Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Jeannette coach wins Steelers honor

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, November 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Jeannette’s Tommy Paulone was selected as the Steelers High School Coach of the Week after his team’s 23-7 upset of Neshannock in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

The 13th-seeded Jayhawks scored 23 unanswered points to soundly dispatch of the No. 4 Lancers.

Paulone will receive $1,000 for the program and a framed certificate signed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and he will be honored Nov. 17 at Acrisure Stadium when the Steelers host the Baltimore Ravens.

“It’s a great honor,” Paulone said. “But we just prepare the players to have success. It’s all them.”

P-T vs. P-T

Penn-Trafford has a recent history with Peters Township, the team it will face Friday night in the 5A quarterfinals.

But the Warriors have yet to solve the Indians.

This will be the teams’ third meeting in the playoffs since 2018. Peters Township won 38-35 in the quarterfinals in 2018 and 28-10 in the 2019 semifinals.

Peters Township also knocked Franklin Regional out of the playoffs last year with a 35-0 win in the quarterfinals.

Another 5A team, Pine-Richland, also has had local teams’ numbers. The Rams beat Penn-Trafford, 49-14, in the 2020 semifinals and 31-17 in the 2022 quarterfinals.

In between, though, Penn-Trafford knocked out Pine-Richland, 24-6, in the 2021 semis on the way to WPIAL and PIAA championships.

Release the ‘Hounds

Monessen, out of sorts because of injuries, sent a number of different looks at Greensburg Central Catholic last week, lining players up at various spots throughout the game.

GCC won, 54-38, in the highest-scoring first-round game of the playoffs.

“They came out and we’re like, ‘What is this?’” GCC coach JT Thompson said. “They had a lineman in the backfield, a new tight end, they had No. 6 at quarterback, then No. 7 at quarterback. It was crazy. We hadn’t prepared for such an unconventional offense.”

Early exit

Belle Vernon is not used to losing this early in the WPIAL postseason.

The Leopards, who won back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA championships in Class 3A, were dumped in the quarterfinals last week by McKeesport, 34-11.

It was the first time the Leopards lost their playoff opener since a first-round loss in 2014.

They had made seven straight semifinal appearances.

Coach Matt Humbert was more concerned about how his team lost. Injuries piled up for Belle Vernon in the season-ending setback.

The coach was impressed by McKeesport’s quarterback.

“We were a little out of sync,” Humbert said. “It was a little herky-jerky all night.

“(Penn State commit Kemon Spell) is a stud. He runs what they do to perfection. The quarterback (Brady Eastman), is the most underrated kid out here. He operates that triple scheme effortlessly. When you have an offense like that, you need a kid to not make mistakes. That’s the impressive thing about the quarterback: He doesn’t make mistakes. Spell and (Anthony) Boyd get the attention, but (Eastman) deserves a lot of it, too.”

One and only

Here’s a surprising statistic:

Despite its athletic secondary, Jeannette only has one interception this season.

Kymon’e Brown has the lone pick.

Jeannette intercepted teams eight times last season.

“That’s hard to believe, right?” Paulone said.

Senior living

Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic are young, which could point to more playoff success next year. It also means younger players are getting a heavy dose of varsity football now — sooner than they may have expected. The teams have a combined five seniors. GCC has three, Jeannette two.

Recruiting

Franklin Regional senior tight end and linebacker Macallister Bresnahan received a scholarship offer from Division II West Liberty.

Bresnahan leads the Panthers with 21 receptions for 392 yards and four touchdowns.

On defense, he has 24 tackles, including eight for loss, and five sacks.

Quotable

“You try to predict the future. What’s their next move? It’s like poker. What hand does JT (Thompson) have?” — Paulone

Extra points

Greensburg Central Catholic is seeking its first semifinal appearance since 2011. … The Nos. 9 (Cornell), 10 (California), 11 (South Side) and 13 (Jeannette) seeds all pulled upsets in the Class A bracket. … Jeannette trails Aliquippa by five on the all-time WPIAL wins list. The Jayhawks stand at 785 while the Quips lead with 790. … Monessen has a goal for next year: Hit a milestone with a big season. The Greyhounds need 11 wins to reach 700.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Jeannette, Penn-Trafford