Feeling ‘light years ahead from last season,’ Plum seeks playoff return

By: Giustino Racchini
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | 6:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

For Plum coach Matt Morgan, the 2024 season didn’t end the way he or the team wanted. The Mustangs finished with a 2-8 record and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

“All the juniors that are now going to be seniors this year were upset with how last year ended,” Morgan said. “We are light years ahead of where we were last year and have a good core of kids that does really well.”

The belief inside the locker room is different this season, Morgan said. The vibes he is getting from this group gives him flashbacks to the 2020 Plum team, one that went to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals before falling to Thomas Jefferson.

That team went undefeated until the loss to TJ in the covid-shortened season, which included only eight regular-season games instead of 10. The camaraderie and brotherhood that the leaders of the 2025 team has is just as strong.

“The overall collective of the senior class and their unified front is very strong,” Morgan said. “We know that we can’t just depend on one guy to be good and everyone has to buy in.”

Senior center Frank Grazulis is the only returning first-team all-conference selection for the Mustangs, but a few others such as Sloan Humphries and Ben Strickland have stood out as players to watch. Tyler Baleno was a second-team all-conference defensive back last year as well.

The running back room will feature two players who return from a season ago in Elijah (EJ) Jackson and CJ Hart. Hart will be on the defensive line as well, holding an offer from Akron that he got over the summer.

“We added a new running backs coach, Deji Karim, who has five years of experience in the NFL,” Morgan said. “We will have a two-headed monster backfield with EJ and CJ.”

After his college career ended at Southern Illinois, Karim spent parts of four seasons (2010-2014) in the NFL. He played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans, accumulating 341 rushing yards in 33 games.

The Mustangs have a strong recent history of producing college level running backs. Nick Odom, last year’s tailback, committed to play at Delaware Valley. Two seasons ago, running back Eryck Moore committed to Slippery Rock.

A new offensive coordinator, Marty Steele, also joins the coaching staff. Steele was the recruiting coordinator and running backs coach at Saint Vincent before becoming a WPIAL official over the past couple of years.

He will be working with two returning quarterbacks this season. Senior Antonio Hanzlik and junior John Nonnenberg saw reps at the position last season, with Nonnenberg getting more playing time.

“Antonio and John are back for this season, which is exciting,” Morgan said. “John had a really good offseason, and they’re both looking forward to helping run the offense.”

The Northeast Conference looks to be no easier to navigate this season. Defending WPIAL Class 5A champion Pine-Richland is in Plum’s section, bringing back a majority of its weapons on offense.

“Pine-Richland has set the bar for the whole WPIAL, and their talent is unmatched,” Morgan said. “Our conference is tough and unforgiving, so week to week is going to be tough and challenging.”

The other members of the conference include Penn Hills, North Hills, Shaler and Fox Chapel. It is the second year the Mustangs are in their new conference, away from neighboring schools Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Gateway.

Plum

Coach: Matt Morgan

2024 record: 2-8, 2-3 in Class 5A Northeast Conference

All-time record: 349-443-27

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.22 at Franklin Regional, 7

8.29 Latrobe, 7

9.5 at Gateway, 7

9.12 at Shaler*, 7

9.19 at Pine-Richland*, 7

9.26 Penn-Trafford, 7

10.3 North Hills*, 7

10.10 at Fox Chapel*, 7

10.17 Kiski Area, 7

10.24 Penn Hills*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: John Nonnenberg

61-113, 566 yards, 6 TDs

Rushing: Nick Odom*

159-789 yards, 5 TDs

Receiving: Sloan Humphries

38-536 yards, 4 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Plum added new running backs coach Deji Karim, who played four NFL seasons from 2010-2014.

• The last time Plum made the playoffs was in 2021 when the Mustangs went 4-7 (4-3) in Class 4A before they moved up to 5A again in 2022.

• Plum is looking for its first winning season since 2020. The Mustangs went undefeated that year, losing to Thomas-Jefferson in the 4A WPIAL semifinals.

• Matt Morgan enters his 13th season coaching at his alma mater. Morgan was a standout lineman at Pitt before a short career in the NFL.

ROSTER

No., Name, Pos., Ht./Wt., Cl.

0, Niko Signor, WR/DB, 5-11/175, sr.

1, C.J. Hart, RB/LB, 6-1/210, jr.

2, Semaj Robinson, RB/WR/DB, 5-10/170, so.

3, Tyler Baleno, WR/TE/DB, 6-2/180, jr.

4, Landen Ekiert, TE/LB, 5-10/190, sr.

5, Sloan Humphries, WR/DB, 5-10/165, sr.

6, John Nonnenberg, QB/DB, 6-1/170, jr.

7, Antonio Hanzlik, QB/DB, 6-0/165, sr.

8, Eugene Hanzlik, WR/DB, 6-0/170, sr.

9, Elijah Jackson , RB/DB, 5-11/190, sr.

10, Raph Still, WR/DB, 5-9/155, sr.

11, Brendan Marston, WR/DB, 5-10/180 Sr.

12, Hunter Pucka, QB/DB, 5-10/155, so.

13, Jayden Bruce, WR/DB, 5-10/160, fr.

14, David Pupilli, TE/LB, 6-3/215, so.

15, Chase Tomain, WR/DB, 5-8/170, jr.

16, Donald Lauricia, RB/WR/LB/DB, 5-10/160, sr.

17, Maddox Roedersheimer, WR/DB, 5-11/175, jr.

18, Cameron Wilson, WR/DB, 6-0/160, sr.

19, Quentin Carperton, WR/DB, 5-9/155, sr.

20, Toks Adepetoye, WR/DB, 5-11/190, sr.

21, Avery Shaffer, WR/DB, 5-10/175, sr.

23, Kenny Smith, RB/LB, 5-9/170, so.

24, Chris Johnson, WR/DB, 6-0/165, sr.

25, Luther Trowell, WR/DB, 5-7/145, so.

26, Rocco Lamia, WR/DB, 5-6/150, so.

27, Breaden Watters, WR/LB, 5-11/165, fr.

28, Chase Henderson, RB/DB, 5-7/155, fr.

29, Eli Matolcsy, WR/DB, 5-9/155, jr.

30, Hudson Strasser, P/K, 5-11/170, jr.

31, Matt Lyle, WR/DB, 5-10/165, fr.

32, Olivia Bigger, K, 5-6/130, sr.

33, Austin Kolankowski, K, 6-0/175, sr.

34, Ethan Stitt, LB, 5-10/180, jr.

35, Ollie Clayton, WR/DB, 5-9/150, fr.

36, Jake Ligo, RB/LB, 5-7/170, so.

40, Colten Broker, WR/DB, 5-5/125, fr.

42, Cole Saville, WR/DB, 5-7/130, fr.

43, Brandon McCory, WR/DB, 5-6/120, fr.

44, Jake Kline, QB/LB, 5-5/135, fr.

45, Corbin Shaffer, WR/LB, 6-0/160, fr.

48, Alex Stepnick, QB/DB, 5-9/130, fr.

50, Joel Kline, OL/DL, 5-6/155, jr.

51, Tavion Rupert, TE/OL/DL, 6-3/250, jr.

52, Leo Tristani, OL/DL, 5-10/225, so.

53, Paxton Simonson, OL/LB, 5-9/175, so.

54, Matthew Nelson, OL/DL, 5-7/225, sr.

55, Evan Corrigan, OL/DL, 6-2/275, sr.

56, Brenden Knighton, OL/DL, 5-10/235, so.

57, Conner Matvey, OL/LB, 5-10/180, so.

58, Kylan Bick, OL/DL, 5-11/200, so.

59, Kameron Dietrick, OL/DL, 5-11/220, sr.

62, Antonio Thompson, OL/DL, 5-11/195, fr.

64, Kai Ekis, OL/DL, 5-11/200, so.

66, Caden Stephenson, OL/DL, 5-11/240, fr.

68, Jackson Froehlich, OL/DL, 6-2/245, jr.

73, James Castiglione, OL/DL, 5-5/175, so.

75, Anthony Delmastro, OL/DL, 6-0/265, sr.

76, Benjamin Stricklin, OL/DL, 6-3/255, sr.

77, Frank Grazulis, OL/DL, 6-1/300, sr.

79, Terrance Montue, OL/DL/P, 6-3/285, so.

80, Nick Stricklin, WR/DB, 5-8/135, fr.

81, Dom Pollard, WR/DB, 5-9/150, so.

82, Michael Mazur-Broddas, WR/DB, 5-11/135, fr.

83, Blake Otlano, WR/DB, 5-6/125, fr.

84, Tino Badali, TE/LB, 5-11/170, fr.

85, Jordan Bell Jr. , WR/DB, 5-9/135, fr.

86, Ezra Jackson, WR/DB, 5-11/145, so.

87, Colt Knapp, WR/DB, 5-6/100, fr.

88, Luke Hoburg, P/K, 6-1/160, sr.

89, Austin Menin, WR/DB, 5-11/155, fr.

Tags: Plum