Punishing ground game, ball-hawking defense put up numbers for Thomas Jefferson football

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, November 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Thomas Jefferson football team advanced to the WPIAL playoffs for the 31st consecutive year in 2025. The last time the Jaguars missed the postseason was in 1994.

The Jaguars did not achieve the end results they were seeking, losing to McKeesport, 28-7, in the WPIAL semifinals in a game that was closer than the final score indicates.

TJ received the No. 4 seed for the playoffs and rolled past No. 5 Mars, 31-14, in the first round before matching up with top-seeded McKeesport, which lost to the Jaguars, 16-7, at home in Week 2 of the regular season.

Here’s a look — by the numbers — at Thomas Jefferson’s season:

• The TJ gridders finished second in the Class 4A Big Six Conference and ended the year 9-3 overall.

• The Jaguars are among 11 WPIAL teams poised to move into a higher classification for the next two years because of their updated enrollments. TJ will compete in Class 5A in football in the 2006-27 and 2027-28 school years.

• TJ junior Tyler Eber proved again to be one of the top running backs in the district this season by rushing for 1,849 yards on 318 carries and scoring 29 touchdowns. Eber’s longest jaunt from scrimmage was 90 yards.

• The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Eber averaged 5.81 yards per carry and a hefty 26.5 totes per game. And he led the team in kickoff returns with 10 for 273 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown return.

• Eber also was a workhorse in the offensive backfield as a sophomore running back in 2024, rushing for 2,276 yards on 420 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per carry, with 30 touchdowns.

• He has gained 4,125 yards on 738 carries and scored 59 touchdowns on the ground over the past two seasons.

• The Jaguars rushed for 3,111 yards and 46 touchdowns as a team in 2025.

• TJ’s sophomore quarterback Harrison Kolling passed for 837 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions, conntecting on 70 of 169 tosses.

• Jeff Raible, a senior QB/DB, also threw for 49 yards and one TD, helping the Jaguars to end up with an even 1,000 yards in the passing department.

• TJ’s signal callers “spread the wealth” as 11 players caught passes during the season.

• Junior WR/LB Kane Eggerton proved to be TJ’s leading receiver with 23 catches for 322 yards and six touchdowns. Eggerton averaged 14 yards per reception. Eber nabbed 14 passes for 108 yards and one score while senior WR/DB Jaxson Kolling chipped in with 12 receptions for 195 yards.

• Senior TE/DE Dom Volomino (9-175, 2 TDs) and senior WR/DB Jarrett Beacoate (8-108) combined for 17 receptions covering 283 yards. Hayden King, a junior WR/DB, also caught six passes for 28 yards.

• Junior RB/LB Deacon Kamberis, senior TE/DL Brennan Foulds, senior WR/DB Carson Dusak, senior RB/LB Emmet Forte and junior TE/DE Luccas Patterson all made one reception. Kamberis reached paydirt on a 14-yard catch.

• TJ outscored the opposition 386-186, averaging 32.1 ppg offensively and 15.5 ppg defensively — two of the top marks in Class 4A.

• Eber led the team in scoring with 31 touchdowns plus a two-point conversion, totaling 188 points.

• Kicker Sam Wessel, a senior who was the starting goalkeeper on the boys soccer team, split the uprights on 40 PATs and five field goals, good for 55 points.

• Eggerton scored seven touchdowns while Forte scored six.

• Trinity (5-0) finished first in the conference followed by Thomas Jefferson (4-1), Chartiers Valley (3-2), Belle Vernon (2-3), Ringgold (1-4) and Laurel Highlands (0-5).

• The Jaguars outscored their conference opponents 181-62, averaging 36.2 ppg offensively and 12.4 ppg defensively.

• Overall, TJ held five teams to just one score this season but did not register a shutout.

• The Jaguars were led defensively by some familiar names, with Forte and senior RB/LB Zach Villa at the top of the list. Forte accounted for 73 total tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one sack. Villa had 65 tackles, two sacks and one fumble recovery.

• The TJ tandem was complemented by a host of players on defense, starting with Eggerton, freshman RB/LB Alejandro Alleman, Beacote and sophomore OL/DL Dylan Beasock. Other leading tacklers included Raible, Volomino, Kamberis, Eggerton and senior RB/LB Elias Phiri.

• TJ racked up 17 interceptions, paced by sophomore WR/DB Colton Barilla with five. Forte and junior WR/DB Nate Costa had three apiece while Eggerton and Raible added two apiece. Sophomore WR/DB Kaden Fitz and junior WR/DB Jayden Hrebik each had one.

• There were 100 athletes on the TJ football roster in 2025.

Tags: Thomas Jefferson