Trib HSSN Football Team of the Week for Nov. 8, 2021

By: Don Rebel
Monday, November 8, 2021 | 6:33 PM

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Sometimes a trip on the Highway to Heinz can be a very long journey.

The distance between Beaver High School in Beaver County and Laurel Highlands High School in Fayette County is 89 miles.

However, for the members of the Mustangs football team, the trip felt shorter.

“The GPS said 1 hour and 45 minutes, but it seemed a lot faster after the big win,” Laurel Highlands coach Richard Kolesar said.

Laurel Highlands was in a celebratory mood Friday after coming back to beat the host Bobcats, 28-27, in a first-round WPIAL Class 4A football playoff game to secure the school’s first postseason victory in 11 tries.

“This is a very exciting time for our school and community,” Kolesar said. “Our football program is continuing to make strides to become one of the elite programs in the WPIAL, and this win is a big step in that process.”

It did not look good for Laurel Highlands early when Beaver jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“I think our kids knew we were capable of playing much better than we were early in the game,” Kolesar said. “We had some costly penalties early and some missed assignments on defense. Once we were able to score that first touchdown, we knew we were back in position to win the game.”

The first touchdown came on a 25-yard touchdown run by senior Tahji Hooper, the first of his three scoring runs.

“That was a huge momentum swing in the game and gave our team confidence that we could come back and win,” Kolesar said. “Tahji is a great football player. He was injured in the West Mifflin game and missed the next three weeks. He has been working at running back in practice and was able to have a breakout game this week.

“He also led the team in tackles and had multiple pass breakups. We probably don’t win that game without his performance.”

Junior quarterback Rodney Gallagher tied the score before halftime with a 7-yard touchdown run.

“Rodney Gallagher made great decisions with the football all night and distributed the ball to Tahji, Jayden Pratt and Keondre Deshields,” Kolesar said. “Dan Carney, Ayanze Sumpter and Jaiden Tucker played huge roles on defense in slowing down their running game. Matt Lucas only had one catch but made some key blocks on most of our big plays and touchdown runs. He also forced a fumble on the final kickoff of the game.”

Beaver took leads in both the third and fourth quarters, but Laurel Highlands had an answer each time with a Hooper scoring run. A missed extra point on the Bobcats’ fourth touchdown proved to be the difference.

“I have to give credit to our offensive line,” Kolesar said. “We were able to run for over 200 yards against one of the top defenses in 4A.”

Another long trip to Beaver County is in the card for the 4A quarterfinals Friday when Laurel Highlands squares off with No. 2 seed Aliquippa at Ambridge.

“Aliquippa is one of the best programs in the entire WPIAL,” Kolesar said. “We know that we have a great test in front of us, but we are excited for the opportunity to compete for a place in the semifinals.”

2021 HSSN Team of the Week

Week 9 – South Allegheny Gladiators

Week 8 – Leechburg Blue Devils

Week 7 – Beaver Bobcats

Week 6 – Seneca Valley Raiders

Week 5 – Upper St. Clair Panthers

Week 4 – Mohawk Warriors

Week 3 – Union Scotties

Week 2 – McKeesport Tigers

Week 1 – Shaler Titans

Week Zero – Northgate Flames