Penn Hills ready to tackle front-loaded schedule
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Thursday, August 19, 2021 | 6:01 AM
Penn Hills quarterback Julian Dugger looks to throw during practice Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 at Penn Hills High School.
Penn Hills head coach Jon LeDonne during practice Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 at Penn Hills High School.
Penn Hills quarterback Julian Dugger looks to throw during practice Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 at Penn Hills High School.
Penn Hills head coach Jon LeDonne during practice Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 at Penn Hills High School.
Penn Hills’ Jaden Dugger during practice Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 at Penn Hills High School.
Penn Hills’ Luke Puglisese goes through drills during practice Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 at Penn Hills High School.
Luke Pugliese doesn’t anticipate having to wait until the Penn Hills football team opens Class 5A Northeast Conference play in early October to find out what kind of team the Indians have.
The Penn Hills senior offensive lineman sees the challenges lurking from day one. Penn Hills will have scrimmages with Aliquippa and North Allegheny before it opens the season with an away game against Class 6A titan Central Catholic.
“We have the harder games first,” Pugliese said. “That will get us going. Once we get to the games that really count, we should be better. We should be warmed up and ready to go.”
The Indians will then have nonconference games with Gateway, Woodland Hills and Upper St. Clair before opening conference play at defending state champion Pine-Richland.
The Gators eliminated Penn Hills from the WPIAL playoffs last season.
“If you look at the front half, if we can get through the front half of the schedule healthy and undinged, we’ll be good,” Indians coach Jon LeDonne said. “We have two scrimmages against top programs with NA and Aliquippa. We also play some traditional powers before we get into conference games. The WPIAL didn’t do us any favors.”
Penn Hills will have the numbers to handle the grind of the schedule. The Indians — who will field a freshmen team — have 83 kids out for football.
Having that kind of depth, plus no conference games for the first four weeks, will allow Penn Hills to settle in.
Sophomore quarterback Julian Dugger feels everyone will be ready to go once the season starts. Dugger, who led the team with 906 passing yards as a freshman, spent the offseason rehabbing a leg injury he sustained during basketball.
“I’ve been working mostly on my strength and movement,” Dugger said. “I was throwing even when I was injured, so I feel that never went away.”
Penn Hills, which finished 4-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play last season, will see another year with a lot of youth on the field. LeDonne said Penn Hills will return four or five varsity defenders with experience.
At the skill positions on offense, the Indians will be led by two sophomores, a freshman and a junior.
Senior wide receiver/defensive back Jaden Dugger believes the current sophomore class was afforded a good opportunity to learn on the job last season.
“I think (experience) will help a lot,” Jaden Dugger said. “Playing snaps will help with experience and help keep the nerves down and everything.”
Battling through a tough schedule won’t be an issue for Penn Hills. The Indians closed the season with four wins in their last five games to make the postseason.
“We fought through a lot of adversity last year,” Jaden Dugger said. “A lot of guys learned to step up.”
Penn Hills
Coach: Jon LeDonne
2020 record: 4-4, 4-1 in Class 5A Northeast Conference
All-time record: 519-312-22
SCHEDULE
Date, Opponent, Time
9.3 at Central Catholic, 7:30
9.10 Gateway, 7
9.17 Woodland Hills, 7
9.24 at Upper Saint Clair, 7
10.1 at Pine-Richland*, 7
10.8 North Hills*, 7
10.15 at Fox Chapel*, 7
10.22 Shaler*, 7
10.29 at Kiski Area*, 7
*Conference game
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing: Julian Dugger
53-120, 826 yards, 6 TDs
Receiving: Noel Roach*
18-240, 3 TDs
Rushing: Amir Key
49-267, 2 TDs
*Graduated
FAST FACTS
• This is the 45th anniversary of Penn Hills’ first WPIAL championship, won with a 23-14 victory over Butler in the 1976 Class AAA finals. It started a streak of four straight WPIAL titles, though the second was shared after a 7-7 tie with Butler and the fourth one was vacated for use of an ineligible player.
• Penn Hills also won WPIAL crowns in 1995 and 2018.
• When Penn Hills lost 14-0 to Gateway in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, it was the fewest points the Gators scored in a game all season. The Penn Hills defense had one shutout and two other games where it allowed only seven points.
• Wide receiver Jaden Dugger was a member of the Best of the Batch Preseason All-WPIAL team.
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