McKeesport ‘getting healthy’ just in time for Greater Allegheny battle with No. 1 Mars

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 10, 2025 | 1:55 AM

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Status updates from the training staff became all too common for McKeesport coach Matt Miller, whose football team suffered a rash of injuries this season.

Eventually, it wasn’t just the trainers.

“Unfortunately, it actually got worse,” said Miller, who didn’t want anyone to rush back too soon. “We were checking with doctors. ‘Can they go? How can they go?’”

Miller called this the worst stretch of injuries the team has endured in his 10 years as coach. Sidelined at various times were McKeesport’s star running back, both starting offensive tackles, three defensive ends, a wingback and couple of free safeties among others.

All they could do was wait.

“Eventually we got the clearance, and now we’re here,” Miller said.

McKeesport is finally closer to full strength for the first time since Week Zero, and the recovery comes at an opportune time for the Tigers. Top-ranked Mars (6-1, 2-0) visits No. 2 McKeesport (4-3, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in a conference matchup that could decide the Greater Allegheny title.

The Tigers began the season as WPIAL Class 4A favorites before promptly losing three times in the first five weeks.

“We’re getting healthy,” Miller said. “We haven’t played too many games with our full unit. Having everybody back this week is definitely a good experience for us. It’s been difficult.”

Most notably, McKeesport is 3-0 in weeks when junior running back Kemon Spell played the entire game and 1-3 when he was sidelined with an ankle injury. The Penn State commit returned two games ago, upping his rushing totals to 587 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Spell is coming off a 19-carry, 169-yard, two-touchdown effort against West Mifflin. His 50-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter lifted McKeesport to a 28-21 victory.

“We didn’t want to rush him back and have that lingering all season,” Miller said. “We wanted him at 100%.”

McKeesport is the defending Greater Allegheny champion as a newcomer to the conference last season. The Tigers won two matchups with Mars a year ago, winning 28-7 in the regular season and 35-7 in the WPIAL semifinals.

Spell topped 200 rushing yards in both games and scored five touchdowns combined. In the playoff rematch, he had 281 yards on 15 carries, scoring on runs of 55, 36 and 56 yards.

Those long runs doomed Mars.

“He’s one of the best backs I’ve seen,” Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “He’s up there with (Aliquippa’s) Tikey Hayes last year, and (2016 graduate) Khaleke Hudson, another McKeesport guy who’s up there.”

Containing Spell is the mission for a Mars defense that shut out its past two opponents.

Mars is coming off a 56-0 victory over Knoch where senior running back Ayden Yocum rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Colin Yurisinec also tossed two touchdowns.

A week earlier, Yocum had 253 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a 46-0 win over West Mifflin as the defense posted another shutout.

“We’re kind of peaking at the right time,” Kasperowicz said. “We started slowly at the beginning of the year and turned the ball over quite a bit. … But we’ve continued to get getter each week and are taking care of the ball.”

Mars won the conference title in 2023.

In recent weeks, McKeesport played at times without offensive tackles Kaedyn Daniels and Alex Winowitch, who both play defensive end as well. A third defensive end, Abraham Miller was also sidelined, along with free safeties Brian Jones and Akeem Cochran.

Miller said there were so many injuries that it gets hard to remember them all. Senior tight end/defensive end Chance Scharritter was lost to a season-ending knee injury, but Miller was optimistic everyone else would be available.

He credited his players for adapting to the ever-changing lineup, maybe even better than the coaches.

“I think they handled it really well,” Miller said. “It didn’t bother them as much. There was a next-guy-up mentality, but there was a lot of stuff we have designed (in the playbook) for certain guys. You’re working on it all offseason, but you turn around and they’re not here. That makes it a little more challenging.”

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: Mars, McKeesport