Westmoreland high school football notebook: Crosby, Brown go toe-to-toe in rivalry game

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, October 4, 2025 | 8:16 PM

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Samir Crosby didn’t get a win in what was likely his final game at Jeannette, but the elusive senior star from Greensburg Central Catholic still put on a show in front of his hometown family and friends.

A day after getting cleared to play after suffering a concussion two weeks ago, Crosby accounted for 233 yards in the second half, leading the Centurions back from a 24-point halftime deficit before Jeannette settled on a 37-22 victory Friday night at McKee Stadium.

“I mean, I am happy with my performance, but a loss is a loss,” Crosby said. “It would have been better if we won.”

Crosby, who has 10 Division I scholarship offers, moved from receiver to quarterback — he was the QB last year — and was as shifty as he was patient. Time and again, he dropped back and took several seconds to read the defense before bolting ahead.

“Samir did Samir things,” Jeannette coach Tommy Paulone said. “We have watched him do it for four years.”

Crosby also made a surprise move to linebacker.

“I totally didn’t expect that,” he said.

Kymon’e Brown of Jeannette also was a chore to bring down in the first half as he rushed for 130 of his 146 yards — and both of his touchdowns — as Jeannette went ahead 30-6.

Crosby and Brown, longtime friends who were still ribbing one another after the game, had several one-on-one moments, including once in coverage and another where they became locked up along the sideline in a moment of levity.

“He goes, I am up to 162 (pounds),” Crosby said with a smile. “That kind of cut the tension a little bit.”

Brown and Crosby have been told by some college coaches they are too small to play at major Division I programs.

Both were giants Friday as Jeannette increased its lead in the all-time series to 23-12-1. The Jayhawks have won two in a row against the Centurions after snapping a four-game losing streak in the series with a 29-23 win in last year’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.

“They are both dynamic players,” GCC coach JT Thompson said. “We couldn’t tackle (Brown).”

Brown said Jeannette was prepared and focused on chasing a playoff berth.

“It’s a big rivalry, and we’re the home team,” Brown said. “I wanted to beat (Crosby) at home.

“We had malicious intent (mentality). We wanted to dominate the game and play as a team.”

Record store

Senior quarterback Dom Detruf has the top passing records at Hempfield all to himself.

Detruf, on Friday night, broke career records for yards and touchdowns in a 33-26 loss to Norwin.

Detruf surpassed Justin Sliwoski in several categories and now has the top marks for completions (321), attempts (562), yards (4,330) and touchdowns (42).

Scotties 7-0

Southmoreland plowed past another opponent to move to 7-0 and continue its best start since 1964.

Jackson Mickens ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns on only four carries — 26 yards per attempt — in a 41-0 win at Yough.

The fourth-ranked Scotties, who scored 32 points in the second quarter, outgained the Cougars, 344-90.

They will play rival Mt. Pleasant in another 3A Interstate Conference matchup next week in Alverton.

Thrill of the Chace

Belle Vernon junior running back Chace Petrosky erupted for a school-record 339 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries in a 36-35 loss to Chartiers Valley.

The previous Leopards single-game record of 303 yards belonged to Nick Kalcevic in 2000.

Petrosky, who had 204 yards in his first four games as a starter, scored on runs of 3, 30, 71 and 17 yards in the narrow loss.

Another running back from Westmoreland County also topped 300 yards Friday. Burrell’s Antonio Perkins ran for 303 yards and four TDs in a 41-31 win over Valley.

Week 7

Next week’s schedule will begin to paint the WPIAL playoff picture with three weeks left in the regular season.

In Class 6A, Norwin will play a rare Thursday game against Central Catholic (8 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon), and Seneca Valley plays at Hempfield.

The Class 5A Big East features Armstrong at Kiski Area and Penn-Trafford at Franklin Regional. Belle Vernon goes to Laurel Highlands in the Class 4A Big Six, and Class 3A Allegheny 7 games include Derry at Greensburg Salem, Elizabeth Forward at Yough and Mt. Pleasant at unbeaten Southmoreland.

South Park visits Ligonier Valley in the Class 2A Allegheny, and Monessen plays at Burgettstown in the Class A Big 7. The Class A Eastern has Brentwood at Jeannette and Springdale at Greensburg Central Catholic.

Pine-Richland plays at Latrobe in a nonconference game.

Extra points

Ligonier Valley broke a nine-game losing streak, and Franklin Regional snapped a seven-game skid. … Ligonier Valley’s 67 points against Charleroi is one point off the school record of 68 set in 2016 vs. Saltsburg. … Mt. Pleasant ran the ball 52 times for 358 yards in a 42-29 win over Greensburg Salem. … Norwin’s Giovanni Rothrauff ran for 193 yards and two TDs on 24 carries against Hempfield. He has run for more than 100 yards in all seven games. … … Hempfield had two 100-yard receivers against Norwin. Jack Kopas had a career-high 12 catches for 137 yards, and Henry Mutschler added six grabs for 145 yards.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin