TribHSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Donovan Hinish, Central Catholic

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, July 7, 2021 | 4:41 PM

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The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park.

Terry Totten wanted to remove some heavy weightlifting platforms from a Central Catholic workout room.

Donovan Hinish and his brother, Kurt, offered to help.

“I went to go and get a saw and some tools,” said Totten, the coach of the Vikings. “By the time I came back, they had the things ripped up already by hand.”

That about perfectly sums up the Hinishes’ blue-collar work ethic and strength, traits Totten appreciates and Notre Dame loves.

Donovan Hinish, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound two-way tackle, is committed to play for the Fighting Irish, following in the footsteps of Kurt Hinish, a grad student lineman in South Bend.

But first, the incoming senior lineman will do the heavy lifting up front this fall for the Vikings, the two-time defending WPIAL Class 6A champions. Odds are he will enjoy every second of it.

Hinish is one of 25 players chosen for the TribHSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team. The team will be recognized on July 22 during a HSSN event at Kennywood Park.

Hinish, who is from Baldwin, is the down-and-dirty kid who grunts when he knocks you back; the kid who uses up all the eye black; the kid who embodies pure grit.

“He has really worked at it,” Totten said. “He has put in the time. He is always willing to work hard. He’s laid concrete and things like that. His dad is in construction.”

It is no secret Totten likes to run the football. With players like Hinish, he can load up the playbook with draws, counters, traps and sweeps.

“We think he will be effective on both sides of the ball, and that is getting rarer in this day and age,” the coach said. “We feel pretty good about running the ball behind him. (On defense), he likes to play down.”

An all-conference player as a junior, Hinish wears the same number his brother wore for the Vikings: 51.

Rivals.com has him with different numbers: No. 16 in the state and No. 39 in the nation at defensive tackle.

Donovan Hinish

Central Catholic

Senior

6-2, 275

OT/DT

Committed to: Notre Dame

The Legacy Continues… Love Thee ☘️ @NDFootball @CoachMikeElston @210ths @flem021 pic.twitter.com/Tkwz1CwvC5

— Donovan Hinish (@D_Hinish51) June 4, 2021

Hudl highlights here.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Central Catholic