South Allegheny football team eager for fresh start after 2018 collapse

By: Jeremy Tepper
Thursday, August 22, 2019 | 8:01 AM

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Success in sports often can often be fleeting. A winning formula quickly can turn sour when injuries and adversity hit, spiraling wins into losses in an instant.

That was the hard lesson South Allegheny’s football team had to learn last year as it watched a 4-1 start turn into a 4-6 disappointment of a season.

The skid started in a win, a 27-12 victory over Fort Cherry that saw the Gladiators lose players to injuries. Consecutive blowout losses to Steel Valley and South Side sank South Allegheny’s spirits, and the Gladiators continued to drop after a 23-7 loss to Serra Catholic.

All the while, injuries increased and were compounded by players being suspended for team violations.

A home game against an eventual two-win Carlynton team offered a potential reprieve but instead only served to break South Allegheny as the Gladiators lost 21-14. The last game of the season was a blowout loss to Burgettstown

“After that game everybody around school and around here was like, ‘You guys are trash, you lost to Carlynton,’ ” said junior running back Antonio Epps. “And then after that we went into Burgettstown, and going into that game there was like no drive to even try to win that game or no commitment.”

Ever since that final loss, Mike Crown, South Allegheny’s third-year coach, has preached a message of how to handle adversity. Mental toughness, he figures, will be the key decider of whether his team looks more like the one that raced off to a hot start last season or the one that lost five in a row.

“When adversity comes, we fold or crumble and that’s the hump right there, getting over that,” Epps said. “That’s how it’s always been around here for a long time now.”

For now, the Gladiators like their chances at making a run at a playoff spot. They will be anchored by a line that returns three starters as well as William Hynes, who started some games toward the end of last season.

“I think that’s probably our strength, even though we’ve got to get them to jell better in their positions,” Crown said.

This experienced group of linemen likely will be tasked with protecting Codee Skotnicki, a senior quarterback who stepped into the starting lineup amid injuries last season. Crown lauded Skotnicki’s speed and ability to throw underneath passes. Eric Anderson and Logan Hamilton figure to be a couple of his main targets.

“The wide receiver group is going to be young, but they’re pretty good,” Crown said. “It’s a whole plethora of younger kids competing for those jobs.”

As the starting tailback, Epps likely will serve as South Allegheny’s primary playmaker. Crown called him “one of the top kids in our conference athletically.”

On the other end, the Gladiators are strong up front, Crown believes, with Zach Martin and Frank Cortazzo anchoring that group. Chase Nicomatti, South Allegheny’s best lineman last year, could move to linebacker, and Epps, Skotnicki and Jett Jones will head the secondary.

“I think on defense we’re playing well,” Nicomatti said. “We’re flying around, making plays. We’re intercepting the ball, stopping the run, sacking the quarterback.”

Since last season ended, Nicomatti has let the lingering sting of disappointment fuel him in the offseason, pushing him in the weight room. He, along with Epps, said they often will rewatch games from last season, looking for ways they can be better.

The losing, they hope, is behind them, but in a way it always will be there, serving as a reminder of what they hope to avoid this time around.

“I think it’s mental toughness, getting at it, not getting a little nervous if a team goes up,” Crown said. “We’ve got to be confident in ourselves to come back and put the points on the board and just be successful knowing who we are.”

Schedule

Coach: Mike Crown

2018 record: 4-6, 3-4

All-time record: 175-335-6

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23, at Frazier, 7

8.30, Brentwood*, 7

9.6, East Allegheny, 7

9.13, at Seton LaSalle*, 7

9.20, Fort Cherry*, 7

9.27, at Steel Valley, 7

10.4, South Side*, 7

10.11, at Serra Catholic*, 7

10.18, at Carlynton*, 7

10.25, Burgettstown*, 7

*Class 2A Three Rivers Conference game

Tags: South Allegheny