Derry powers past Ligonier Valley behind stout offensive line

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, August 22, 2025 | 11:13 PM

Moments after Derry’s season-opening 33-14 victory over visiting Ligonier Valley on Friday night, Trojans coach Mike Arone implored junior running back Max Doherty to acknowledge the team’s massive offensive linemen.

Doherty, who shined in his first test as the Trojans’ featured running back, stood up from the team’s postgame huddle and shouted their way.

“I love them,” he later said. “In the preseason, we were talking about it, and it’s just like we said. We love those boys. They’ve got our backs. We’ve got them. The holes today were just incredible. It was domination up front by our line.”

Doherty, an all-Interstate Conference honorable mention linebacker as a sophomore last season, rushed for 148 yards, and Ricky Daniels scored twice to lead Class 3A Derry over Class 2A Ligonier Valley to even the resurrected “Riot on the Ridge” series at two games apiece.

The schools, 11 miles apart, resumed their series after Ligonier Valley’s move back to the WPIAL from PIAA District 6.

“All week, in everyone’s mind, there was no doubt that we could work together as a team and do what we just did,” Doherty said. “Our mentality all week was stay focused. If we had a down moment, we just bounced back in practice.”

Arone hoped the outcome was a sign of better things to come for a program that hasn’t been relevant in the WPIAL in five years.

Nearly a decade ago, the Trojans were a WPIAL power, earning four consecutive WPIAL playoff berths while combining for a record of 38-8 and twice reaching the Class 3A semifinals.

But there had been just 10 victories since the 2019 team finished 9-3, and two of the seasons were winless.

“It was very important for us to get off to a good start,” Arone said. “You want to set the tone for the season. I thought we played physically. There’s still a lot to clean up. We made a lot of mistakes — different things — but we won the turnover battle. It’s great to start off with a win. Now we’ve got to start try to keep stacking them.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound Doherty, who gained 109 yards in the first quarter, got Derry (1-0) on the board on their second play from scrimmage, racing 42 yards for a touchdown.

“(Doherty) is bigger than our offensive linemen, but they have had big running backs over here before,” Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel said. “The key to that is to get penetration and not let them get going. We’ve been able to do that in the past. We didn’t do that tonight.”

The Trojans took a 20-0 lead by halftime, scoring twice in the second quarter.

Quarterback Anthony Sacco connected with Max Doperak on a 1-yard touchdown pass before the Trojans regained control on a fumble recovery by Aspen Blystone, setting up Sacco’s 32-yard pass to Noah Stough to the Ligonier Valley 1.

Though Stough fumbled on the play, the ball rolled into the end zone, where Daniels fell on it to give Derry its 20-point cushion at intermission.

Sacco found Daniels wide open down the left sideline for a 41-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, increasing the Derry lead to 26-0, and Justin Papuga scored on a 1-yard run later in the period to make it 33-0 and trigger a running clock.

Ligonier Valley (0-1) scored both its touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Anthony Patalino caught a 7-yard pass from starting quarterback Boden Schreyer before freshman backup Levi Foust followed with an 8-yard run.

“There were some bright spots,” Beitel said. “Shout out to (senior defensive end) Cameron Kunkle, who didn’t play in our scrimmage. He was coming back six months after an ACL tear. On defense, I thought he stood out. He was all over the place for us. He didn’t even start.”

Derry travels to Freeport next Friday, and Ligonier Valley plays a home opener against Class 3A Greensburg Salem.

“We’re in a situation now where we have young talent in the pipeline,” Beitel said. “We’ve got to look and do an analysis. What’s the tradeoff? Does the young guy get in, and if I’m an old guy, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I better have a great week of practice.’ ”

Tags: Derry Area, Ligonier Valley