Woodland Hills looks to give Scoop Smith more help, return to playoffs

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, August 8, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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Getting the ball to Scoop Smith was the best option any time Woodland Hills’ offense faced a tough spot and needed a big play.

It often worked, too, since the wide receiver scored a team-high 17 touchdowns, flashing the quickness that made him a WPIAL track champion in the 100 meters. The junior remains a threat this season, but Woodland Hills coach Brian Tarrant said the offense’s mission will be to get more teammates involved.

Tarrant counts at least 10 capable receivers vying for catches, and all-conference running back Zykir “Ziggy” Moore leads a deep backfield.

“I know Scoop was very unstoppable in a one-on-one situation,” said Tarrant, now in his second season as coach. “But our whole thinking this summer was, ‘If we didn’t have Scoop, what would we be?’ Our goal as a staff is to be more balanced.”

That’s no knock on Smith, a first-team all-state player last fall with 44 catches. But it’s instead a vote of confidence in the team’s depth and the abilities of junior quarterback Cameron Walter, who tossed 18 touchdowns to four interceptions a year ago.

“When we got into trouble last year, we tagged Scoop. That’s great,” Tarrant said. “But Scoop is always going to command a double. When you have a quarterback like Cam who can scan the field and find that man-to-man matchup, we’re going to be very successful.”

Woodland Hills returns four starters on offense and eight on defense from a team that narrowly missed the playoffs a year ago. The Wolverines finished 6-4 overall, 3-2 in the Northeast Conference.

The team has since moved to the Big East.

The WPIAL had only an eight-team bracket in Class 5A last season (now 12 this season), and tiebreakers prevented Woodland Hills from earning a wild card. It wasn’t the ending Tarrant wanted for his first season, but he sees a program that’s in a much stronger spot now.

“The players are breathing differently. We’re talking differently. There’s a lot more confidence,” he said. “The kids are well-accustomed to what I’m doing. They see my vision. Last year there was a little resistance to a new coach coming in. I’m a fiery guy, chewing them up a little more than they were used to. They had to warm up to me a bit.”

The defense returns much from last season, including a pair of middle linebackers with Division I college offers. Senior George Hill (6-foot-1, 225 pounds) committed to Buffalo. Moore (6-2, 205), who’s also the team’s leading rusher, has Syracuse and UConn among his seven offers.

Also returning as starters are defensive end Jayden Estes, linebacker Charles Harper, safety Prince Tarrant and cornerback Amare Brown. Smith, along with playing receiver, also starts at cornerback. With so much experience back, Tarrant said this year’s defense should be more opportunistic.

“We resisted (offenses),” Tarrant said, “but the splash plays weren’t there.”

An area of uncertainty for the offense is along the offensive line, where the Wolverines graduated four seniors now playing in college. Tarrant said the team has capable replacements to play up front, just not with much experience.

“We have 11 or 12 good bodies, but right now they’re very inexperienced,” he said. “We’ll use the first three games to build some experience up front and see if we can push the ball down people’s throats a little bit.”

If so, Tarrant sees an offense that could be special. That starts with Walter, who threw for 1,554 yards last season, completing 62% of this throws.

“I think he’s the best quarterback in high school,” Tarrant said. “Of course he’s my quarterback, but I truly believe that. He’s very cerebral. He’s a leader. He’s in great shape. I just don’t have anything I can say that Cam hasn’t impressed me with.”

His top target is Smith, who has college football offers from UMass, Temple and Nebraska, among others, plus a couple of basketball options. But senior Cymeon McCoy also returns as a starter at wideout, which has become a deep position for the Wolverines by design.

Tarrant said this summer they used a platoon system with a pair of four-receiver groups that didn’t include Smith or Brown. With them included, Tarrant said that ups the number to 10 receivers able to contribute on Friday nights.

Tarrant hopes that’ll make it more difficult for defenses intent on doubling Smith this season.

“They’re going to show us something to (defend) No. 1, and we’ve got to counter off of it,” he said. “Building more depth is our whole goal.”

Woodland Hills

Coach: Brian Tarrant

2023 record: 6-4, 3-2 in Class 5A Northeast Conference

All-time record: 275-146-0

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23 McDowell, 8

8.30 Penn Hills, 7

9.6 Central Catholic, 7

9.13 at Penn-Trafford*, 7

9.20 at Shaler, 7

9.27 at Latrobe*, 7

10.4 Armstrong*, 7

10.11 Gateway*, 7

10.18 at Franklin Regional*, 7

10.25 Kiski Area*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Cam Walter

93-148, 1,554 yards, 18 TDs

Rushing: Zykir Moore

105-609 yards, 10 TDs

Receiving: Scoop Smith

44-851 yards, 17 TDs

FAST FACTS

• Woodland Hills opens its season with a Week Zero home game against Erie McDowell. The matchup is part of a five-game showcase spread over two days at the Wolvarena.

• The coaching staff added two new coordinators since last season, both Woodland Hills graduates. Steve Meyers takes over defensive play-calling duties from Tarrant. Maurice Walker will run the offense after Cam Saddler resigned.

• Returning players Scoop Smith (WR), Zykir Moore (RB) and Linair Butler (DE) earned first-team all-conference honors. Nasir Neal (G), Jacob Mroz (K), George Hill (LB) and Ameer Brown (DB) made the second team, while Cameron Walter (QB) and Prince Tarrant (DB) received honorable mention.

• Woodland Hills won five WPIAL titles, the most recent in 2009. The other came in 2002, ’01, 1999 and ’96. All were won under WPIAL Hall of Fame coach George Novak.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Woodland Hills