Penn Hills coach proud of team’s progress in classroom

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Penn Hills football coach Charles Morris is excited about his team’s progress in the classroom this season.

The Indians, who have qualified to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs for the second straight season, have made major strides in the classroom. Ninety-five percent of the team has a GPA above 2.5, while 75 percent of the roster is above 3.00.

Morris credited Gigi Snodgrass with being a big part of the effort to focus on the classroom.

“This is important because they are opening the door for them,” Morris said. “When they get good grades, it opens things up for going to college and for getting academic scholarships. They’ve improved their attendance. They’ve been sitting in the front of the class and have been working on their progress notes.”

On the field, Penn Hills (5-4) has reached second place in the Northeast Conference as the playoffs approach. Results from Penn Hills’ season-ending game with Plum were too for this edition.

The Indians lost in the WPIAL semifinals to conference rival Pine-Richland last season.

Morris said he was worried about Plum to end the year but thought the Indians were playing good football heading toward the postseason.

“I hope so,” Morris said. “We’ve talked before about how we were making mistakes early in the season and could compete with anyone.”

The Indians, who opened the season 0-3, have put their most recent defeat behind them with a pair of victories. Penn Hills beat Mt. Lebanon in a wild shoutout before returning to conference play with a double-digit win over North Hills in a second-place battle.

The Indians have turned their season around by cutting down on turnovers and utilizing all their playmakers on a dynamic offense.

Penn Hills has leaned on Jay’Mere Ellis and Devin Harris at quarterback this season. Martel Palmer leads the team in receiving with 560 yards on 31 catches. Cartner Bonner is second in receiving with 350 yards.

Running back Naytel Mitchel is closing on 1,000 yards for the season. He had 968 on 162 carries entering the game against Plum.

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