Quaker Valley football commits to rebuilding process during trying season

By: Tribune-Review
Sunday, October 16, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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The rebuilding campaign in the Quaker Valley football program has hit a few snags.

The Quakers have sat out the postseason for the past three years. Jason Cappa took over as field boss and the hope was the team would take a step forward in anticipation of a possible playoff push.

Cappa inherited a program that had gone 9-25 since winning WPIAL and PIAA championships in 2017.

But things haven’t been anything close to rosy since the Quakers defeated Seton LaSalle, 40-22, in their Class 3A Western Hills Conference opener.

South Side, Hopewell and South Park handed the Quakers decisive losses, dropping QV to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Nonetheless, Cappa and his staff aren’t discouraged. QV’s first-year head coach offered an philosophical perspective to the Quakers’ season.

“We acknowledge our wins and losses but don’t judge the value of our team or our growth from just those numbers,” Cappa said. “Like I said in the preseason, we are looking to develop ourselves individually and as a team in terms of how we compete and develop our fundamentals.

“When taking over a team where the previous years had a low number of players, our team is still learning how to compete every day in practice. We are able to have offensive, defensive and special team scout teams in practice this season. We have also played JV games. Our young and inexperienced players are getting valuable varsity, JV and practice reps that will result in the positive development of our team.”

The highlight of the season for the Quakers was their 18-point victory in their home opener Sept. 16 against Seton LaSalle.

Senior quarterback Troy Kozar connected on 12 of 23 passing attempts for 237 yards and threw scoring strikes of 5, 50 and 35 yards, the last two to senior wide receiver Jakub Pickett.

Kozar also scored on runs of 50 and 2 yards and received honorable mention consideration in the Trib HSSN Football Player of the Week voting.

Through seven games, Kozar completed 45 of 99 passes for 606 yards, five touchdowns with eight interceptions. He also scored twice on the ground.

“We have great leadership from our upperclassmen who are mentoring our younger players in a positive way,” Cappa said. “We have done a lot of things this year that are brand new to every player on the team in terms of our practice schedule, our weight room and recovery schedule, and our daily routine.

“Our returning players, such as Jakub Pickett (WR/DB), Abe Djedid (OL/DE) and Ethan Pesce (OL/DL), are playing at a high level, which was expected. They show up every day bringing a positive attitude. They never shy away from a challenge and have stepped up when we need them in games

“Newcomers who are seniors, such as Troy Kozar (QB), Evan Ray (OL/DL) and Christian Brown (ATH/DB), have taken leadership roles while also standing out in every game they play. One of the main reasons these players are doing so well is that they committed themselves to our offseason program.”

Pickett caught five passes for a school-record 163 yards and two touchdowns against Seton LaSalle.

Through seven games, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound wideout led the team in receiving and scoring with 23 catches for 448 yards and seven touchdowns, an average of 19.5 yards per reception. He also tacked on 162 yards on 12 rushing attempts, good for a 13.5 yards-per-rush average.

A four-year starter, Pickett led the Quakers in receiving as a junior and was a first-team all-conference selection.

“Our players show up every day with a positive attitude to get better, compete, work together as one and with a common goal: to improve,” Cappa said. “We have players standing out individually in the statistics, but we are working to get all 11 players to do their job with success at the same time.”

While the Quakers are a young group, they also have been decimated by injuries this season.

“We have not played a single game this season at full strength,” Cappa said. “I’ve never seen so many injuries on a team like we have had this year. We don’t make excuses. We control only what we can control. Our goal is to continue working and learning to be better football players while learning how to work together and finish strong.

“We are not looking at the path but looking at the process and what we can do each day to improve. We are always talking about controlling only what we can control. We will continue taking advantage of our playmakers while developing our other players to compete at a higher level then where they started. We are trying to put players in position where they can be successful while also keeping the team-first mentality.”

There are 10 seniors, eight juniors, eight sophomores and 10 freshmen listed on the QV roster.

“We have a very competitive freshmen class who are holding their own in practice and JV games that offer a positive to what the future looks like for QV football,” Cappa said.

Quaker Valley ends its regular season with three conference tests. Following an away game at West Mifflin, the Quakers host Beaver on Oct. 21 then close out their schedule Oct. 28 at Avonworth.

“Our coaches and senior leaders and captains have done a great job keeping players positive when they come to practice while also demanding everyone’s best efforts,” Cappa said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the leadership we have and the support we have. It would be easy to quit and not show up.

“There’s no doubt our players and coaches will finish what we started. We will keep working.”

Tags: Quaker Valley