28 • TRIB TOTAL MEDIA
Coach: Jon LeDonne
2019 record: 10-2, 7-0 in
Class 5A Northern
All-time record: 515-308-22
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 Kiski Area* PPD
9.11 at North Allegheny 7
9.18 at Woodland Hills 7
9.26 Kiski Area 7
10.2 Pine-Richland* 7
10.9 at North Hills* 7
10.16 Fox Chapel* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Eddie McKissick*
102-181, 1,560 yards, 17 TDs
Receiving Dontae Pollard
32-526 yards, 6 TDs
Rushing Germar Howard*
129-1,047 yards, 9 TDs
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• Penn Hills enters the 2020
season having won 14 straight
conference games.
• The Indians averaged 29
points over nine regular-season
games after a shutout loss
to Pine-Richland in the 2019
Week Zero opener.
• Roach had offers from more
than a dozen Division I FBS
and FCS schools before giving
his verbal commitment to
Akron. Among the other suitors
were fellow Mid-American
Conference schools Buffalo,
Kent State and Toledo.
• New offensive coordinator
Alex Dennison led Norwin, as
the No. 5 seed, to the WPIAL
Quad-A quarterfinals in 2007.
The Knights rolled past Woodland
Hills in the first round.
DERRICK TOPECK
NOEL ROACH
PENN HILLS EYES RETURN
TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Noel Roach remembers fondly
the run to WPIAL and PIAA Class
5A championship in 2018.
He and his Penn Hills teammates
hope to renew those feelings this
fall.
“Every day we just want to go in
and work hard to get better,” the
senior wide receiver and defensive
back said.
“We know a championship is
always the goal. We’re excited for
the potential on both sides of the
ball. We can’t wait to get out there
and start playing.”
The Indians are in preseason
practice mode after a truncated
season of summer workouts toward
a season which is shaping up
to be unlike any other.
The WPIAL, in response to the
season-change options presented
by the PIAA amidst the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic, adopted a
model for football involving both
game and scrimmage movement
and elimination.
For Penn Hills, the originally
scheduled scrimmage Aug. 22 at
Aliquippa, coach Jon LeDonne’s
alma mater, and a Week Zero game
against Central (Martinsburg) at
the Wolvarena were eliminated.
The Indians were to scrimmage
Central Catholic on Saturday. The
Northeast Conference game with
Kiski Area was moved from Week
9 to the new Week 1 on Sept. 11
replacing a nonconference game
with neighboring Gateway.
LeDonne said that while the
changes were a little frustrating,
it’s good to have some form of a
season for his players.
“For the seniors, it’s good to
have games to give them exposure
for college recruiting purposes,”
he said.
“We’ll have to be ready quickly.
It makes these practices so much
more important.
“The games might look a little
hectic and ugly at first because
there won’t be a lot of competition
against other teams going in. We
just have that first scrimmage. The
most important thing about the
scrimmage, apart from seeing how
we’ve improved and what we still
need to work on, will be to come
out of it healthy.”
Penn Hills finished 10-2 last year,
won the Class 5A Northern Conference
with a 7-0 record and advanced
to the WPIAL quarterfinals
before falling to McKeesport.
The PIAA is expected to decide
on a postseason playoff scenario
which will affect how the WPIAL
conducts its own playoff tournaments.
Penn Hills hopes to be in
position to qualify with success
against Kiski Area, conference
newcomer Pine-Richland, last
year’s WPIAL Class 6A runner-up,
and Fox Chapel, North Hills and
Shaler.
“Every week is going to be big,”
said Roach, a first-team all-conference
selection in 2019 who committed
to Akron last month.
“The conference is going to be
challenging again this year, but
there is no reason why we can’t
win it.”
Roach led the team with six interceptions
last year and added
18 catches for 313 yards and two
scores on offense.
Also back are all-conference firstteam
picks in senior defensive back
Dontae Pollard (32 tackles, three
interceptions), who owns an offer
from St. Francis (Pa.), and senior
outside linebacker Jawann Brown,
as well second-team inside linebacker
Cam Hopkins (senior), and
honorable mention outside linebacker
Derrick Topeck (senior).
Brown led the team with 91 tackles
a year ago.
LeDonne said while the linebacker
and secondary units have experience,
the task defensively will
be in replacing four all-conference
linemen.
On offense, several dual-threat
players are in the running to take
the place of graduate Eddie McKissick
at quarterback. The group
includes Perry transfer Tre’shaun
Barron, a junior.
LeDonne said there will be some
changes in the offense under new
offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
coach Alex Dennison, a Norwin
grad who played at Buffalo.
“There will be some similarities
to what we’ve done in the past, but
there will be some additions to
that,” LeDonne said. “He brings a
lot of coaching experience, including
at the collegiate level.”
Pollard enjoyed success at receiver
last year and tied for the
team lead with six touchdowns.
Junior Jaden Dugger also is a
pass-catching threat.
LeDonne expects Topeck (247
yards, three TDs) to handle the
bulk of the carries in the run game.
by MICHAEL LOVE
NORTHEAST • PENN HILLS