Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Collodi faces alma Mater Burrell

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 6, 2018 | 11:33 PM

Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi holds plenty of fond memories of Burrell, but he’ll be rooting against his alma mater this week.

Collodi, a 2000 Burrell graduate, will coach against the Bucs for the first time Friday, when his Warriors host them in a Class 3A Big East game.

“I told my assistants as a joke I never thought I’d hope Burrell would lose, but this is the week,” Collodi said.

In his fourth season at Elizabeth Forward, Collodi led the Warriors to a share of a conference title and a WPIAL playoff berth last season.

The Warriors (1-0, 1-0) began this season with a victory over Deer Lakes.

Collodi played guard and defensive end for Tom Henderson at Burrell, helping the Bucs win a share of the Greater Allegheny Conference in 1999, their first year in Class AAA, beating Pine-Richland and Highlands along the way.

“Burrell football was special,” he said. “It was a lot of undersized but really tough kids. We overachieved, in my eyes. … (Henderson) prepared us mentally and physically, and we thought we were probably better than we were. We had a confidence and swag about us.”

Collodi remembered The Birdie’s record prediction for Burrell in 1999: 3-6. He won’t make a prediction either way for Friday.

“What I teach my kids at Elizabeth Forward is we just play fast and physical football, and let the best team win,” he said. “It should be a good one. I know (Burrell coach Shawn Liotta) will have his kids prepared, and he’ll have them probably pumped up knowing that I played there. I’m sure they’ll be ready for us, and we’ll be ready for them. It’ll be a fun Friday night.”

Cavalier attitude

Even after a 1-9 record in 2017, Kiski Area had plenty of optimism for the upcoming season. Coach Sam Albert said he passed out about 80 helmets when offseason work began.

It’s early, but the Cavaliers are showing they might have staying power after season-opening wins over Allderdice and Shaler.

“Year to year, it’s different, of course, but our kids really worked hard in the offseason,” Albert said. “We averaged 50 to 55 kids every day in the weight room and conditioning, and it’s really paying off for us. We’re twice as strong. Of course, learning the program always helps — another year older that way — but I’ve just been impressed with the kids’ whole attitude.”

A playmaking offense featuring quarterback Ryne Wallace and wide receiver Jack Collechi is complementing a stout defense that includes seniors Drew Dinunzio-Biss and Troy Kuhn. The Cavaliers (2-0, 1-0) outscored their first two opponents 55-23 with both games at new on-campus stadium Richard J. Dilts Field.

“We just fed off the energy of our crowd and our students, and it just gave us the boost that we needed,” Dinunzio-Biss said.

Next up for Kiski Area is its first Northern Conference road game Friday at North Hills (2-0, 1-0). Albert said he considered the conference the strongest top to bottom in Class 5A.

Zero-sum game

The Alle-Kiski Valley’s three representatives in the Class A Eastern Conference — Leechburg, Riverview and Springdale — are looking for a more rewarding result this week after all three lost by shutout last week.

After a Week Zero win over Apollo-Ridge, Leechburg (1-1, 0-1) stayed close with defending state champion Jeannette before falling 38-0. In Riverview’s first game under coach Todd Massack, the Raiders (0-1, 0-1) trailed Greensburg Central Catholic, 7-0, at halftime, but GCC pulled away in the second half for a 35-0 win. Springdale (0-1, 0-1) trailed Imani Christian, 38-0, at halftime when the game was halted for safety reasons because of extreme heat.

The three teams will look for better results this week in nonconference play: Springdale travels to Monessen, Leechburg visits Rochester and Riverview hosts Charleroi.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Elizabeth Forward, Kiski School, Leechburg, Riverview, Springdale, Valley