-12
Date, Opponent, Time
9.11, Thomas Jefferson*, 7:30
9.18, at Belle Vernon*, 7
9.25, Laurel Highlands*, 7:30
10.2, at Trinity*, 7
10.10, at McKeesport*, 1
10.16, Uniontown, 7
10.23, at Ringgold*, 7
*Class 4A Big Eight Conference game
Statistical leaders
Passing: Jacob Davis*
Rushing: Jacob Davis*
Receiving: Keith Demery*
*Graduated
Fast facts
• Playoffs are standard practice at West Mifflin. The Titans qualified for the WPIAL postseason every year this past decade, last missing out on November football in 2009.
• In their 10-year playoff streak, West Mifflin went as far as the WPIAL finals in 2012, where the Titans lost to West Allegheny, 34-8. West Mifflin has lost its last four playoff games, with the Titans’ last victory coming in the 2016 4A quarterfinals over Belle Vernon, 19-0.
• Rod Steele begins his second year at West Mifflin after a successful nine-year run as head coach at Steel Valley that included back-to-back WPIAL championships in 2017 and 2018 and a PIAA Class 2A state crown in 2017.
• While the West Mifflin football program has a tradition of success, it has only captured one WPIAL football championship. Sixty-seven years ago, the West Mifflin North Vikings, in their fourth year of existence, edged Butler, 12-6, at Forbes Field to win the 1963 WPIAL Class AA title.
Tags: West Mifflin
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