Penn-Trafford’s Ethan Carr named Tribune-Review Westmoreland County Player of the Year

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, December 12, 2020 | 4:27 PM

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When Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane asked Ethan Carr to switch positions during his sophomore season, there were no objections.

Carr took it as a challenge and became one of the Warriors’ top receivers and special teams players.

So when Ruane approached Carr about returning to his original position — quarterback — before this season, the senior was happy to help the team.

“I was always a quarterback growing up,” Carr said. “So there wasn’t much of an adjustment.”

Carr turned in a spectacular season despite the pandemic. He completed 68 of 114 passes for 1,027 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 687 yards. He scored nine touchdowns, one on an interception return from his strong safety position.

For his efforts, Carr was named Tribune-Review Player of the Year.

On Wednesday, Carr will sign his letter of intent to play wide receiver at Villanova.

“Ethan earned the offer as a wide receiver his junior season,” Ruane said. “He’ll be outstanding. He does everything well. You should see him block on film.”

Carr had 42 catches for 764 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior.

He picked Villanova over numerous offers because of Wildcats coach Mark Ferrante. He also visited Ball State.

“He was the only head coach that I got to talk to,” Carr said. “The other schools, I spoke with the recruiting coordinators. When I visited there, it felt like the right fit. I’m excited to sign on Wednesday.

“Moving to quarterback wasn’t difficult because I had played there before. This was a fun season and a fun offense. We had a lot of weapons. We were also a close-knit group. We grew up playing football since we were seven.”

Ruane said he adjusted the offense around Carr’s talents.

“He was an outstanding runner, but he also had the ability to stretch the field by throwing long,” Ruane said. “He also was an outstanding strong safety. He had the ability to make up a lot of ground.

“His ability to throw downfield opened up the running game. Teams couldn’t load the box with safeties.”

Carr said one of his most memorable moments in high school was his freshman season (2017) when Penn-Trafford reached the WPIAL finals and played at Heinz Field. Beyond that, he said there were a lot of special moments over the years.

Penn-Trafford finished this season 6-2, and both losses were against the WPIAL finalists: Pine-Richland and Peters Township.

The loss to Peters Township was a tough one because of turnovers. The Pine-Richland game just got out of hand.

“I would have liked another shot at Peters Township,” Carr said. “We had our chances. I feel if we could have gotten a stop against Pine-Richland, it could have been closer.”

Carr said the team his junior season probably would have been WPIAL and PIAA champions if teammates Caleb Lisbon and Sam Fanelli hadn’t been injured.

“That took a lot of energy away from the team,” Carr said. “Caleb was a great player.”

The same also could be said about Carr.

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.