CTK 2012 – WPIAL AAAA Northern Eight Conference Preview

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, August 13, 2012 | 11:43 AM

The Class AAAA conference with Northern suburban teams will have a little city flavor this season.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic moves into the Northern Eight for 2012. Instead of heading east from Oakland for conference games this season, Central Catholic will head North.

This is not something totally new to Central Catholic. The Vikings actually played in the Quad North in 1998 and ’99, and did not make the playoffs either year.

But Central Catholic is not the only new team in the Northern Eight. Fox Chapel also moves in after more than a decade of playing in a few different conferences. But Fox Chapel also played in the Quad North in 1998 and ’99 along with Central Catholic.

While Central Catholic and Fox Chapel are new to the conference, Erie McDowell dropped out and is playing in District 10 again.

Here is a look at the Northern Eight Conference:

BUTLER GOLDEN TORNADO:

Clyde Conti begins his second season as Butler’s coach, hoping to see the Golden Tornado break a string of five consecutive seasons without a conference win. Butler’s last playoff appearance was 1998. Butler started last season 2-1, but lost six in a row and was held to 10 points or fewer in five of those six games.

While Butler again will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this season, Conti does have four starters returning on offense and five on defense. Finding more skill-position players to add some more punch to the offense will be a key.

Three of the returning starters are linemen – center Curtis Hunka (5-8, 185), tackle Hayden Smith (6-1, 240) and tackle Jake Lenhart (5-10, 195).

Bob Vernick (5-11, 205) was the team’s leading rusher last year, gaining 369 yards on 60 carries. Also back is leading receiver Canon Rozkowski (19 receptions).

Other returnees are defensive backs Jake Olenick and Jordan Cratty.

PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS:

The Vikings won the Big East Conference the past two seasons and they lost only one game in each year, falling in the semifinals both times. Central Catholic lost a number of key players from last year’s team and might not be as strong as the past two years. But coach Terry Totten’s team still figures to be good enough to challenge for a conference title.

Four starters return on both offense and defense. Quarterback could be a key. The starter could be J.J. Consentino, a transfer from Kiski Area. He was Kiski Area’s starter last year as a sophomore, but suffered a knee injury early in the season. Consentino was first ruled ineligible by the WPIAL for transferring for athletic intent, but the PIAA recently overturned that ruling.

Consentino could be challenged for the job by sophomore Graham Adomitis.

In the backfield, Damion Jones-Moore has graduated after playing varsity for four seasons and rushing for more than 4,000 yards. Luigi Lista-Brinza, a 5-9 junior, was second on the team in rushing last year with 363 yards. Niko Thorpe, a junior, is another transfer worth watching. He led Shaler in rushing last season.

Leo Loughery figures to be one of Central Catholic’s top players. He is a 6-2, 230-pound senior fullback and linebacker who was a second-team all-Big East Conference linebacker a year ago.

David Urso is a promising senior receiver-linebacker, and Garret Vrbanic returns at receiver-linebacker-defensive back.

Returning starters on the line are Zack Troy, Zack DeLuca and Steve Wood.

FOX CHAPEL FOXES:

Eric Ravotti begins his second season as the Foxes’ coach. Ravotti was able to guide the Foxes to a 4-6 record last season and a spot in the WPIAL playoffs before losing in the first round to North Allegheny.

While the Foxes don’t seem to be a threat for one of the top spots in the conference, they could be in the hunt for the last playoff spot. Junior Nigel Garnett returns after showing plenty of promise as a sophomore when he rushed for 359 yards on 72 attempts and also caught 11 passes for 175 yards. Nathan Huwar is back for his senior year after leading the team in receptions last year with 19.

Alex Romango saw playing time at quarterback last year and completed 24 of 47 for 272 yards.

On defense, Renny Holloman is one to watch, along with Garnett. Both made first-team all-Big East last year.

NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS:

The Tigers just might have enough to become the first team to win three consecutive WPIAL Class AAAA titles.

A number of top players are back, including senior two-way lineman Pat Kugler, who is ranked among the top offensive linemen in the country. Kugler had a number of scholarship offers from colleges but committed to the University of Michigan in March.

Another top lineman is senior Jeremy Gonzales.

On offense, North Allegheny features one of the WPIAL’s top quarterbacks. Mack Leftwich isn’t big (5-10), but is extremely productive. He passed for more than 2,000 yards last season and ran for more than 700.

Leading receiver James Kleinhampl graduated, but the Tigers have their second- and third-leading receivers returning. Gregg Garrity caught 27 passes a year ago and Brendan Coniker 25. Coniker also is an outstanding defensive back and is getting some interest from Division I colleges.

Also back is Alex DeCiantis, the team’s leading rusher last season with more than 800 yards.

The defense features junior defensive back Elijah Zeise, who was recently offered a scholarship by Pitt. He will also play receiver.

All told, the Tigers are definitely the favorite in the Northern 8.

NORTH HILLS INDIANS:

North Hills missed the WPIAL playoffs last year. That hadn’t happened since 1998. The question is can the Indians return to prominence this season? Maybe.

North Hills has the makings of a team that could challenge the top squads in the conference. With six starters returning on offense and seven on defense, this team certainly has potential. Senior slotback-defensive back Jordan Blackmon figures to be one of the conference’s most explosive players. He averaged 13.9 yards a carry rushing last season, gaining 306 yards on 22 attempts. He also caught 19 passes for 346 yards (18.2 average) and is a dangerous kick returner also.

Overall, North Hills returns its three leading rushers. Senior Tyler Reddick led with 650 yards on 98 carries (also caught 15 passes) and was second-team all-conference. Senior Josh Hulbert added 227 yards on 34 attempts.

Three starters return on the line – Andrew Ungerman, Brandon Mallick and Colin Murphy. Senior linebacker Anthony Danko was honorable mention all-conference last season. Other returning starters are junior linebacker Kevin Koch and senior linebacker Malik Frank.

A key for North Hills will be quarterback, where inexperienced senior Brian Johnson will be the starter.

PINE-RICHLAND RAMS:

The Rams hope they can pick up where they left off last season, when they finished the season on a three-game winning streak against Woodland Hills, Shaler and Canon-McMillan. Pine-Richland scored 26, 51 and 49 points in those games.

If Pine-Richland can develop a quarterback, the offense could be very good. Austin Whipple, last year’s QB, has graduated. Brock Baranowski was a first-team all-conference running back last season after rushing for 1,079 yards on 153 carries and also catching 25 passes for 231 yards. He scored 16 touchdowns.
The team’s top three receivers are back. Luke Merhaut caught 28 passes for 351 yards, Baranowski was second and tight end C.J. Jackson (first-team all-conference) caught 21 passes.

In the trenches, Pat Kline was an honorable mention all-conference pick last year.

Coach Clair Altemus has a slightly different role this year at the school. He has retired as the school’s athletic director.

SENECA VALLEY RAIDERS:

Optimism is in the air at Seneca Valley as coach Don Holl has seven starters returning on offense and six on defense. Those starters helped Seneca Valley win a WPIAL playoff game last year for the first time at the school since 2002.

If a team that has talent and experience at quarterback and running back can do big things, then expect big things from the Raiders. Senior QB Jordan Brown (6-2, 175) is excellent in Seneca Valley’s offense, hitting short passes with marksmanship and throwing in some medium-range passes to keep defenses honest. He led the WPIAL in passing yardage during the regular season with 1,828 (completing 127 of 202). His brother, C.J., is slated to be Maryland’s starting QB this season.

Also back is senior running back Forrest Barnes (6-0, 185), who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season and had close to 50 receptions. He is excellent at catching passes out of the backfield.
R.J. McCauley returns at right end. Jon Dorogy, who is only 5-7, was a first-team all-conference defensive back and also plays some at receiver on offense. Nick Dahlstrom, an offensive tackle-defensive end, figures to be one of the conference’s top linemen.
Other returning starters are linebacker Carson Kessler, lineman Dean Ketterer, receiver Ryan Conn and defensive back Tyler Bommer.

SHALER TITANS:

Neil Gordon resigned as coach after last season, so the Titans will usher in a new coach this year. But the new guy is quite familiar with Shaler football.

Chris Siegle takes over the the Titans and he was once a talented Shaler quarterback. Siegle comes to Shaler after assistant coaching stints at West Virginia Tech, Milford Academy, Florida International and Hampton University.

Siegle takes over a team that was decimated by graduation. Do-it-all J.P. Holtz, who is now at Pitt, is the most notable graduation loss, but quarterback Ryan Mincher and receiver Sean Gavin are two other key losses. On top of that, Niko Thorpe, the team’s leading rusher last year, transferred to Central Catholic.

Siegle will have to find some capable skill-position players, but he does have some returning linemen.

MSA Sports Predicted Order of Finish:

1.  North Allegheny Tigers

8.  Butler Golden Tornado

Tags: Butler, Fox Chapel