Thomas Jefferson puts up big numbers en route to WPIAL championship game

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, November 17, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The numbers just kept piling up for the Thomas Jefferson football team this season.

The top-seeded Jaguars took a perfect 12-0 record into the WPIAL Class 4A championship game with former conference rival McKeesport, the No. 3 seed.

And TJ’s legendary Bill Cherpak was going for his 10th district championship in his three decades as coach.

(The game was played after this paper’s print deadline.)

TJ went into the matchup as the highest scoring team in Class 4A and with the best defensive average. The Jaguars held a 437-133 overall scoring margin, averaging 36.4 points per game while allowing 11.

Three players at TJ found themselves in the limelight offensively all season.

Through 12 games, sophomore running back Tyler Eber had accounted for 1,785 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns on 312 carries.

The Jaguars turned to the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Eber as their workhorse as the season progressed. In his team’s WPIAL playoff wins against West Allegheny (28-7) and Aliquippa (38-21), Eber rushed for 238 yards and two scores on 48 carries and 211 yards and three TDs on 42 carries.

“It’s awesome. Truthfully, it is such a dream come true,” Eber said. “I’ve worked so hard in order to be trusted with the ball in my hands, and it just means the world to me that Cherp trusts me to get the job done. And I feel great after games, so I’m a tough kid and I recover quick.

“We have been playing great TJ football. We’re shooting down every team’s running game with no one able to stop us when we’re running the ball, and we’ve had big plays in the passing game. I feel we have such a great group of guys that are really passionate about this. We all are willing to do anything to win WPIALs and states.”

Senior quarterback Luke Kosko threw for 1,686 yards and 20 touchdowns prior to playing in the WPIAL title game, connecting on 93 of 152 passes.

TJ wideouts Brayden White (56-1,057, 12 TDs) and Kane Eggerton (14-264, 5 TDs) combined for 70 catches covering 1,321 yards. White, a senior, and Eggerton, a sophomore, both averaged 18.9 yards per catch in the Jaguars’ big-play offense.

“So far, I see our team doing amazing in the playoffs,” Eggerton said as he prepared with his teammates for the clash with McKeesport. “We all know the end goal and we know that we don’t only get to that goal from Friday nights but days prior in prepping for the opponent.

“Besides the little mental mistakes here and there, we are looking completely solid all-around. From our skill players and field general to our big boys up front, and even our special teams guys, we all know our roles and what we can do to help the team overall.”

McKeesport was 8-4 overall but took a seven-game winning streak into the finals. The Tigers were averaging 33.8 ppg through 12 games and 18 ppg on defense, racking up a 406-216 overall scoring margin.

The Greater Allegheny Conference champions lost their first three games of the season, including a 34-31 overtime decision to TJ in a nonconference test.

“McKeesport is good team that has improved a lot since the beginning of the season,” Eber said. “They run their triple option religiously.”

Eber said the Tigers were TJ’s toughest opponent during the regular season.

“I give a lot of respect to the teams we’ve played, but our toughest game was definitely against McKeesport,” Eber said. “Not only were they a good team, but we just did not play well, in general, in the first half.

“We had to turn things around greatly in order to win that one, and we did that in the overtime win.”

Thomas Jefferson rolled to first place in the Big 6 Conference with a 5-0 record, followed by Trinity (4-1), Belle Vernon (3-2), Laurel Highlands (1-4), Chartiers Valley (1-4) and Ringgold (1-4).

How much did the Jaguars dominate? They surrendered just 35 points (7 ppg) while accumulating 168 (33.6 ppg) in conference play.

And here is an oddity: TJ and McKeesport were able to attain only one shutout between them all season, a 54-0 drubbing of Indiana by the Tigers.

While TJ was defeating West Allegheny and Aliquippa in the first two rounds of the playoffs, McKeesport was disposing of Belle Vernon, 34-11, and Mars, 35-7.

“We know McKeesport is a good, tough team with some talented guys,” Eggerton said, “but with the help of our coaches and our players holding each other accountable, I’m confident and have trust in my guys to come into this game fully ready and prepared for anything.

“Playing for Thomas Jefferson is an honor — knowing how well coached and disciplined everyone is. Everyone wearing a Jaguars jersey knows it doesn’t matter who lines up on the other side of the ball. We will put everything we have on the line to win the game.”

TJ’s offensive line provided the bulk of the blocking this season for the team’s grind-it-out running game spurred by Eber.

Stalwarts in the trenches include seniors Shep Turk (T) and Luke Janosko (G), juniors Zane Sable (C) and Dom Metz (G) and sophomore Beckett Everley (T), as well as senior Kooper Kamberis and junior Dom Volomino at tight end.

“We have been dominating and doing our thing,” said the 6-5, 290-pound Turk, a Pitt recruit and a WPIAL wrestling champion. “McKeesport is a good team and we’re ready to go.”

The leader on defense for TJ this season was senior LB Matt Martinis, who accounted for 45 unassisted and 27 assisted tackles and had a hand in virtually every defensive category including passes protected, batted passes, forced fumbles, recovered fumbles, sacks, hurries and punts blocked.

The 5-10, 195-pound Martinis was complemented by junior LB Zach Villa with 38 unassisted tackles and eight assisted.

Other leading players on defense were Eggerton (LB), junior DB Jarrett Beacoate, White (DB), junior LB Emmett Forte and sophomore LB Deacon Kamberis.

Others who made an impact include senior DB Nate Farison, sophomore DE Luccas Patterson, Turk (DL) and Kooper Kamberis (DL).

The Jaguars have reached the WPIAL finals 13 times since 2003.

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