Trib HSSN Football Player of the Week for 2022 Week 9

By: Don Rebel
Monday, October 31, 2022 | 8:26 PM

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When asked if he’d rather hit a receiver on a perfect 50-yard touchdown pass or if he would rather keep the ball on an RPO and race 50 yards to paydirt, Neshannock quarterback Jonny Huff didn’t hesitate.

“I’d rather keep the ball on an RPO and jaunt into the end zone,” Huff said quickly with a laugh.

Huff did a lot of jaunting into the end zone in Week 9, scoring six touchdowns as the Lancers clinched second place in the Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference with a 42-12 win at Mohawk.

For the night, Huff threw for only 44 yards but was unstoppable on the ground. He carried the ball 22 times for 285 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 22, 3, 11, 1, 1 and 27 yards.

It was the most touchdowns in a game in the senior quarterback’s life.

“Jonny was really focused all week going into last week’s game,” Neshannock coach Fred Mozzocio said. “I just had a feeling he was going to have a big night. His leadership really stood out all week, and during the game, he rallied his troops and they followed him.”

Huff scored three of his touchdowns in the opening quarter and two more in the second quarter as the visiting Lancers took control of the battle for second place early, taking a hefty lead into the lock room, 34-7.

His final touchdown of the night came in the third quarter as Neshannock sealed the deal on a second-place finish in the MAC and a 9-1 overall record heading into the district playoffs.

“Jonny has done an exceptional job learning the position this year and he has spent numerous hours working on his craft with Frank Bongivengo Jr., his quarterbacks coach and our offensive coordinator, Ron Deporzio,” Mozzocio said. “His attention to detail has really paid off. He’s had one of the finer seasons I have ever been around in my 25 years coaching high school football.”

For the season, Huff is 40 yards passing shy of 1,000 for the season but has rushed for over 1,600 yards and has scored 27 touchdowns.

As the No. 4 seed, Neshannock will host No. 13 Burrell (6-4) in the Class 2A first round. The Bucs finished in fifth place in the 2A Allegheny Conference.

“Burrell is a strong physical football team, and they run their offensive system very well,” Mozzocio said. “They are also very sound defensively and are very well-coached in all aspects of the game. We look forward to challenge Friday night. This is what you sign up for when you play in the WPIAL playoffs.”

Week 9 Honorable Mentions

Tiqwai Hayes – Aliquippa

It was simply known as ‘The Game’ in the WPIAL for the 2022 football season. Everybody knows that Central Valley against Aliquippa in Week 9 would be huge, but then add on the fact that both are defending district and state champions, both teams entered the contest with undefeated records, and the winner would be the outright Parkway Conference champion and the top seed when the WPIAL Class 4A playoff brackets came out less than 24 hours later.

When all was said and done, one of the younger players on the field claimed center stage at Freedom as his own. Aliquippa sophomore running back Tiqwai Hayes carried the ball 24 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns on runs of 3 yards to open the scoring and 20 yards to close out the scoring as the Quips came back to defeat the Warriors, 35-24. Aliquippa improved its now longest district winning streak to 21 consecutive while Central Valley saw its streak halted at 36 in a row.

Quinton Martin – Belle Vernon

In its biggest game of the year as Belle Vernon played for the Interstate Conference championship and likely the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs, the brightest star in green and gold was shining bright.

Leopards junior running back Quinton Martin didn’t take long to make his mark, catching a 36-yard touchdown pass from junior Bradon Laux and then scoring on an 80-yard run before the first quarter ended. Martin finished with 174 yards rushing and three touchdown runs plus 63 yards on two receptions, both that went for scores, as Belle Vernon rolled past host and previously undefeated Elizabeth Forward, 48-14.

Matt Sieg, Fort Cherry

The fabulous freshman quarterback didn’t have to do much slinging in a key Class A Black Hills Conference regular season finale against host Burgettstown, but his legs ran wild in allowing Fort Cherry a shot at some playoff home cooking in the first round.

A steady diet of Matt Sieg was a recipe for disaster for Burgettstown. Sieg threw for 38 yards and a touchdown, while doing massive damage on the ground with 363 yards rushing on 34 carries and six touchdowns on runs of 13, 75, 17, 3, 40 and 5 yards as the Rangers beat the Blue Devils, 48-34, to claim the No. 2 spot out of the conference and host an opening round playoff game with the No. 6 seed.

2022 HSSN Players of the Week

Week 8 – Cadin Olsen, Armstrong

Week 7 – Roman Sarnic, Franklin Regional

Week 6 – Landan Stevenson, Mapletown

Week 5 – Jake Wolfe, Montour

Week 4 – Jaren Brickner, Beaver Falls

Week 3 – Jake Phillips, Hempfield

Week 2 – Luke Cignetti, Shaler

Week 1 – Cruce Brookins, Steel Valley

Week Zero – Conlan Greene, Penn-Trafford

Tags: Neshannock