A-K Valley high school football notebook: Wetzel nearly sets Freeport field goal mark

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 10, 2022 | 4:13 PM

Early in the second quarter of Friday’s 61-7 victory over Quaker Valley, the Freeport offense faced a fourth-and-6 from the Quakers 40.

The Yellowjackets didn’t go for it or punt in the hopes of pinning QV near its goal line.

Instead, Isaac Wetzel jogged onto the field to attempt a record-setting field goal.

Freeport great Jeff Christy, who went on to star at Pitt and play 10 years in the NFL with Minnesota and Tampa Bay, owns the record at 43 yards. But this kick was from 58. Wetzel, a senior, ran up, made contact, and the ball rocketed toward the goalposts.

The ball had the distance, sailing past the goalpost at least 10 feet above the crossbar. However, it sailed just a couple of feet left and was no good.

Freeport coach John Gaillot recognizes what he has in Wetzel, also a standout midfielder for the boys soccer team and a WPIAL track and field medalist in the 110-meter hurdles.

Wetzel also was busy Friday as he converted eight extra points and booted a number of kickoffs into the end zone.

“We need to get a highlight video put together,” Gaillot said. “He puts them in the end zone. He just has such a strong leg. He has a future. He can kick (footballs) some place (in college). He kicks 56 yarders in practice. I was hoping he could get the record. He is just a great kid.”

Freeport, 3-0 for the first time since 2015, is averaging 39.7 points a game and surrendering just 7.7.

Emphatic first win

Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk knew his team hadn’t shown its best games in its Week Zero loss to Keystone Oaks or last week’s overtime heartbreaker against Burrell.

While he knows that even now, after Friday’s 43-7 rout of Apollo-Ridge, there are things to still work on, he said he was pleased with the way his players stayed the course, executed the gameplan and defended their home field.

“The way the kids were in practice all week, it carried over to Friday,” Burk said. “In pregame, my coaches were ecstatic and were telling me, ‘These guys are ready.’ The energy was still good, and the effort was still great. We knew what we were going to get from Apollo-Ridge, including (Nick Curci) running the football in large doses.

“The kids never stopped working hard and kept believing in what we were telling them. We had a really good confidence going in that we were going to be successful.”

Deer Lakes led 20-0 at halftime and was ahead 33-0 in the third quarter before the Vikings got on the board.

Junior Derek Burk threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns. Four of the completions and three of the TDs went to fellow junior Wayne Love, who finished with 184 yards.

The Lancers will attempt to even their record Friday when they travel to Greensburg Salem (2-1).

Golden start

For the second year in a row, the Highlands football team is 3-0.

The Golden Rams will go for 4-0 for the second straight season when they host North Catholic this week to open Allegheny Conference play.

Highlands, Freeport and Burrell are the only Alle-Kiski Valley teams still undefeated after Plum and Apollo-Ridge lost to Shaler and Deer Lakes, respectively.

The Trojans will be looking to bounce back after a shutout loss to Aliquippa on Friday.

The Golden Rams run game has been the calling card for the most part. Chandler Thimons, who also threw for a touchdown, carried the ball for 108 yards, and his 27-yard touchdown opened the scoring for Highlands in its 28-20 victory over Chartiers Valley.

Thimons now is the program’s all-time leader in touchdowns scored with 48, passing 2019 Highlands grad Seth Cohen.

Luke Bombalski again made his presence felt on offense with 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns, on defense with three sacks and six tackles overall and on special teams with punts that forced long fields for the Colts.

Carrying the load

Apollo-Ridge senior Nick Curci continues to be among the WPIAL rushing leaders.

Despite Friday’s loss to Deer Lakes, the 230-pound tailback rushed for 115 yards on 17 carries, including a 44-yard touchdown to get his team on the board in the third quarter.

In three games, Curci has 567 yards on 68 carries, an average of 8.3 yards a tote, and has scored seven touchdowns.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Highlands