Penn-Trafford captures 8th annual WCCA 7-on-7 football championship

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, July 19, 2018 | 6:54 PM

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Football in shorts, even though it came with a championship plaque, was more about getting their legs under them — more of a small step than a giant leap — for a young and mostly inexperienced Penn-Trafford team.

But the Warriors will take it. Along with the parting gifts.

“Enjoy your T-shirts,” coach John Ruane told his team as they left the field all smiles after post-tournament photos. The Warriors won the eighth annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association 7-on-7 Championship Thursday at sun-baked Latrobe High School, their fourth title in six years.

The Warriors finished 6-0 and clinched the tournament with an 18-4 victory over Jeannette in the title game on the turf at plush Rossi Field. They also won in 2013, ‘14 and ‘15.

The previous Penn-Trafford teams that won were loaded with talent and you knew what you were getting. This one has plenty of question marks.

“It’s big for our kids to experience winning,” Ruane said. “(Passing scrimmages) are good for timing, communication and reps but nobody is tackling or blocking anybody. I was happy with how our kids competed. We have so many new faces.”

While many pointed to Norwin as the favorite in the 13-team event, Jeannette wasn’t exactly a surprise to get to the finals, even though the Jayhawks (4-2) had never done so before. They knocked off Norwin, 22-15, in a spirited pool-play game that saw senior Zack Berginc make a highlight catch from Seth Howard over some taller defensive backs to help seal the win. Senior receiver Marcus Barnes also played well for the Jayhawks, the returning WPIAL and PIAA Class A champions.

“It was good to compete against a team like Jeannette,” Ruane said. “They are so hard to prepare for.”

Jeannette and Norwin split Bracket B at 4-1 but the Jayhawks advanced based on the head-to-head win.

“We’re a single-A school so getting to the finals against some larger schools is big for us,” Jeannette coach Roy Hall said. “I was happy with a few things I saw, but we had some missed assignments, and we only had one or two first downs (in the finals).”

Norwin was strong otherwise, particularly on defense. The Knights posted shutouts over Greensburg Salem (24-0) and Valley (36-0).

“Jeannette made a few more plays,” Norwin coach Dave Brozeski said. “We were out of position a couple of times, and Jeannette made plays. Nobody wanted to stop anybody in that one.”

Penn-Trafford was hit hard by graduation after reaching the WPIAL Class 5A championship game last season. The team will return just five starters. But the Warriors showed up ready to do more than just compete in the county pass-and-catch.

It gave them another chance to work out a pair of quarterback candidates in junior Gabe Dunlap and sophomore Ethan Carr. The duo split reps over six games, with Dunlap tossing a pair of touchdown passes in the championship, one that led to a circus grab by junior Noah Allen over a pair of Jeannette defenders.

The ball seemed to hang in the air before Allen pulled it down.

“We came out and had a lot of team chemistry,” Dunlap said. “We knew we would do fine if we played our game.”

Said Allen: “We did what we had to do. We looked at each opponent the same.”

Ruane said both passers showed improvement but he is not yet ready to name a starter.

“I saw good things from both in each series,” Ruane said. “They have really pushed each other. They are learning from mistakes and getting down the speed of the game.

“I thought our defense was pretty good, too.”

In the championship, the Warriors overcame an interception by Jeannette sophomore Kaelan Piscar to take a 10-3 lead when Dunlap zinged a scoring pass to junior speedster Caleb Lisbon.

A couple of defensive stops on downs — worth two points each — allowed Penn-Trafford to add to its advantage and kept Jeannette out of the end zone.

Penn-Trafford earned wins over Burrell (25-12), Hempfield (19-3), Mt. Pleasant (22-7), Yough (16-7) and Latrobe (21-18).

Games also were played on the carpeted baseball and softball fields at Graham-Sobota Field.

Southmoreland, under first-year coach Dave Keefer, had a winning record in Bracket A, finishing 3-2 with wins against Latrobe, Derry and Franklin Regional.

Latrobe (3-1-1) and Hempfield (3-2) each won three games, in Bracket B. Both teams are working in new quarterbacks.

Hempfield had won the previous two county titles.

Late addition Valley also finished 3-2.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.