Fox Chapel football team leans on Dietz, balanced offense

By: George Guido
Saturday, October 9, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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There’s no doubt Fox Chapel’s had one of the toughest football schedules around over the first seven games of the season.

The Foxes’ opponents have a cumulative 29-13 record during that time, but Fox Chapel is putting up some good offensive numbers with senior quarterback Collin Dietz at the controls.

The offense split the first six games perfectly on the ground and through the air: Fox Chapel had 896 yards rushing and 896 yards passing.

“I think our offense has been pretty good, but we can definitely be better,” Dietz said.

“We need to be more consistent, and we need to stick to what we know and what we do best. We need to execute.”

Said Foxes coach Tom Loughran: “Collin’s been a great leader for us. He’s very attentive to what we do, and he’s the kind of kid with a good football mind and thinks what the coach wants to do instead of going out there and just throwing the ball around.”

Dietz has distributed the ball well with Jacob DeMotte leading the way in receptions, followed closely by Colin Kwiatkowski and Khi’ Lee Patterson.

Sometimes, it just as easy as handing the ball off to Zidane Thomas, one of the WPIAL’s leading rushers over the first 60% of the season with 710 yards.

“I think I have the best wide receiver corps in the WPIAL,” Dietz said. “They come to practice and work their butts off, and I enjoy throwing to them. I’ve known them all since ninth grade.”

“We try to be balanced, and we have three kids who we think can catch the ball,” Loughran said.

“And all three can catch it and run. He’s done a great job so teams can’t roll coverage one way or play coverage on 2-and-1. He can adjust to another team’s defense, and once he decides that, he can deliver the ball.”

Another efficiency of Fox Chapel’s offense is using hand signals from the sidelines so Dietz, unlike some other quarterbacks, doesn’t have to run over to the sidelines after every play.

“I read the signal and call out the plays to the offense, and we line up,” Dietz said.

“We need to finish off teams and need to get a touchdown when we need the touchdown to finish them off.”

Providing the blocking for the offense are Caleb Kulikowski, Ryan Browell, Sean Feczko, Nick Korbe and Eron Fowler with several others rotating in.

One of the highlights so far this season for the Foxes is defeating long-time rival and next-door neighbor Shaler, 28-14.

Said Dietz: “It’s big deal. Since I’ve been here they’ve been handing it to us. It was homecoming, and there were a lot of people here.”

Despite the loss, Shaler is 28-16 all-time against Fox Chapel in a series that dates to 1963.

An unsung factor this year has been the kick-returning ability of senior Maurice Sampson-Schulter, who has averaged 23.4 yards per return, often giving the Foxes a shorter field with which to work.

Tags: Fox Chapel