After big step forward last season, New Brighton seniors still want more

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, August 16, 2025 | 6:01 AM

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After two consecutive seasons without a single win, New Brighton coach John Macuga set a goal in 2024 to change the mentality of his players and help them establish a winning persona.

“It’s been a point of emphasis for the players,” Macuga said before camp in 2024. “We must learn to overcome adversity and emerge victorious in games.”

Flash forward to the end of the 2024 season, and the Lions came away with four wins.

“What we instilled with the kids all year was work ethic,” said Macuga. “They’ve ran with it and coming into this year, they’re ready to go right from the jump.”

The main drivers of that work ethic are the upperclassmen, specifically the seniors, who Macuga said have been on the short end of the stick pretty much their entire football lives.

“From youth ball, through JV and onto the varsity level, I think they’ve won a total of five games,” Macuga said. “So that group is really driven to get over .500 this year, and you can see it by they way they’re pushing the sophomores and freshmen in the weight room and on the practice field.”

Macuga gave examples — his seniors have made sure that no one leaves any reps in the tank while lifting and no one walks on or off the field; everyone is jogging.

“They’re just locked in,” Macuga said.

Of the nine seniors the Lions return, five are starters along the offensive and defensive lines.

Seniors Kahlil Casteneda, Matt Steele, Tyler Marquette and Jayden Brown will be joined up front by sophomore Jaxon Childs and they will provide a strong presence up front.

“They have been here all winter, spring and summer,” said Macuga. “There are a few guys there who didn’t start last year who will start this year. We don’t have a lot of depth at the position, it’s probably our shallower group, but their experience is what’s key.”

The line is probably the only group where the starters are clearly defined.

Just as he went into last season, Macuga says that there are still positions wide open and that anyone can slot into a starting role, granted they work hard enough to not only secure a spot but to hold it.

“I think competition is always great, if you do it in the right way,” Macuga said. “If one guy is on the brink of taking a spot and the other guy who may be ahead of him knows that guy is right there, they have to keep competing with each other.”

One such position where a strong competition is taking place is at quarterback.

Macuga has two solid candidates, both of whom were on the roster last year. He didn’t want to mention names because of how focused both are in the midst of a solid, healthy competition.

“Last year we ran a multiple quarterback system,” Macuga said. “I talked to both of our guys this year and they understand that it’ll be one guy once we find out who that is. We’ll have a clear indication come the end of our scrimmage with Rochester and we’ll name a starter then.”

Junior Carter Jackson, sophomore Jaron King and freshman Gabe Davis are listed as quarterbacks on the team’s roster.

As for the other skill positions, leading rusher junior Heath Lewis and top receiver senior Jaxson Zahn both return with a lot of young talent ready to step in and make an impact.

Senior Jojo Montanez will join Lewis in the backfield, giving the Lions two stout options in the running game, and sophomores Mechki Cole and Mike Cleckley will slot in on the outside.

“We have some sophomores and freshmen who are starting to gain a little bit of an edge,” Macuga said. “Cole worked very hard in the offseason as did Cleckley. They got some varsity time last year, and we’re hoping that they can continue to get better this season.”

The biggest surprise for the Lions last year was how the defense performed.

Going into last year, Macuga was looking for more hard-nosed gritty players who were not going to be afraid to hit somebody.

He found those guys as the defense, which allowed 43.7 points a game in 2023, held opponents to just 29.6 points a game last year.

“My defensive coordinator Joe Tabay did a great job with his game plan,” Macuga said. “We were also fortunate enough to have three or four guys who only played one way, which allowed us to keep guys fresh.”

Lewis, an all-conference player last year as a linebacker, returns to his middle linebacker position as the leader on the defense. Cleskey and Montanez will join Zahn, senior Brycen Porter-Jones and junior Joey Kennedy to form a veteran blanket in the secondary.

Macuga is still going to keep his expectations for the team as reasonable as he can for a team that just missed the .500 mark a year ago.

“As a coach, you don’t go into the season wanting to win X-number of games. You want to win them all,” Macuga said. “But you know that you probably won’t. Our goal is to get a few more wins, maybe get over .500 and see if that leads to us making a playoff run.”

It will be difficult playing in the MAC, where Ellwood City still returns a lot of talent and Western Beaver and Mohawk will continue to be strong. But as Riverside proved last year, sometimes a quick turnaround can happen.

“There’s a lot of great teams in this conference,” said Macuga. “There isn’t one that you can circle and say for sure it’s a win. Every game is going to be a battle.”

New Brighton

Coach: John Macuga

2024 record: 4-6, 2-5 in Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference

All-time record: 567-511-59

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.22 Shenango, 7

8.29 Summit Academy, 7

9.5 at Northgate, 7

9.12 at Freedom*, 7

9.19 at Riverside *, 7

9.26 Ellwood City*, 7

10.3 Mohawk*, 7

10.10 Beaver Falls*, 7

10.17 at Western Beaver*, 7

10.25 Union*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Jaron King

47-99, 587, 5 TDs

Rushing: Heath Lewis

29-138, 1 TD

Receiving: Jaxson Zahn

11-126, 2 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Last year the Lions got off to a strong start, winning three of their first four games before losing three in a row to Riverside, Mohawk and Ellwood City and losing five of their last six.

• The Lions last made the playoffs in 2021. They beat Washington 21-20 in overtime before falling to Beaver Falls in the quarterfinals. Before that, they made the quarterfinals in 2019 and 2001.

• New Brighton has won three WPIAL football titles, claiming back-to-back championships in 1950-51 and beating Jeannette, 35-6, to claim the Class AA title in 1994.

Tags: New Brighton