High school football notebook: Albert Gallatin secures signature win

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, September 20, 2017 | 6:36 PM

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Close friends and colleagues tried to convince Shawn Liotta to turn down Albert Gallatin's job offer.

You can't win there, they told him.

His phone was ringing again this week, this time after Albert Gallatin defeated West Mifflin, 28-27, a potential cornerstone victory for a program that hasn't had a winning season since the district consolidated in 1987.

“I can't believe the amount of texts and phone calls and notes I got after that win on Friday from people I don't even know,” said Liotta, now in his second season. “People in the community said it brought tears to their eyes when we won. Coaches around the WPIAL that I'm not even friends with (sent their congratulations). A lot of people took notice of what our kids were able to do Friday night. I'm very proud of that.”

Liotta can't say, “I told you so,” quite yet.

But the Big Nine victory over a traditionally strong program was only the second conference win in four years for Albert Gallatin, which went winless in consecutive seasons before Liotta arrived.

There were other upsets in Week 3, including Plum's surprising 33-7 victory over Franklin Regional, but none matched the magnitude of Albert Gallatin's. Consider, West Mifflin won 49-8 last year.

“Probably no one outside of our locker room gave us much of a chance to win,” Liotta said.

Sophomore quarterback Domonick Lewellen connected with senior Nate Bricker for a go-ahead touchdown with about 6 minutes left. They combined again near the 1-minute mark to convert a fourth-and-2 at their own 45-yard line, letting Albert Gallatin run out the clock.

The victory came one week after a close 17-8 loss to Ringgold, a team that beat Albert Gallatin, 42-6, in 2016.

“The kids are dedicated to put this football program on the map, and the community is starving for a winner,” Liotta said. “We think we're turning the corner in our program.”

Albert Gallatin, near Uniontown, is a rural Fayette County district along the West Virginia border. Coaching there was a major move for Liotta, a Springdale native and former offensive coordinator at Clairton. His Bears' offense averaged 59.9 points and set a PIAA record with 958 points in 2014.

“Everybody told me I was crazy,” Liotta said. “I had multiple people tell me, ‘You are nuts. That's going to be a coaching graveyard. They can't win.' People pleaded with me. People even close to me in the coaching profession pleaded with me: ‘Shawn, don't take this job. They've never won. This isn't a one- or two-year thing. They've never won.' I love that challenge.”

Transfers approved

A few schools officially added a football player or two this week when the WPIAL approved their transfers. Among them was DeMonya Brown, a junior running back and safety who transferred from Canon-McMillan to Washington. Also ruled eligible were Steel Valley's Trevon Epps and Jonathan Neal. Epps transferred from Penn Hills, and Neal played last season for Allderdice.

National honor

Moon senior Nick Morrow kicked a winning 21-yard field goal last week to defeat Hampton, 26-24. The kick landed Morrow as one of seven finalists for Kohl's Kicking Camp Player of the Week, an online poll on the camp's website. Morrow also had a 35-yard field goal and put four of five kickoffs into the end zone.

TV time

WPNT-22 will televise live the conference matchup between Serra Catholic and Seton LaSalle at 7 p.m. Friday.

The TribLIVE High School Sports Network will live stream Pine-Richland at Bethel Park at tribhssn.triblive.com.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Albert Gallatin, Moon