TRIB TOTAL MEDIA • 33
BEAVER • PARKWAY
JAMES FINCH
BEAVER MOTIVATED TO
MOVE PAST LOSING YEAR
For a 10-year span, there were
few football programs in the WPIAL
consistently better than Beaver.
From 2010-18, the Bobcats were
a combined 70-27. Although they
never made it to a WPIAL championship
game, they never won
fewer than seven games in that
nine-year stretch.
Then the dam of success broke
on Beaver last season, as the Bobcats
finished in seventh place in
the eight-team Class 4A Northwestern
Eight Conference with a
2-8 record.
“(Last year) was disappointing
from a win-loss perspective,” Beaver
coach Jeff Beltz said. “But our
team’s morale remained positive
throughout the difficult season.
It catapulted us into a strong offseason.”
The Bobcats were young last
season and return seven starters
on both sides of the ball.
“Our expectations will always
remain high, regardless of our
team’s composition,” Beltz said.
Three returning starters missed
half or all of the 2019 season due
to injury.
Senior starting quarterback
Brady Hansen and senior wide
receiver James Finch missed the
entire season due to injury while
junior running back and defensive
back Wyatt Ringer was injured and
missed the second half of the year.
Ringer was averaging 4 yards per
carry when he was hurt and finished
second in rushing and tied
for first in scoring despite missing
half the season.
“Missing last season was heartbreaking,”
Hansen said. “My knee
feels great, though, and I had a lot
of support through my recovery
process, so I’m feeling confident.
“James and Wyatt are great
athletes and hard workers. Both
have overcome their injuries, and
you wouldn’t even be able to tell
they were injured coming into this
season.”
Senior wide receiver Marco Marmone
is back. He led the Bobcats
with 15 catches for 250 yards and
a touchdown.
Up front, senior linemen Scott
Wilson and Anthony George bring
some experience in the trenches.
As camp begins, one aspect Beltz
loves, especially after a tough 2019
season, is the positive attitude his
team has coming into a new year.
“It was great to see our players
return to summer conditioning
with a smile on their faces, ready
to work out,” he said.
Hansen agrees with his coach’s
optimism.
“Our football team is held to
higher standards, and we plan
on meeting those standards this
year, regardless of last season’s
outcome,” Hansen said. “We just
need to continue to push ourselves
at practice every day to earn the
respect of others we lost. We need
to take care of ourselves and stay
healthy.”
While there will be no Highway
to Heinz this season, the travels
in the Parkway Conference are
always challenging. Six Class 4A
teams will take those weekly trips
as Beaver battles familiar conference
foes Blackhawk, Montour and
New Castle, along with Chartiers
Valley dropping from 5A and perennial
power Aliquippa up from
3A.
“Our 2020 schedule is filled with
quality opponents,” Beltz said.
“The competition is really tough
and will be very good. We hope that
our dedication to the offseason can
translate into a better season.”
by DON REBEL
Coach: Jeff Beltz
2019 record: 2-8, 1-6 in
Class 4A Northwest Eight
Conference
All-time record: 649-407-55
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 at Blackhawk* 7
9.19 Western Beaver 7:30
9.25 at Seton LaSalle 7
10.2 Aliquippa* 7:30
10.9 at New Castle* 7
10.16 at Chartiers Valley* 7
10.23 Montour* 7:30
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Tyler Ziggas
45-120, 532 yards, 7 TDs
Receiving Marco Mamone
15-250 yards, TD
Rushing Jackson Thomas*
102-296 yards, 4 TDs
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• Jeff Beltz begins his 21st
season as head coach at Beaver
after starting his coaching
career as an assistant at Robert
Morris. He is in the Beaver
County Hall of Fame after a
great football and baseball
career at Freedom and Geneva
College.
• Only four schools have won
back-to-back WPIAL football
championships in two different
classifications. North Braddock
Scott won the AA crown in
1934 and then AAA gold in
1935. Central Catholic and
Thomas Jefferson both repeated,
winning AAAA and AAA
championships in 2015 and 6A
and 4A titles in 2016. Finally,
Beaver won the 1981 Class
AAA title with a 12-7 triumph
over Knoch, and then won the
1982 Class AA district championship
by beating Jeannette,
18-13.
• The 50th anniversary of the
Bobcats’ first WPIAL football
title is coming up. The Bobcats
defeated Freeport, 20-14,
to win the 1972 Class AA
district crown.
BRADY HANSEN