Penn-Trafford football season ends a little earlier than hoped

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, November 15, 2020 | 11:01 AM

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Penn-Trafford’s football season ended a little earlier than it planned.

The Warriors (6-2) saw their season end with a 49-14 loss at No. 1 Pine-Richland in the WPIAL semifinals.

Their losses were to the two WPIAL Class 5A finalists. Peters Township edged Penn-Trafford, 24-21, in the second game of the season.

“We were lucky to get the season in,” Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane said. “It took a lot of cooperation from the administration, training staff, coaching staff, booster club and players behind the scenes to make it happen. Overall, it wasn’t the result we had hoped.”

The Class 5A teams in the WPIAL might have been the strongest league in the state.

“Top to bottom, the league was really competitive,” Ruane said. “There were quite a few good teams. Pine-Richland and Peters Township were exceptional.

“It wasn’t a lost season. The junior varsity, junior high and middle school teams got to play games.”

Ruane will say goodbye to 24 seniors, including numerous starters.

“We’re graduating a lot of good football players who won a lot of games,” Ruane said. “But that happens every year. We’ll have some new guys get a chance to step up and be the next group of Friday night players.”

There are holes to fill, but Ruane said he isn’t concerned.

Offensively, the Warriors are losing quarterback Ethan Carr, wide receivers Mason Frye, Nate Frye, Chase Vecchio and Brad Ford. Carr rushed for a team-high 687 yards and completed 68 of 114 passes for 1,027 yards and 17 touchdowns. He scored nine touchdowns on the ground.

Vecchio was the leading receiver with 18 catches for 215 yards and five scores, and Ford, who set a school record with a 99-yard touchdown run, had 13 catches for 246 yards and six scores.

That group of seniors, except for Vecchio, made up the secondary. Vecchio, Cole Darragh and Tommie Wilkie are graduating linebackers.

“I’m not ready to name names about positions for 2021,” Ruane said. “We’ll have some good competition. We hope we have a group waiting in the wings.”

Back will be running back Cade Yacamelli, tight end Jack Jollie, center Joey Enick, guard Garrett Moorhead and tackle Declan Ochendowski. Junior Ian Demari also saw playing time at running back, junior Carter Green played safety, and sophomore Conlan Greene played end.

Yacamelli rushed for 680 yards and 10 touchdowns. Demari also rushed for 192 yards, and Ruane indicated he’ll be in the mix next season. Yacamelli has an offer from Penn.

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.