Hampton’s Bly set tone for DeMatteo’s smash-mouth offense

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, July 20, 2018 | 6:25 PM

If you’re running back at Hampton in Jacque DeMatteo’s offense, you know one thing — you’re going to get the ball … a lot.

Andrew Bly was one of the first at Hampton to find that out, and he’s still one of the best. It’s part of the reason he will be inducted into the Hampton Athletic Hall of Fame on Aug. 31.

“It’s certainly an honor to be joining the group of guys who are in there,” said Bly, who graduated in 2010 after finishing his senior season with 1,428 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns, earning first-team Class AAA Allegheny Conference honors.

The 2009 Hampton football team was maybe DeMatteo’s best squad, if not his most surprising. It finished 7-4 in the regular season and drew the No. 14 seed in the WPIAL playoffs. The team got hot at the right time and nearly made a WPIAL title run, bowing out to Hopewell and the state’s all-time leading rusher, Rushel Shell, 31-9, in the semifinals.

Bly was a major reason for the team’s success, and the late-season run was in large part to DeMatteo’s team buying in.

“That year was a blast,” Bly said. “DeMatteo got to know us, and we got to know him.”

It was a simple switch from a wing-T formation to an I-formation that better suited the standout running back.

“When he was back in high school, he was very coachable,” DeMatteo said. “He was the type of kid you could put in the I, he would put one foot down and just go northeast. … Physically, he had all the tools.”

It wasn’t always that way for Bly, who struggled to begin the season with only 493 yards in the first seven games. After making adjustments, he rushed for 937 yards in his last five games.

“I was putting pressure on myself trying to go straight up and down,” he said. “Every single game, coach would say run behind your pads. … Once I got that down, everything kind of fell into place.”

Playing football in high school was a blessing for Bly, who spent his years before at Eden Christian Academy, which didn’t have a program. He played hockey in his earlier years, but when he arrived at Hampton for his freshman year, he donned the shoulder pads.

“That’s what I always wanted to play,” Bly said. “It was my dream. I always wanted to play football, I just never had the chance in private school.”

The senior running back followed his dreams to Duquesne, where he earned a scholarship, and eventually, a degree in finance.

“The playing level was tough jumping right into that out of high school,” Bly said. “I put on more size, and they moved me to fullback. I didn’t get as much playing time as I would’ve liked, but it was a great experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Bly lives in Deer Lakes, and works downtown at Alliant Insurance Services. Likewise, he maintains a relationship with his old coach, whom he lifts with every week.

“I’m trying to keep up with him,” DeMatteo said, “which probably isn’t the best thing for me as I get older. I’m glad that we’re friends. … I can’t say enough positive things about him; he’s just a super individual.”

No Hampton football team since has made it as far as the 2009 squad, which, according to Bly’s estimates, had five or six Division I players. It also was a fond memory of early success for DeMatteo, as he continues to run his signature ball-control offense to this day — the same one that nearly took a 14-seed to the WPIAL title game with Bly as the engine.

“It was a good group of kids,” DeMatteo said. “A bunch of them just bought in and were very coachable. It was nice to build that relationship with those group of kids.”

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.