University Prep working to rejoin top tier of City League contenders

By: Andrew John
Friday, August 25, 2023 | 1:29 AM

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After winning three City League championships in the first 10 years of program history, University Prep has its sights set on taking its first title since 2016.

The Panthers (3-6, 2-2) are looking to bounce back from losing to Allderdice, 14-6, in the semifinals of the City League playoffs last season. A week earlier, University Prep lost to Allderdice by a point, 21-20, in the regular season finale.

This season, University Prep returns 11 starters on both sides of the ball — six on offense and five on defense.

Senior Max Qureshi returns for his second season as starter under center for the Panthers. Qureshi will have seniors Daniel Cain and Marquis Glass-Jones and junior Xair Stevenson as targets at receiver.

Cain was a first-team offense selection in the City League last year. Stevenson is a rising junior.

“Our receiving corps has become collectively a lot faster. A lot more explosive and catching the ball a lot more consistently, especially with contested catches throughout our 7-on-7 experience,” coach Lou Berry said.

“Max has become more accurate and throws with more anticipation and a lot more velocity on his throws as a result, he’s putting his skill players in a position to make more explosive plays.”

Senior running back Paul Helvy returns for the Panthers after having his junior season cut short by injury.

The Panthers are returning four of the five starters on the offensive line, including senior tackle Trevor Weller and junior tackle Byron Clark. Berry hopes the line continues to come together and move in the same direction.

Even though he’s a junior, Stevenson has been looked up to as one of the leaders of the Panthers. Stevenson, who has been getting interest from Division I programs like Pitt, will make his impact felt on the defensive side of the ball. The linebacker recorded 78 total tackles, five interceptions and two sacks in less than nine games.

Seniors Siaire Gambrell and Dante Duncan will play big roles on the defensive line.

The Panthers have been stressing the need to play clean football.

“A lot of it has to deal with getting out of our own way by committing self-inflicted wounds with untimely penalties, missed assignments and not protecting the football. If we can clean up our own house by everyone becoming more intelligent football players, it will give us a much better opportunity to be successful,” Berry said.

“We’ve been training from the neck up by learning the playbook to the point where they can play fast as opposed to thinking about what they need to do to carry out their assignment.”

University Prep opens their season against New Castle on Friday. The Panthers will then travel to Steubenville, Ohio on Sept. 8 before opening their City League schedule against state finalist Westinghouse.

“The one thing with our league is that we all know one another. I anticipate every game being a tough contest. We certainly need to respect every opponent on our schedule. When it comes to league play with the familiarity, we can’t take any opponent lightly,” Berry said.

“We are going to attempt to improve each and every week by taking care of the things we can control and feel very confident that if we continue to improve in that area, we will be a team that will be tough to beat.”

From a player’s perspective, the goal never changes.

“It’s the same expectation we have every year. We expect to get to the state playoffs to get to a state championship but that starts with winning the City League. Every game in the City League is circled on our schedule,” Qureshi said.

University Prep

Coach: Lou Berry

2022 record: 3-6, 3-2 in City League

All-time record: 66-52-0

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.25 New Castle, 7:30

9.8 at Steubenville (Ohio), 7

9.14 at Westinghouse*, 7

9.22 at Wheeling Central Catholic, 7

9.29 Perry Traditional Academy*, 7

10.6 Brashear*, 7

10.13 at Allderdice*, 7

*City League game

FAST FACTS

• The University Prep team consists of students from University Prep, Pittsburgh Science and Technology and Obama Academy.

• The Panthers have won City League titles in 2011, 2013 and 2016.

• The University Prep program started in 2011.

• The Panthers won the 2Tenths 7-on-7 championship as the 12th seed.

Tags: University Prep