‘I just did it for Daws’: Amid unfathomable tragedy, No. 1 Thomas Jefferson rallies past No. 2 McKeesport
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Friday, September 5, 2025 | 11:45 PM
Thomas Jefferson quarterback Harrison Kolling scores the go-ahead touchdown next to Zane Sable late in the fourth quarter against McKeesport on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson quarterback Harrison Kolling celebrates with Zane Sable after scoring late in the fourth quarter against McKeesport on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Emmett Forte intercepts a pass intended for McKeesport’s Javien Robinson in the final minute of their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport. Forte returned the interception for a touchdown.
Thomas Jefferson’s Emmett Forte celebrates his pick-six in the final minute against McKeesport on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Deacon Kamberis (36) and Jarrett Becoate (20) take the field with their teammates before their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson quarterback Harrison Kolling throws a pass against McKeesport on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Dom Volomino eludes McKeesport’s Brian Jones on a 46-yard reception during their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Dom Volomino celebrates his 46-yard reception with Jaxson Kolling during their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson head coach Bill Cherpak watches from the sideline during the Jaguars’ game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
McKeesport’s Avont Hudson grabs the facemask of Thomas Jefferson’s Tyler Eber during their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
McKeesport quarterback Matthew Miller takes a snap against Thomas Jefferson during their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Zach Villa forces a fumble by McKeesport quarterback Matthew Miller during their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
‘All Business’ was this week’s theme for the Thomas Jefferson student section during the Jaguars’ game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Tyler Eber carries McKeesport’s Makai Daniels for extra yards during the fourth quarter on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson’s Emmett Forte returns an interception for a touchdown in the final minute against McKeesport on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
McKeesport’s Javien Robinson picks up yardage past Thomas Jefferson’s Zach Villa during their game on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
McKeesport’s Avont Hudson carries down the sideline against Thomas Jefferson on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson celebrates after defeating McKeesport on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at McKeesport.
No touchdown could ease the sorrow Harrison Kolling and his teammates felt for their grieving quarterbacks coach, but the Thomas Jefferson sophomore was adamant that he wanted to win this one for him.
“I just did it for Daws,” said Kolling, who pushed across the goal line for a go-ahead touchdown with 52 seconds left Friday night as Thomas Jefferson rallied to defeat host McKeesport, 16-7, in a nonconference rematch of last year’s WPIAL final.
The Jaguars’ Emmett Forte tacked on a pick-6 in the closing seconds, but Kolling’s 1-yard quarterback keeper was the decisive score. The coach he calls “Daws” — Brian Dawson — lost his brother and father four days earlier in an unfathomable tragedy yet was on the sideline for Friday’s game.
“He’s been going through so much over the past week,” Kolling said. “I just really wanted it for him.”
This was a rematch of last year’s WPIAL Class 4A final that Thomas Jefferson won 28-7. They entered Friday’s game as the top-ranked teams in 4A with Thomas Jefferson (3-0) first and McKeesport (1-2) second.
As a team with title hopes, McKeesport saw this game as a measuring stick.
But the Tigers’ lost injured running back Kemon Spell after three carries. The Penn State-bound junior missed last week’s game with an injured ankle and ended Friday night on crutches.
“Right now, the big thing is making sure he gets healthy,” McKeesport coach Matt Miller said. “He really wants to get back, and obviously we like having him. But you don’t want to jeopardize the rest of the season.”
In Spell’s place, senior Avont Hudson rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. A 6-yard touchdown run by Hudson gave McKeesport a 7-3 lead just before halftime. The drive was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty against TJ and was revived when McKeesport recovered a punt that bounced off Tyler Eber’s leg.
The teams combined for six turnovers.
“All in all, we moved the ball the way we wanted to,” Miller said. “We were a couple of big plays away.”
Thomas Jefferson led 3-0 after a 22-yard field goal by Sam Wessel earlier in the second quarter. His kick came after McKeesport made a goal-line stand, stopping TJ’s Eber on three runs inside the 10-yard line.
Eber rushed for 47 yards on 22 carries.
McKeesport was strong upfront and had mostly silenced Thomas Jefferson’s offense until Kolling led the Jaguars on a 15-play, 79-yard winning drive that lasted about 5 minutes.
TJ’s rally was helped by a late-hit penalty with 2:40 left that McKeesport’s sideline saw differently. Kolling later converted a pass on fourth-and-5 in the red zone prior to punching in the go-ahead score from the half-yard line.
He said having Dawson, his position coach, in the stadium was key.
“He keeps me calm,” Kolling said. “He says ‘stay stoic’ all the time. ‘Just calm down.’”
Brian Dawson’s father, Edgar, and brother, Bradley, died Monday in Pleasant Hills. Allegheny County Police said Edgar Dawson shot Bradley and then himself in a tragedy TJ coach Bill Cherpak called unimaginable.
Bradley Dawson, known to friends as “Boo,” was a quarterback and defensive back on TJ’s 2004 state championship team. Everyone associated with the program nowadays was consumed this week by the tragedy, Cherpak said, so focusing on football was incredibly difficult.
Brian Dawson was away from the team for a few days, but he and Cherpak talked daily.
“He told me yesterday, ‘I have to come to practice because I need something to do. I need to focus my energy on something,’” Cherpak said. “I can’t even imagine what he’s going through. For us, it’s been devastating. I can’t even imagine being in that realm and it happening (to your family).
“Boo was definitely looking down on us tonight, that’s for sure.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: McKeesport, Thomas Jefferson
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