Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Scotties staying focused

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, October 30, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Southmoreland football coaches repeatedly preach for the team to “go 1-0 every week.”

The players hear it multiple times a day, dozens of times per week, hundreds per month.

If the Scotties follow orders this week, they’ll make history.

Southmoreland (9-1) will try to capture its first playoff victory, which has evaded the team since the program started in 1964 (after the Scottdale and East Huntingdon merger).

Southmoreland, seeded No. 7 in Class 3A, hosts No. 10 Hopewell (6-4) at 7 p.m. Friday night at Russ Grimm Field.

The Scotties are trying their best to stay present despite the past looming in their shadow.

“It doesn’t matter about last week or next week. The only vision is this week,” Scotties’ receiver and defensive back Ty Whoric said. “(A win) would mean a lot because Scottie Nation has been waiting for the year that it comes, and they have been supporting us through every single game and every week. We would love to thank them for that support. … It would be a very special feeling.”

Southmoreland has made the playoffs six times in the last eight years after failing to qualify from 1980-2018.

Southmoreland’s playoff history looks like this:

• 1979: Lost to Penn Hills, 31-0.

• 2019: Lost to Avonworth, 41-0.

• 2021: Lost to East Allegheny, 36-11.

• 2022: Lost to West Mifflin, 54-28.

• 2023: Lost at Deer Lakes, 48-18.

• 2024: Lost to Highlands, 56-20.

Rothrauff in a rush

It looks like Norwin running back Giovanni Rothrauff is taking his place among the top rushers in Norwin history.

Last week, Rothrauff ran for 265 yards, 8 shy of the school single-game record of 273 set by Mike Reese in 1998 against Laurel Highlands.

As his productive season continued, Rothrauff topped 1,000 yards for the season — a rarity for the Knights.

A Norwin rusher has not reached 1,000 yards in a season in 24 years. The last to do it was Derrick Kovalcin in 2001 when he ran for 1,235.

The Norwin single-season record for rushing is 1,585 set in 1995.

Rothrauff has 1,424 for the year.

Old and new

Playoff quarterbacks are a mix of new and experienced for local teams.

Of the seven qualifiers, four have quarterbacks who have played at least two seasons: Tristyn Tavares at Norwin, Anthony Sacco at Derry, Kymon’e Brown at Jeannette and Samir Crosby at Greensburg Central Catholic.

Three others have first-year starters who have shined in their role: Nate Desmond at Penn-Trafford, Dawson Wolfe at Southmoreland and Kaier Payne at Monessen.

Wolfe took over when standout Anthony Smith transferred, and Payne became the starter when Dennis Hawkins left for Ringgold.

Record friendship

Hempfield’s Dom Detruf and Jack Kopas aren’t just best friends; they formed one of the top pass-and-catch duos in the WPIAL’s largest classification this season.

Their names are freshly etched into the Spartans’ record book.

Detruf broke just about every career passing record, most held by Justin Sliwoski, finishing as the leader in completions (166), yards (5,009) and touchdowns (46).

This year, he completed 166 of 256 attempts for 2,266 yards and 21 TDs — all single-season records.

Kopas set single-season marks for receptions (61) and receiving yards (810) and career catches (109).

Shortly after the season ended for the Spartans, Kopas received a Division II offer to play at Lock Haven.

Dual threats

Though a number of local quarterbacks have rushed and passed for 1,000 yards in a season, only a select few have done it in the regular season.

In fact, only four players from Westmoreland County have achieved the feat.

Raidon Kuroda of Yough did it last year (1,365 passing, 1,006 rushing), three years after Cody Rubrecht of Greensburg Salem did it in 2022 (1,001/1,017). Rubrecht also had 1,000 receiving yards in his career, the first in the county to hit the milestone in three categories.

The other locals in the 1,000-1,000 club are Skyy Moore of Shady Side Academy, a New Kensington native who achieved the feat twice (1,184/1,321 in 2017; 1,274/1,049 in 2018), and Max Garda of Burrell (1,107/1,164 in 2016).

Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown and Greensburg Central Catholic’s Samir Crosby had 1,000-1,000 last season, but that included the playoffs.

Brown has 1,474 yards passing and 881 rushing this year.

Crosby has more than 2,000 career yards in passing and rushing and more than 1,000 receiving.

He moved from quarterback to receiver for much of this season before returning to QB.

The first player to achieve 1,000 and 1,000 in the regular season was Nico Law of Ringgold in 2013. Since then, 23 players have done so.

Dueling alums

Jeannette plays Bentworth in the Class A first round. Both head coaches played football at Waynesburg — Jeannette’s Tommy Paulone and Dave Pordash of Bentworth. Both are alums at their respective programs.

What a game

It might be the performance of the year in Westmoreland County, but few are talking about it.

Burrell quarterback Antonio Perkins last week rushed for a school-record 360 yards and five touchdowns and returned a kickoff and a punt for scores in a 48-41 win over Deer Lakes.

Perkins also had an interception on defense.

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

Tags: Derry Area, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Monessen, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland