With full complement of starters back, new Bentworth coach looks to build brand

By: Adam Brewer
Thursday, August 24, 2023 | 6:01 AM

First-year coach David Pordash knows the rebuild at Bentworth is going to be a long process, but the former Bearcat is excited for the task at hand this fall.

“We have 38 kids in camp and their participation has been tremendous,” said Pordash, who played football at Waynesburg University. “There has been a lot of good and excited energy in camp so far. There’s a lot of battles going on, and the competition is getting interesting every day in camp.”

One of Pordash’s main goals is to build a “Bentworth brand.”

“It’s about pride and pride in your school, team and community,” he said. “We have four pillars to the Bentworth brand and that is family and fun, accountability, attitude and hustle. We want these kids to be not only better football players but better people. We are also going to work closely with the youth football program and try to have everyone on the same page.”

Pordash also applauded his assistant coaches — Jerry Cavanaugh, John Fundy, Josh Hughes, Travis Harff and Jerry Maley.

“I cannot say enough good things about my coaching staff,” Pordash said. “We all either live in the Bentworth area and graduated from here. We know about the tradition and we want to carry a winning tradition for the future.

“We want the boys to be active in the community. We encourage them to play other sports during the year and to go to other sporting events to root on your classmates.”

Last season, the Bearcats got off to a good start by winning their first two nonconference games against Brownsville and Avella but dropped their final eight games of the season, including all seven Tri-County South games.

Bentworth hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since 2015, and the Bearcats are looking for just their third playoff berth since 2003.

The Bearcats only lost four seniors from last year’s squad, and they still return all 11 starters on both sides of the football.

“We have that starting experience coming back, but we are still a young squad,” Pordash said. “We have a good freshmen group coming in, but we only have seven seniors. Our expectation is to compete, and we are really stressing about competing in conference play this season.”

Pordash believes the Tri-County South will be wide open.

“I have studied some film on a couple of our conference teams, but it’s so hard to know what to expect from these other teams in the conference,” he said. “We have a lot of rivalries in the conference, and we want to compete in those games. I think California and Carmichaels are the early favorites. Monessen and Beth-Center are tough, and you just can’t look past the other three teams either.”

Senior quarterback Vitali Daniels is back under center for the Bearcats and is looking to lead the team with his gritty play. In 2022, Daniels threw for 908 yards and 10 touchdowns, while leading the team in rushing with 570 yards and nine more rushing scores.

“Vitali is a hard-nosed, physical kid,” Pordash said of his 6-foot, 187-pound signal caller, who also wrestles in the winter. “He fights for every yard and never gives up on a play. He leads by example, and I think the kids around him feed off his play.

“This year he will have a quarterback coach and they have worked on his decision making. He will only have a couple of reads, then he can use his legs.”

Junior wide receiver Lucas Burt was all-conference last year and is coming off a season where he caught a team-high 30 balls for 441 yards and four touchdowns.

Other offensive weapons will be senior Ben Luketich, who will move from fullback to halfback, and sophomore Ben Hayes, who compiled 359 rushing yards, 367 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns last fall. Junior Anthony Washington may also have an impact on the passing game.

On the line, juniors Alex Rusilko and Abe House, sophomore Brayden Taggart and freshman Levi Urcho will look to anchor the line of scrimmage.

Pordash hopes to upgrade a defense that allowed 42 points per game last year.

“It’s about tackling and running to the football on every defensive snap,” he said. “You have to set the tone on defense. We need to get those stops and shut teams down.

“I think last year for every touchdown we scored, the opponent scored two touchdowns. We have to cut that down and flip-flop those numbers. The offense also need to help out the defense and win the time of possession battle.”

The Bearcats will run a mixture of a 5-3 and 3-3 front. Sophomore Owen Ivcic is penciled in as a middle linebacker, while senior Noah Youngblood, juniors Vincent Logan and Rylan Hess and freshman Ty Watson could all see playing time.

Special teams will once again be a strong suit for Bentworth as two soccer standouts, senior Anthony Puckey and freshmen Caden Hackinson, will handle the extra point and field goal duties. Sophomore Tyler Pauquet is another option on special teams.

Bentworth

Coach: David Pordash

2022 record: 2-8, 0-7 in Class A Tri County South

All-time record: 231-350-7

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.25 Brownsville, 7

9.1 at Avella, 7

9.8 Leechburg, 7

9.15 at Monessen*, 7

9.22 West Greene*, 7

9.29 at Jefferson-Morgan*, 7

10.6 at Beth-Center*, 7

10.13 Mapletown*, 7

10.20 at Carmichaels*, 7

10.27 California*, 7

*Conference game

Tags: Bentworth