Westmoreland high school football notebook: Upstart Jeannette takes cue from basketball team

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, November 9, 2024 | 4:38 PM

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If the basketball team could do it, so could the football team.

That was Jeannette’s mindset Friday night as the Jayhawks double-stamped their surprising run in the WPIAL Class A football playoffs with a second straight upset, 29-23 over rival and fifth-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals at Norwin.

Jeannette (9-3), the 13th seed, knocked off No. 4 Neshannock in the first round 23-7.

The Jayhawks, who hadn’t played GCC in the playoffs since 2006, advance to face top-seeded Fort Cherry (12-0) in the semifinals. The game will be 7 p.m. Friday at Canon-McMillan’s AHN Field at Big Mac Stadium.

Last basketball season, Jeannette took a seven-game losing streak against GCC into a PIAA 2A second-round playoff game — also at Norwin. The Jayhawks, seeded sixth out of seven WPIAL teams, proceeded to stun the WPIAL runner-up Centurions, 48-46, in overtime.

Who did they play in the quarterfinals? Fort Cherry.

“It’s deja vu,” Jeannette basketball coach and athletic director Adrian Batts said. “It can be done. That’s what I told our guys.”

The football team had lost four straight to GCC but held the Centurions back to break the streak and advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2020.

“You don’t get second chances in football,” Jayhawks football coach Tommy Paulone said. “Our guys believed they could win.”

Paulone is not a big basketball guy, but he gets the comparison.

“Two different sports,” he said. “It’s just Jeannette kids being Jeannette kids.

“We had so many guys contribute to (Friday’s) win. That is what it takes.”

Football players Kymon’e Brown, Noah Sunder, Jayce Powell, Markus McGowan, Xavier Odorisio-Farrow, McAlister Steele and Eli Jones were on the basketball team that lost to Fort Cherry, 70-60.

Star Fort Cherry quarterback Matt Sieg, a Penn State commit, was on that Rangers team.

“We’re 0-0 now,” Paulone said. “The next game is the biggest one. We have more to prove.”

Nick of time

Jeannette junior Nick Mendoza was a key part of the Jayhawks’ running game Friday, rushing 14 times for a career-high 87 yards and a touchdown.

On the Jayhawks’ final scoring drive, Mendoza ran left, made two defenders freeze with a fake, then ran into the end zone for a 7-yard score that helped Jeannette push its lead to 29-15 with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left.

“Since freshman year, we lost to GCC,” Mendoza said. “We were happy to get a playoff rematch. We didn’t want to go home with another loss to them. Everybody stepped up.”

Brown said Mendoza looks like Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.

“Put that in the paper,” Brown said. “That’s him.”

Paulone said Mendoza has earned the carries.

“We wanted to get him involved,” Paulone said. “He is a perfect-attendance lifting guy. He is one of our most improved guys.”

Sieg-nificance

Jeannette will have its hands full with Fort Cherry junior quarterback and defensive back Sieg.

The 6-foot, 180-pounder leads the defending WPIAL champions in multiple ways, much like Brown does for Jeannette.

Quick and strong, Sieg also had offers from Pitt, West Virginia, Michigan State, USC and others.

He rushed 30 times for 185 yards and three touchdowns Friday in a 27-20 win over No. 9 Cornell (9-3) in another quarterfinal.

“I haven’t watched the tape yet,” Paulone said. “But any time the Big Ten (and) Penn State is interested, it’s real.”

For the season, Sieg is 67 of 108 passing for 1,022 yards and 19 touchdowns in nine games played.

He was limited some early in the season with a thumb injury.

Sieg also has 1,495 yards rushing and 23 TDs.

On defense, he has three interceptions, and he also has a punt return score.

He also plays basketball and baseball and runs track.

Kerns healing

Franklin Regional made the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals without one of its top defensive players.

Senior linebacker Austin Kerns was on his way to a monster year when he was injured in a Week 7 loss at Penn-Trafford.

He already was recovering from a high ankle sprain when he rolled the same ankle, compounding the injury and causing ligament damage.

Kerns, a 6-foot, 205-pounder, recently had surgery and said it went well.

“The surgery was done by Dr. Stephen Conti, who is one of the most renowned ankle specialists in the area,” Kerns said.

Kerns has been able to see the game from a different perspective.

“The game has sort of slowed down for me for the first time since I’ve been held out,” he said. “I’ve been able to understand and study the game more. It’s also allowed me to take on a coaching role in preparing some younger guys for their first varsity snaps.”

Despite missing four games, Kerns was fourth on the team in tackles going into Friday night’s quarterfinal at Pine-Richland.

He had 51 stops, including 11 for loss, and five sacks. He also had eight receptions for 156 yards and four touchdowns.

Kerns hopes to resume training when he is medically cleared to do so, then commit to a college program.

With a Division II offer on the table from Central State and more opportunities from FCS and Division III programs in the works, Kerns is optimistic he will be ready to make the jump to the next level.

“I’ll be back bigger, faster, and stronger in a college jersey next year,” he said. “I want to play for a program that wants me there and not just because another school offered me.”

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Jeannette