Derry appreciates importance of offensive line play

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, August 8, 2025 | 9:04 PM

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Quarterback Anthony Sacco, meet two-way tackle Aiden Piper.

“We’ve met,” Sacco said, dryly.

The two Derry juniors exchanged glances. Finally, they flashed what appeared as true smiles Friday on the final day of the PIAA’s mandated preseason heat-acclimatization week for high school football teams.

Make no mistake, guys like the diminutive Sacco can’t do without the burly Pipers of the world.

“You definitely need those guys,” running back Max Doherty said, referring to the Trojans’ offensive linemen. “You have your other backs who block, and your receivers who block, but the majority of it comes from the linemen. If you don’t have a good start up front, the play’s done before it starts.”

Sacco nodded.

“You take it for granted sometimes,” he said. “Those boys up front, they mean a lot, and you really have to respect what they do.”

Sacco, at 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, gets lost around the 6-3, 300-pound Piper. The two are in obvious contrast, more so when they stand side-by-side.

Both are juniors for Class 3A Derry, which opens the season Aug. 22 in a nonconference game at home against neighboring Class 2A Ligonier Valley.

The Trojans will find out firsthand then what their offensive line might look like when it counts.

“It’s a mind battle when you’re on the line,” Piper said. “If you mess up once, a bad play can happen. If you do something correctly, it can lead to big things, like a touchdown.”

Not only has there been growth on Derry’s offensive line, but coach Mike Arone has seen growth, overall.

The Trojans are looking to improve on a 3-7 record last season that saw them lose all five WPIAL Interstate Conference games.

“After Week 1, after ‘heat-app week,’ I’m much more optimistic than I was throughout the summer because of our inconsistency of kids growing up, to be honest,” Arone said.

He offered a stern message, insisting the team’s offensive line must consistently play well for the Trojans to have a chance at contending each week.

“We’re just really looking for our offensive line to jell,” he said. “We have a lot of talent up front. They just need more time to work together. They’re starting to get there.

“They’ve got to be the focal point of our offense because we’re going to have to be able to run the ball. If we can start establishing the running game with that big offensive line, we do have some weapons on the outside. If we think we can get the ball in their hands, they can be dangerous. But that’s not going to happen if we can’t establish the running game.”

Piper and 6-6, 250-pound senior Dylan Pitzer are set to anchor Derry’s tackle spots, Arone said. Chase Lukon, a 5-10, 210-pound junior, will be at left guard, and 5-6, 200-pound junior Devin Ohler will begin the season at center.

“Across the board, we’re pretty big,” Pitzer said.

Competition continues for the right guard spot, with Arone saying minor injuries in the early going have played a part in it.

“Chase Lukon, maybe pound-for-pound, is the strongest kid on the team at left guard,” Arone said. “We’re still trying to fill the right side, but we’ve got a battle — (junior) Aspen Blystone, (sophomore) Evan Monnich … (sophomore) Hunter Hanning, another big kid (5-10, 250), has a hamstring issue, but with a week of rest and he should be OK.”

Sacco looked on as those on the team’s big front line — one by one — paraded from the field to the locker room following the week’s final formal workout. He knows the importance of every one of those guys.

You get the feeling that the feeling’s mutual.

“I think it goes both ways. We protect him as a little brother,” Lukon said. “No one’s getting to our little brother. You mess with him, you’ve got to come through us first. The leadership that he shows kind of pours out to (us) .. That leadership is the most important thing.”

Observing Piper peering down at Sacco, you quickly realize the admiration they harbor for one another.

It is a brotherhood of sorts between the high-profile ball-handlers and the sometimes-forgotten front line.

“We love our skill (position) players. They get us our touchdowns,” Piper said.

Sacco responded: “I don’t think I could ever put myself in their shoes. It’s an overlooked position.

“We work as a unit. It’s great communication between me and the line. They respect me, and I respect them. For sure, it’s a great relationship there, and I enjoy all the guys on the line.”

At 6-1, 235, senior running back Justin Papuga played on the offensive line before being converted to the backfield before his sophomore year. He said he can relate to the mindset of an offensive lineman, those who toil day after day unnoticed.

Unless, of course, something goes terribly wrong.

“I understand the dirty work you do in the trenches, but those guys don’t always get the recognition that they deserve,” Papuga said. “Being a bigger back, it’s nice to find a big opening to run through. When that happens, you’ve got to tip your hat.”

Tags: Derry Area