Burgettstown looks to rebound from down season behind 1st-year coach

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, August 26, 2021 | 6:01 AM

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In searching for a new football coach for the first time in six years, Burgettstown went right next door with the hiring of Greg Marshall.

Marshall was an assistant coach at West Allegheny, where he had also played quarterback until his graduation in 2005.

Now he takes over for Mark Druga, who resigned after last season for personal reasons.

Marshall’s hire became official March 8.

“We’ve been on overdrive from the very beginning,” Marshall said. “I almost think that has played to our advantage because it’s been able to keep us focused on what we want to accomplish as a program. It’s just been knock one thing out and on to the next. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what little we have so far without the tremendous help of the community.”

Once hired, Marshall and his staff got to work on building an identity and culture within the Burgettstown program.

“Right now, what we really want to accomplish is establishing our team culture,” Marshall said. “We’re still looking to see what kind of identity we’re going to have as a team. This will be our first camp as a staff as well as the first camp for many of our kids. We have a large freshman class, and I can tell you that we as coaches are extremely excited to see how our kids come together.”

Another item for a new staff is evaluating the returning players along with the newcomers. Burgettstown finished 3-4 overall last year and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

“Going into this position, I was already well aware of the amount of success that Coach Druga had during his six years as head coach, as expected since he’s a great coach,” Marshall said. “We come into a program that already knows what it’s like to have successful regular seasons and make the playoffs.

“What’s different about this particular team is that they’ve also felt the other side of that coin. They know what it feels like to be left out of the playoffs. Right now we’re trying to tap into that and try to replace that feeling with one that is a whole lot more memorable.”

Marshall said the program is starting over with a blank canvas.

“Being a new staff, we keep reiterating to our kids that everything is a clean slate,” he said. “We want all of our guys to compete for every position and we want them to know that none of the positions are spoken for. Everyone will have their opportunities to show their abilities and may the best man win.”

While the two leading rushers and scorers from last season — Shane Kemper and Cole Shergi — graduated, senior quarterback Jackson LaRocka returns to lead the Blue Devils offense. In a run-happy offense, LaRocka threw for nearly 300 yards.

Burgettstown finished tied for fifth place in the Class A Big 7 Conference in 2020. That would have put the Blue Devils into the postseason this year with the top five teams qualifying in the expanded playoffs.

However, Marshall is not concerned about the conference and Class A in general. There is only one focus as kickoff grows closer.

“To be honest, all we’re worried about is us. We need to be able to control what we can control. Right now, that is to practice every day, work hard, study the new schemes, and show great character,” Marshall said. “We know that there are some really great teams in Class A, and I know some of them are on our schedule. Right now, our main concern is those guys in our locker room.”

Burgettstown

Coach: Greg Marshall

2019 record: 3-4, 3-4 in Class A Big 7 Conference

All-time record: 443-489-39

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

9.3 at West Greene, 7

9.10 at Avella, 7

9.17 OLSH*, 7

9.24 at Rochester*, 7

10.1 Shenango*, 7

10.9 Cornell*, 1:30

10.15 at Northgate*, 7

10.22 Union*, 7

10.29 at Fort Cherry*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Jackson LaRocka

22-49, 284 yards, 2 TDs

Receiving: Shane Kemper*

12-129, 1 TD

Rushing: Kemper

649, 10 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Greg Marshall begins his first season as head coach at Burgettstown.

• Burgettstown missed out on the Class A playoffs after moving down from 2A. The Blue Devils had won back-to-back Three Rivers Conference titles with perfect records in both 2018 and ‘19.

• The Blue Devils’ loss to OLSH on Sept. 18 snapped a 19-game regular season winning streak. Burgettstown lost to Rochester at home the following week that ended a 10-game regular season home winning streak. The last time Burgettstown had lost in the regular season was to Elizabeth Forward to conclude the 2017 regular season. The last time they had lost in the regular season at Hill Memorial Stadium was to Washington in Week 8 of 2017.

• This is the 110th season of Burgettstown football, including preceding schools in the district. The Blue Devils have a record of 443-489-39.

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