TRIB TOTAL MEDIA • 25
Coach: Tom Loughran
2019 record: 4-7, 3-4 in
Class 5A Northern
All-time record: 219-351-8
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 at Pine-Richland* 7
9.18 Franklin Regional 7
9.25 at Moon 7
10.2 at Shaler* 7
10.9 Kiski Area* 7
10.16 at Penn Hills* 7
10.23 North Hills* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing: Shane Susnak*
158-245, 1,935 yards, 15 TDs
Receiving: Lorenzo Jenkins
36-511 yards, 7 TDs
Rushing: Sam Brown*
118-468 yards, 1 TD
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• Fox Chapel will face
Pine-Richland for the first
time since 2015 when both
were members of the WPIAL
Quad-A Northern Eight Conference.
• The Foxes were 2-2 last
year in games decided by
seven points or less.
• Tom Loughran owns 204
career victories over 37 years
of coaching, including 18 over
the past five years at Fox
Chapel.
• The Foxes won four of five
after an 0-4 start last year
to clinch a spot in the WPIAL
Class 5A playoffs.
LORENZO JENKINS
FOXES LOOK TO MAKE
STRIDES IN NORTHEAST
Tom Loughran has a keen appreciation for
the competition in WPIAL Class 5A.
“Let me say first that 5A has the best collection
of teams where anyone can beat you on any
given night. You have to come ready to play,”
the veteran Fox Chapel coach said.
“Everybody in our (Northeast) conference,
from Kiski, Shaler, Penn Hills, North Hills and
Pine-Richland, is good. There is no one there
who is considered a weak link.”
Loughran hopes his team can make strides
this fall and improve on last year’s 4-6 record
and 3-4 mark in a competitive Northern Conference.
Fox Chapel earned a trip to the Class 5A
playoffs and lost to No. 1 Penn-Trafford in the
first round.
“The guys have been good about focusing
on getting ready to play and not worrying
about any uncertainties with the season,” said
Loughran of the conditioning and individual
and team skills workouts leading up to preseason
practices.
“We’ve had some good weeks of work since
we got back together (in early July).”
The WPIAL, in response to the season-change
options from the PIAA, adopted a model for
football that involves game movement and
elimination from the original schedules.
With Week Zero gone, Fox Chapel no longer
will face 2019 WPIAL Class 5A runner-up Peters
Township.
The game Sept. 4 against Hampton now is a
scrimmage.
The new season opener is against
Pine-Richland, last year’s WPIAL Class 6A
runner-up, on Sept. 11.
Nonconference matchups with Franklin
Regional (Sept. 18) and Moon (Sept. 25)
remain.
“We have a great opportunity to prove ourselves
this year, and we want to continue to
control all the things we can control with
getting better and getting ready for the season,”
junior wide receiver and defensive back
Lorenzo Jenkins said.
Senior Justin Rice, Loughran said, has
emerged as the leader of a group of quarterbacks
competing to replace multiyear starter
Shane Susnak. Rice threw passes in three
games last year, but he was featured more
prominently in the secondary, where he made
52 tackles.
“Shane was more of a thrower, while Justin
and the others are more dual threats, runners
and throwers,” Loughran said. “We are going
to go back to some things we did when we had
(Nick Gizzo) a couple of years ago.”
Junior Zidane Thomas picked up 71 carries
at running back last year, and he leads the
backfield group that also includes returnees
in junior Maurice Sampson and sophomore
Roman Mason.
Jenkins led Fox Chapel receivers last year
with seven touchdowns, and he earned firstteam
all-conference honors.
“Lorenzo is such a solid receiver for us,”
Loughran said. “He’s as good as I’ve ever had.
He’s worked hard and is ready to take that next
step for us.”
Junior Khi’Lee Patterson scored two
touchdowns last year. He and Jenkins combined
to catch 60 passes for 759 yards. Senior
Ben Wilk (14 catches, three touchdowns) and
junior Colin Kwiatkowski also are expected to
be a factor at receiver.
The offensive line, Loughran said, will be
anchored by senior Thomas Golembiewski and
junior Caleb Kulikowski.
Defensively, Kulikowski returns at nose tackle,
and Kwiatkowski is back at one of the outside
linebacker spots.
The secondary is experienced with Jenkins,
Rice, Patterson and senior Dorian Gomez.
Jenkins picked off a team-best three passes
last year.
“Every year, you have to reload at certain positions,
and there are younger guys competing
to get on the field,” Loughran said.
“They are working their way up as we played
with a number of freshman and sophomores
last year. We only had five seniors who were
with us for four years. We were going up against
teams like Penn Hills and Penn-Trafford with
25 to 30 seniors. We’re just plugging away and
trying to get better every year.”
by MICHAEL LOVE
FOX CHAPEL • NORTHEAST
JUSTIN RICE (LEFT) AND ZIDANE THOMAS