Penn Hills getting healthier, building confidence as section schedule approaches

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, September 21, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The Penn Hills football team got plenty of reinforcements back on defense for its Northeast Conference opener against Fox Chapel.

Following three straight close calls to start the season, playing a clean game and getting the band back together helped the Indians earn their first win of the season. Darrell Banks and Kyree Brooks returned from injury to help Penn Hills’ defense record a shutout during a 54-0 win against Fox Chapel.

Indians coach Charles Morris said they always believed they would get back on track. Penn Hills (1-3, 1-0) didn’t think the performances during its first three games were indicative of how they played.

The Indians thought if they could cut down on mistakes, they would be able to win football games.

“Honestly, I don’t think our kids ever lost confidence,” Morris said. “If you watch our games, there were a few bad bounces. If they go our way, there may have been different outcomes. It was a testament to shooting ourselves in the foot, but our kids never lost confidence.”

Indians quarterback Jay’mere Ellis threw for 158 yards and threw two touchdowns against the Foxes. Ellis also ran for a touchdown.

Penn Hills running back Naytel Mitchell also had 106 rushing yards and scored a touchdown.

“It was our cleanest performance,” Morris said. “We made some changes offensively and how we approached the game. Defensively, getting those key guys back helped. That helps us drastically. We were able to create some turnovers. We didn’t have that in the first few games.”

Penn Hills will have one more detour before its gets into a a stretch of Northeast Conference games to close out the season. The Indians were scheduled to play Aliquippa on Sept. 20 at Yuhas-McGinley Stadium.

Results from that game were too late for this edition. Morris said that Penn Hills’ nonconference schedule has provided the Indians with plenty of good tests.

Among the nonconference opponents, Woodland Hills looks like a threat to win its conference, Susquehanna is a solid team and North Allegheny is the defending WPIAL Class 6A champion.

“I think it’s a fun, entertaining matchup,” Morris said of the Aliquippa matchup. “There’s a lot of rich high school history. These are two communities that care about their high school football teams. Everyone back in the day would wonder how we could match up with Aliquippa, Clairton and Jeannette. With how drastically different high school football is now, we are getting a chance to find out.”

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