Peters Township QB DiLucia wins Willie Thrower Award

By: Mike Kovak
Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 4:12 PM

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Nolan DiLucia’s list of accomplishments as a high school quarterback reads like few others from Southwestern Pennsylvania.

· A three-time WPIAL Class 5A finalist and two-time champion (2023, ’25) in three years as a starter at Peters Township. (He was a four-year starter at safety.)

· A 39-5 record.

· The second-leading passer in WPIAL history with 8,819 career yards, including 2,782 yards and 22 touchdowns during his senior season.

· Multiple selections to the TribHSSN Terrific 25 (2023, ’25).

· A three-time first-team selection in the Allegheny Six Conference, arguably the toughest section in the WPIAL.

· Three all-state selections.

DiLucia also is a three-time finalist for the Willie Thrower Award, which memorializes the first Black quarterback to play in NFL history and is presented to the best high school quarterback from the WPIAL and City League. And, as of Saturday, he joined the short list of winners.

“This is a great thing to end my high school career with,” DiLucia said. “Just to come here and be a part of this is amazing. To win it, I’m very happy and feel blessed.”

DiLucia was selected from balloting by a panel of coaches, media and Willie Thrower Award Foundation board members.

Other finalists were Avonworth’s Carson Bellinger, North Catholic’s Joey Felitsky, Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Hellmann and Pine-Richland’s Aaron “Oobi” Strader. All five were celebrated Saturday at the Knead Community Cafe ballroom in New Kensington, where Thrower led Ken High to WPIAL titles in 1946 and ’47. Thrower then went to Michigan State, helping the Spartans win a national championship in 1952 while becoming the first Black quarterback to play in the Big Ten. A year later, Thrower was the first Black quarterback to take a snap in a NFL game, playing for the Chicago Bears against the San Francisco 49ers.

“We’re finally turning the corner. People are starting to recognize Willie Thrower,” Thrower board vice president and former Duquesne men’s basketball standout B.B. Flenory said. “People are starting to put him in hall of fames. People are starting to talk about him on the national news and starting to talk about him on the local news.”

DiLucia will be discussed for a long time around Peters Township, but the record-setting quarterback already has embarked on his next chapter.

He enrolled at Villanova in January and is taking classes in addition to participating in spring football practices.

“It’s a lot different at the college level,” DiLucia said. “I’m the new guy, not the guy. I just have to work hard. I’m starting from the bottom, but if I work hard I can be the best I can be.”

That’s the message keynote speaker Jerry Schmitt, Duquesne’s coach and Southwestern Pennsylvania football lifer, conveyed to the five finalists, along with a few wise words for playing the position.

“The quarterback’s job is simple,” Schmitt quipped. “Avoid the 300-pound offensive lineman, make perfect decisions in three seconds or less and just throw it to the open guy.”

Previous winners of the award are Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg, Central Catholic’s Payton Wehner, Armstrong’s Caden Olsen (a two-time winner in 2021 and ’22) and Pine-Richland’s Cole Spencer.