As football practice kicks off across A-K Valley, Leechburg begins quest to end playoff drought

By: Michael Love
Monday, August 16, 2021 | 8:49 PM

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Leechburg head coach Randy Walters woke up early Monday morning, got his coffee and was at the practice field by 7:30 to make sure everything was ready for the first workout session of preseason camp at 9.

“There is a lot of excitement surrounding the team, and it didn’t start just this morning but for a couple of weeks now,” said Walters, who begins his second season at the helm of the Blue Devils.

Leechburg owns the WPIAL’s longest playoff drought stretching back to 1988, and it is hoping to secure its first winning season since 1991.

“The kids worked their tails off in the weight room all offseason, and we made vast improvements,” Walters said. “The guys were ready to get out here and put the pads on and see what they can do. The first practice started out a little sluggish, but they picked it up. We saw some good things to build on.”

Monday was a return to the normal routine that the 13 Alle-Kiski Valley teams and the many others in the WPIAL and across the state are used to this time of year after the covid pandemic created an air of uncertainty well into August last year.

Last week’s mandatory heat acclimation workouts served as a lead-in to the start of official practices, and the first week concludes with scrimmages Saturday morning.

“There is a lot of teaching going on in some areas, and we’re also starting to add more and more things each day,” said Walters, who led Leechburg to a 3-4 record both overall and in the Eastern Conference in 2020. “We’ll get there.”

Leechburg, in Class A, began camp Monday with a roster of 29. At Class 4A Highlands, 50 were in uniform Monday morning as coach Dom Girardi started his fifth season at the helm of the Golden Rams.

Highlands won its final three games last year to finish 4-3 overall and in the Greater Allegheny Conference. Under normal, non-covid playoff bracket scenarios, the Golden Rams, fourth in the conference standings, would’ve made the WPIAL playoffs.

Girardi said the mix of returning and new varsity players came into camp with a lot of enthusiasm.

“I told the kids before the first practice that they probably have a lot of emotions going on,” Girardi said. “They might have been excited, which is good, or nervous, which also is good. We wanted them to just appreciate the fact they are out here doing something that most people don’t get to do in their lives. We want them to savor and take advantage of every moment.”

A total of 34 Monday morning greeted Freeport’s John Gaillot, now in his 14th season as head coach of the Yellowjackets. Freeport, 3-3 overall last year, was one of four AK Valley teams — Apollo-Ridge, Plum and Springdale were the others — to earn a spot in the WPIAL playoffs, which were scaled down in some classifications.

There has been at least one AK Valley school make the WPIAL playoffs every year since 1960.

“Numbers tend to fluctuate with us from year to year, but we know the quality of players always is high,” said Gaillot, who played quarterback at Freeport, graduating in 1988.

“We’re now extending the work we did all spring and summer. We have a tough schedule and we want to be as healthy as we can be. I think we will be highly competitive, but we have to keep working hard to get there.”

For the first time since 2010, every AK Valley team enters the season with a head coach who was at the helm of the same program the year before.

That includes 2020 WPIAL Class 4A semifinalist Plum, which began its ninth preseason camp under the direction of Matt Morgan.

“It’s all about picking up the intensity in both practices,” Morgan said about Monday’s workouts. “So far, they’ve really done that. It’s kind of an odd feeling because we really didn’t have camp last year. It’s exciting for us coaches because we can really get into that routine and get a lot of work in. Thankfully, we are back to the way it normally is because we really need the work with how much younger we are this year.

“We’re very talented but very young. It’s important to get as many reps as possible in these practices.”

For 12 of the 13 AK Valley teams, kickoff is less than two weeks away. Week Zero games are set for Aug. 27.

Burrell is the lone area team to not have a Week Zero game. The Bucs open Sept. 3 against Indiana.

A pair of local teams will do battle in Week Zero as neighbors Springdale and Deer Lakes meet on the turf at Lancers Stadium. Springdale edged Deer Lakes, 29-27, in their 2019 Week Zero matchup.

Freeport welcomes Armstrong, with 2,000-yard passer Cadin Olsen, on that first Friday, while Plum pays a visit to longtime local rival Franklin Regional.

Kiski Area hosts Butler, Knoch is home against Central Valley, Valley hosts Hampton, Highlands hosts University Prep, and Apollo-Ridge welcomes OLSH to Davis Field.

Fox Chapel is at Peters Township, Leechburg at Jefferson-Morgan and Riverview at Shady Side Academy.

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: Highlands, Plum