Westmoreland high school football notebook: Franklin Regional’s Hudock makes Norwin pay

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, October 7, 2023 | 6:54 PM

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Franklin Regional figured if Norwin was going to play single coverage on its receivers, it would take some shots downfield.

When you have a player like Ayden Hudock, the potential reward is worth the risk.

An underrated college prospect, Hudock continued to show his athleticism and playmaking ability as he scored four touchdowns in Friday’s 37-29 win over visiting Norwin.

“He is one of the best athletes I have ever coached,” Panthers coach Lance Getsy said.

A 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior, Hudock caught five receptions for 168 yards and three touchdowns and returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a score as the Panthers (5-2, 2-1) held back the Knights (2-4, 1-2), who scored 23 points in the second half after falling behind 28-6 at halftime.

He ran routes against Norwin senior safety Jackson Pons, one of the WPIAL’s best defensive backs and a Miami of Ohio commit.

“Hudock is a great player who gets his,” Norwin coach Mike Brown said. “Hats off to (Franklin Regional) for getting the ball into his hands.”

Hudock caught scoring passes of 6, 56 and 58 yards. He had two touchdowns called back: a 55-yard reception and a late TD run.

Of course, he scored on the next play after the first score was negated by a block in the back.

Junior Austin Kerns caught a 45-yard touchdown, one of four scoring throws from junior Chase Lemke, who quietly had a career game.

Lemke completed 8 of 19 passes for 247 yards with one interception.

“The thing with Ayden is when the double (team) comes, he is the first one to recognize that someone else might be open,” Getsy said. “He draws the attention away and gives us other options.”

Getsy also praised Lemke, saying he ran the offense with poise and may have had his best game reading defenses.

The Panthers trail Big East leader Gateway (4-3, 4-0) by 1.5 games with two conference games left, against Hempfield and Penn-Trafford.

While the conference title is mathematically possible, the Panthers are more concerned with securing one of the two playoff spots or possibly a wild card.

“This was a huge win for us,” Hudock said. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

Getsy said, “We have to take care of what we can control.”

GCC-Jeannette next week

The Greensburg Central Catholic-Jeannette rivalry game will come with much more anticipation, and carry more meaning in the standings, than the last two years.

Jeannette (6-1, 3-0) will host GCC (4-3, 2-1) next Friday at McKee Stadium. The Jayhawks have rattled off five straight wins.

Their loss was to East Allegheny in overtime.

GCC, whose conference loss is to first-place Clairton (40-28), will try to make it two wins in a row for the first time this season.

GCC handled Jeannette the last two years, winning 44-0 and 49-3.

Fits and starts

Though Norwin has been more resilient and competitive than it has in awhile, the Knights are trying to get off to better starts.

Norwin rallied from 22 down at halftime Friday in a 37-29 loss at Franklin Regional.

The Knights scored 15 in the fourth quarter.

They scored 23 in the fourth against Plum but won that game 30-23.

They had 16 in the second half of a 30-23 loss to Woodland Hills and put up half of their points in the third quarter of a 56-28 loss to Penn-Trafford.

“We have to be better,” Brown said. “We need to play four quarters. Anything else doesn’t cut it. We need to play better early.

“We need to be able to establish a running game, and we have to get better up front.”

Going streaking

A few local teams are on winning streaks.

Jeannette has won five in a row, and Franklin Regional and Latrobe have won three consecutive games.

Say what?

A few head-scratchers came out of Week 6, happening that had people doing double-takes and asking if they were getting bad information.

Trinity upset Thomas Jefferson, 23-6.

Pine-Richland upset Central Catholic, 26-19.

Ethan Pillar, Pine-Richland’s running back, carried the ball 56 times. No typos here. It’s all true.

Can’t lasso Tasso

Penn-Trafford junior tailback Tasso Whipple ran for 179 yards Friday, giving him 673 in his last three games.

Whipple, who ran for a school-record 300 yards against Hempfield, has 980 yards for the season.

Passing fancy

Westmoreland quarterbacks continued to put up yardage.

Five local passers threw for 200 or more yards.

They are: Braden Laux of Belle Vernon (14 of 16, 337 yards), Tristyn Tavares of Norwin (10-33, 292), Johnny Lovre, Penn-Trafford (13-26, 253), Chase Lemke of Franklin Regional (8-19, 247) and Payton Molter, Jeannette (11 of 20, 207).

The totals were a career high for Laux, Tavares, Lovre and Lemke.

The unique thing about Laux, who looks the part of a quarterback at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, is he is headed to Eastern Michigan to play tight end.

All of his production came in the first half against Greensburg Salem.

Well received

Six county pass-catchers had more than 100 yards receiving in Week 6. Hudock led the pack with five receptions for 168 yards. The others were: Jackson Pons of Norwin (3 for 149), Ty Keffer of Southmoreland (3 for 124), Anthony Crews of Belle Vernon (4 for 121), Luke Denny of Norwin (4 for 102) and Quinton Martin of Belle Vernon (5 for 100).

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Jeannette, Norwin