After huge turnaround in 2023, Waynesburg looking to sustain success

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, August 18, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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Waynesburg football went into last season with one goal in mind: to remain healthy throughout the season.

The Raiders went 0-10 in 2022. Quarterback Jake Stephenson was lost for the whole year with an elbow injury and starting running back Breydon Woods missed a lot of time with nagging injuries.

With both healthy, the Raiders put together a 7-4 season in 2023, going 3-3 in the Class 2A Century Conference and made the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

“We were finally healthy in key positions when compared to the previous year,” coach Aaron Giorgi said. “Having Jake and Breydon healthy for the full year made a huge difference.”

The team’s major turnaround was recognized by everyone in the conference and Giorgi was named the Conference Coach of the Year.

“It was a tremendous honor, but it’s not just me,” Giorgi said. “It’s my entire staff and our kids. It takes a group effort. Winning that honor was a representation of all the hard work that everyone put in.”

Now the work begins to duplicate last year’s results.

Since he took over four years ago, Giorgi has been preaching the goal of making the playoffs. Now that goal has become the standard.

“Moving forward, that’s what we expect out of the season,” Giorgi said. “There’s no reason to think any different this year with the kids we have returning.”

One player who won’t return is Woods, the 2023 Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He rushed for 1,316 yards and 12 touchdowns last season and finished his high school career with 3,760 rushing yards.

“Woods was so productive over the course of his career,” Giorgi said. “You hate to see a talent like that leave. He’s going to be missed tremendously.”

Woods’ production will be missed, but the offensive philosophy will remain the same. Waynesburg will continue to keep a balanced attack with a concentration on running to set up the pass.

“That’s always going to be our bread and butter,” Giorgi said. “We set the tone last year with the run and were able to pass when we needed to. We were able to pick our spots and when we did, we were able to take the top off of a lot of defenses.”

To replace Woods’ production, Giorgi will count on sophomore Ross Tennant, who saw playing time in some of Waynesburg’s two-back sets and while spelling Woods.

Once the run is established, the Raiders will look for another terrific full year out of senior Jake Stephenson. He eclipsed his goal of 1,000 passing yards last year (1,002) and accounted for 18 total touchdowns (nine each rushing and passing).

Sophomore Jack Rucciuti, who stands 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, returns as Stephenson’s top target. He caught 28 balls for 499 yards and four touchdowns.

“I think Jack took some teams by surprise last year,” Giorgi said. “He has great hands, tremendous capabilities and is a huge target for us. We expect big things from him this year.”

Giorgi knows teams will not be surprised by what Jack can bring this season, so the offense has added a few more talented kids at skill positions in hopes of spreading the ball around more in passing situations.

Junior Zach Jiblits will see time in the slot, and last year’s backup quarterback, sophomore Teagan Crouse, will play multiple positions.

“Zach will get more targets to take coverages away from Jack,” Giorgi said. “Teagan will be everywhere — in the slot, in the backfield, he’ll be our athlete. Jeffery Blair also gives us more options at running back.”

Up front, the Raiders will be looking to forge a new-look offensive line after the graduation of two stalwarts up front in Layden Hayes and Devon Cowell.

All-conference lineman Vince Maley returns at right tackle and last year’s center, senior Caden Fowler, will shift to left tackle, giving Waynesburg two solid bookends.

“Our guard positions will be a competitive battle throughout camp,” Giorgi said. “We have some guys who, although they don’t have a ton of playing experience, I feel confident in all of them. They’re all hard-working kids, and they’re doing the correct things to earn those positions.”

Maley and Fowler will also anchor the defensive line, while Blair will move from the weakside inside linebacker spot to middle inside linebacker, taking the spot of graduate Colby Pauley, the team’s leading tackler the last couple of years.

“Blair is a hard-nosed, tough kid, not super huge, but he’s a hard hitter, will hit anyone and is fearless,” Giorgi said. “He’s going to set the tone for us defensively.”

The Raiders return Tennant and Crouse at the corner positions, and Stephenson returns to strong safety and will rotate down to provide run support.

The goal of the defense is to continue drop the points-against-per-game number that has steadily declined in Giori’s tenure. The Raiders surrendered only 18.8 points a game last year.

“Of course, we want that number as small as possible,” Giorgi said. “We’re not happy with 18, but still proud of the production the kids showed, because they have been improving year over year.”

Should Waynesburg continue that number’s downward trajectory, it will move up from what Giorgi calls the middle group of the conference.

“Us, Keystone Oaks and Sto-Rox are fighting for that third or fourth spot,” Giorgi said. “Most people are going to say Washington and Seton LaSalle are the front runners. But when the pads come on, things can drastically change.”

One huge change for the Raiders this offseason is their confidence, hard work and belief in themselves. A stark difference from what Giorgi saw last summer.

“There was a lot of hope last year, going in, where we had a lot of talent and we had kids in the right position, but we hadn’t gotten over that hump, hadn’t had a winning season, hadn’t had a playoff berth,” Giorgi said.

“Now that the playoffs are expected of us, everyone is holding each other accountable. Everything is going in the correct direction for us. We’re working together to build something special here.”

Waynesburg

Coach: Aaron Giorgi

2023 record: 7-4, 3-3 in Class 2A Century Conference

All-time record: 382-577-36

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23 at West Greene, 7

8.30 Jefferson-Morgan, 7

9.6 at California, 7

9.13 at Washington*, 7

9.20 at Steel Valley, 7

9.27 Seton LaSalle*, 7

10.4 Carlynton*, 7

10.11 Keystone Oaks*, 7

10.18 at Charleroi*, 7

10.25 Sto-Rox*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Jake Stephenson

72-122, 1,002 yards, 9 TDs

Rushing: Breydon Woods*

155-1,316 yards, 12 TDs

Receiving: Jack Ricciuti

30-487 yards, 4 TDs

* Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Waynesburg has made the WPIAL finals in Class 2A four times in school history, beating Washington for the title in 1999 and losing to Braddock in 1958 and 1959 and Aliquippa in 2000.

• Waynesburg is one of the oldest teams in the WPIAL with its inaugural season in 1903.

• Waynesburg’s last three playoff appearances were in 2023, 2014 and 2003.

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