Western Beaver ready to shine under Friday night lights

By: Jonathan Bombulie
Saturday, August 16, 2025 | 6:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

The book (and movie and TV show) wasn’t called “Saturday Afternoon Sunshine.”

It was “Friday Night Lights,” and that’s a concept Western Beaver will become much more familiar with this season.

The Golden Beavers have been playing at Rich Niedbala Field at the high school in Industry for 63 years. Their home opener against South Side on Aug. 29, however, will be the first night game.

A long-discussed project to install lights has come to fruition, leaving Riverview and Summit Academy as the only WPIAL schools still playing Saturday afternoon home games.

“It’s easy to have big plans, but you always have doubts and naysayers and whatnot,” Western Beaver coach Ron Busby said. “To finally get to the point where it’s a done deal and we’re watching them go up, it’s pretty exciting.”

A school district can’t just write a check from the petty cash fund to pay for a project of this magnitude. Busby gave credit to State Rep. Josh Kail and a grant from the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development for making it fiscally possible.

“Everybody has their fiscal constraints, but ours are certainly kind of more complicated, being a very small school,” Busby said. “So that was the only way it was going to get done. And we’re really excited and grateful that we’re able to do this for our kids and our community.”

In keeping with a solid run of success in recent years, the team Western Beaver will put on the field this season looks to be worthy of the spotlight.

The Golden Beavers came within one score — in a 26-20 loss to Ellwood City in Week 6 last season — of winning the Midwestern Athletic Conference with an undefeated record.

Instead, they went 8-3 overall, 6-1 in the MAC, winning a first-round playoff game with Carlynton before losing in the WPIAL quarterfinals to Steel Valley.

Western Beaver has made five straight playoff appearances, averaging seven wins per season during that span.

“When you look at our path, we feel like we are always in the mix and should be in the mix, in that playoff contention discussion, the championship contention,” Busby said. “That’s kind of who we’ve been, right? But it’s getting over that hump, that final step to get into the stadium. And we feel like this is a group that can do that.”

It’s a group that will look different from last season. Jaivin Peel, the first quarterback in WPIAL history to throw for 2,000 yards as a freshman and sophomore, transferred to the Kiski School. His favorite target, all-conference receiver Chris Kirkland, is a freshman at Slippery Rock.

The Golden Beavers, however, return leading rusher Wyatt Sparbanie, who ran for 429 yards and nine touchdowns at a clip of 9.5 yards per carry as a sophomore last season. Three starters on the offensive line — senior Blaine Crislip, junior Tyson Davis and sophomore Aiden Hall — are also back.

Does that mean the Golden Beavers are preparing a ground-and-pound attack this fall?

Nope.

“I don’t think it’s going to look significantly different at all,” Busby said. “I think maybe some play selection looks different, but I think we’re spread at heart. We like to throw the ball.”

A big reason Busby isn’t rewriting his playbook is the arrival of freshman quarterback Amari Marshall.

Starting a freshman quarterback has become a tradition at Western Beaver. Peel did it and so did four-year starter Xander LeFebvre before him.

But the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Marshall isn’t getting the nod simply because he’s next in line.

“He’s going to be a special player,” Busby said. “I’ve seen a lot of kids and coached a lot of kids in my time and he’s going to be special, and I think everyone will end up seeing it before this year’s over.”

Other returning starters include junior running back/linebacker Braeden Mayo, sophomore linebacker Caden Seymour and junior receiver/defensive backs Aidan and Nate Vula.

Mayo and Sparbanie are the heart of the defense.

“They have a lot of varsity experience under their belt — athletic, fast, physical,” Busby said.

The three returning starters will be joined by juniors Damien Lutton and Nolan Kurtyka and sophomore Sawyer Chaffee to give the Golden Beavers a rock-solid group of linemen. Lutton is a transfer from Beaver. Chaffee missed last season with a knee injury.

“Our offensive line is, I feel, probably going to be the best group that we’ve had,” Busby said. “Now they have to prove it. They have to go out and get it done. But all things point to that being a group that we can rely on and can carry us for a little bit until we have our sea legs so to speak.”

Sophomore receiver/defensive back Avon Pressley is an exciting young player to watch.

“He was kind of our gadget guy while he learned last year, had some big yards, some big plays,” Busby said. “And he has developed into a really, really hard-working player.”

Western Beaver

Coach: Ron Busby

2024 record: 8-3, 6-1 in Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference

All-time record: 330-268-6

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.22 at Ambridge, 7

8.29 South Side, 7

9.5 at Rochester, 7

9.12 at Beaver Falls*, 7

9.19 Union*, 7

9.26 Riverside*, 7

10.3 at Ellwood City*, 7

10.10 at Mohawk*, 7

10.17 New Brighton*, 7

10.24 Freedom*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Jaivin Peel**

143-238, 2,405 yards, 28 TDs

Rushing: Wyatt Sparbanie

45-429 yards, 9 TDs

Receiving: Chris Kirkland*

33-730 yards, 15 TDs

*Graduated

**Transferred

FAST FACTS

• Before the first home night game against South Side on Aug. 29, Western Beaver will host an opening night ceremony at 6:30 p.m. with invited guests and the introduction of the team.

• Western Beaver is a three-time WPIAL champion, having won in 1976, 1983 and 1994.

• Coach Ron Busby is a native of St. Clairsville, Ohio, who attended Ohio University.

• Busby said he liked his team’s attitude in the early days of preseason practice: “The way they accept tough coaching and some tough love and the way these guys respond to it and don’t pout and just work harder, that’s what has me and our coaches really excited about the possibilities for this team. “

Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.

Tags: Western Beaver