Nearby rivals Thomas Jefferson, McKeesport set to battle for WPIAL Class 4A title
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Friday, November 15, 2024 | 7:16 PM
Thomas Jefferson’s Zachary Villa celebrates a turnover on downs by Aliquippa during their WPIAL Class 4A semifinal on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at Chartiers Valley.
McKeesport’s Kemon Spell eludes Belle Vernon’s Jackson Alexander on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
It is somewhat surprising that Thomas Jefferson and McKeesport, despite their proximity to one other, have only met five times on the football field.
The schools, located in the South Hills’ Mon Valley area, are separated by just 11 miles. They didn’t start playing one another until 2020; McKeesport owns a 3-2 edge.
The teams meet Sept. 6 in a wild nonconference game. McKeesport led 28-7 at halftime only to watch Thomas Jefferson rally for a 34-31 overtime victory.
Now the WPIAL Class 4A title is on the line at 12:05 p.m. Saturday at Norwin Knights Stadium.
No. 3-seeded McKeesport (8-4) hasn’t won a WPIAL title since 2005. The Tigers have four total.
Top-seeded Thomas Jefferson (12-0) has won 10, including nine under current coach Bill Cherpak.
“It’s about time that we win one,” McKeesport coach Matt Miller said.
The game features two outstanding sophomore running backs.
When the teams met in the third game of the season, McKeesport started quickly. But Thomas Jefferson’s defense tightened in the second half to hold the Tigers to 44 yards.
Tigers sophomore running back Kemon Spell, a Penn State commit, scored twice. He has rushed for 1,671 yards this season, including 451 in the playoffs.
Thomas Jefferson counters with sophomore running back Tyler Eber, who has rushed for 1,785 yards this season. He scored three touchdowns and rushed for 186 yards against the Tigers.
“These guys are so different,” Cherpak said. “Kemon is powerful quick and fast. He has everything.
“No one knew about Tyler before this season. We knew he had potential and he’s done well. Tyler has great vision and finds the holes. He has a great line in front of him, and he’s always following fullback Trent Miller.”
Miller jokingly said that if the game plays out like he expects, he’ll be on his couch by 3 p.m.
“This is going to be an old-school game,” Miller said. “A lot of running. It should go quickly.”
McKeesport started the season by dropping four of its first five games. It lost to Lake (Ohio), Peters Township, TJ and Upper St. Clair.
Miller said those games prepared his team for big games.
“Those games made us tougher,” Miller said.
McKeesport has other players who can carry the ball. Anthony Cromerdie rushed for 599 yards and Anthony Boyd 530.
TJ also features a strong passing attack. Quarterback Luke Kosko, who scored the winning touchdown in the first meeting, completed 9 of 19 passes for 117 yards that night. Brayden White is his main receiver with 56 catches for 1,057 yards.
Kosko has completed 93 of 152 passes for 1,686 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: McKeesport, Thomas Jefferson
