Seeking 1st WPIAL finals trip since 1998, No. 1 Moon faces Penn Hills in semifinals

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, November 19, 2021 | 12:11 AM

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A sign hanging inside Moon’s football stadium chronicles the milestone years in team history. One look at that board reminds the current Tigers that their team hasn’t reached the WPIAL finals in more than two decades.

Yet this year’s roster, with a strong senior class, wants desperately to write 2021 next to the 1998 champions.

“I could only imagine,” said senior Ben Bladel, who plays defensive end, tight end and fullback. “I’ve talked to some players from the ’98 team and they say it’s awesome to finally have Moon football back where they were, so that the community can come out on Friday nights and watch a team that’s actually good.”

One win away from the WPIAL finals, No. 1 seed Moon (11-0) plays No. 5 Penn Hills (8-3) in a Class 5A semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at North Allegheny. This is Penn Hills’ third WPIAL semifinal appearance in five years.

Moon last reached the final four in 2003.

“This is kind of uncharted territory,” Moon coach Ryan Linn said.

The past couple of decades weren’t always kind for Moon’s football program. This year’s seniors went 2-8 as freshmen. But the fifth-year coach dug deeper into the historical archives and began sharing tidbits with his players.

“At one of our Thursday dinner deals, I said, ‘OK, I’m going to give you some history about the ’98 team,” Linn said. “We kind of went through the season. They went 1-2 and won the next 12 games to get to Hershey. I said they had nine shutouts along the way. Their nickname was ‘Zero Tolerance’ because they had so many shutouts.”

Linn’s message: Those players went out and built a legacy, something this year’s team can do, too.

“We talk about it a lot: ‘Leaving a legacy. Leaving your mark for the next group that comes behind you,’” Linn said. “Talking to these kids, that’s been their mindset since January. It’s on our shirts. It’s on our helmets. It’s ‘chasing greatness.’ We talk about the chase weekly.”

Moon has around two dozen seniors and many play key roles.

Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said he knows well what that kind of senior leadership can do for a team. His Indians won WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2018 with an elite senior class.

“If you look at the guys who have played (for Moon) over the last four or five games, I think 23 or 24 of the 27 numbers I’ve seen on film are seniors,” LeDonne said. “Any time you’re that heavy with seniors, you know those guys are used to playing together, probably grew up playing with each other, so they have a great bond. … It becomes a giant of a task when you’re playing a senior-heavy team like that.”

But that doesn’t mean Penn Hills won’t try to ruin Moon’s season. The Indians are young and have a future star at quarterback in sophomore Julian Dugger, but they’ve grown and improved much throughout the year.

As proof, Penn Hills defeated No. 4 Gateway, 23-20, in the WPIAL quarterfinals last week. That was a rematch from Week 2 when Gateway won 41-13.

“There was a lot of growth and maturity over the last eight or nine weeks,” LeDonne said. “We’ve had a lot of consistency from Week 3 or 4 to where we are now.”

Penn Hills has a strong quarterback-receiver combination in brothers Julian and senior Jaden Dugger. The younger Dugger ran for two touchdowns last week.

Moon is coming off a 21-13 victory over Woodland Hills. Bladel ran for a touchdown and caught another as the Tigers again leaned on their offensive line. The team’s linemen are playing among the best in the WPIAL.

“Coach Linn is always preaching that there’s no team more physical than us in this league,” Bladel said. “We all know that. In my opinion, that’s why we’re moving people and running it down their throat.”

Said Linn: “I liked the aggressiveness of our guys up front. Our guys played with a little bit of an edge, a little bit of a chip, and we were able to control the line of scrimmage.”

Keeping Moon from holding onto the ball for minutes at a time is a key.

“They’re big up front and they’re very physical,” LeDonne said. “They’re running the ball downhill. They limit an opponent’s possession. … You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities when you have the football.”

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: Moon, Penn Hills