54 • TRIB TOTAL MEDIA
CLASS 3A BREAKDOWN
THE FAVORITE
Central Valley (13-2)
The Warriors return with a full
cupboard of athletes in 2020
one year after winning a WPIAL
title and making a PIAA championship
appearance. Replacing
top rusher Jaylen Guy and top
receiver Jawon Hall, along with
leading tackler Reed Fitzsimmons,
will be key. Central Valley’s only
regular-season loss came at the
hands of eventual PIAA Class 4A
champion Thomas Jefferson.
Preseason rankings
2. North Catholic (8-2)
3. Elizabeth Forward (7-3)
4. Keystone Oaks (6-4)
5. Derry (9-3)
* RECORDS FROM 2019
THE STARS
ALEX ARLEDGE
Burrell, sr., QB
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder
threw for 2,462 yards and 27
touchdowns in his first season
as a starter.
AMEER DUDLEY
Central Valley, sr., QB
Dudley led Central Valley to a
WPIAL championship and PIAA
title game appearance last year.
He threw for 1,929 yards and
24 touchdowns and ran for
547 yards and eight more scores.
ANTONIO EPPS
South Allegheny, sr., RB/DB
Epps ran for 1,307 yards and
12 touchdowns last season. He
also caught 17 passes for 376
yards and four touchdowns. He
tallied two interceptions and deflected
eight passes on defense
as a junior.
LOGAN SHRUBB
Keystone Oaks, sr., QB
The dual-threat quarterback threw
for 1,590 yards and ran for another
1,231 yards last season. He contributed
to 28 total touchdowns.
CHASE WHATTON
Elizabeth Forward, sr., DE/TE
The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder had
his recruitment blow up after a
junior season where he made 68
tackles, 12 sacks and 29 tackles
for a loss. He also blocked
five punts and was named the
Class 3A Big East Conference
Defensive Player of the Year.
DON’T MISS
10.9 South Park
at North Catholic
The Trojans will be looking for revenge
after the Eagles ended their
season in the playoffs last year.
10.16 Burrell at Freeport
The Bucs converted a 2-point
conversion in overtime to beat the
Yellowjackets, 36-35, last season.
10.23 Avonworth
at Central Valley
The battle of WPIAL defending
champions will take place in the
final week of the season.
Central Valley receiver Myles Walker is one of a handful of returning seniors for the Warriors.
CENTRAL VALLEY RELOADS,
REMAINS TEAM TO BEAT
Led by star QB Dudley,
Warriors have shot at
defending WPIAL title
The WPIAL Class 3A race may
look a little different this year,
but the winner could be the same.
Perennial contender Aliquippa
has moved up to Class 4A, and
Beaver Falls has moved down to
Class 2A after fielding one of its
best teams since 2016. The entire
classification has also been
broken into three conferences
compared to two last year.
Despite the changes, defending
WPIAL champion Central Valley
remains the favorite, and even
though the Warriors lost a few
big contributors from last season,
they look to be just as strong.
“We’re feeling OK, and we have
our feet back underneath us,”
Central Valley coach Mark Lyons
said. “This is a refocused group,
it’s a committed group, and they
understand that there’s still a
little bit of that bitter taste left
over.”
Central Valley fell to Wyoming
Area, 21-14, in the PIAA championship
game.
The Warriors will have a few
holes to fill as they need to find
replacements for their leading
rusher, receiver and tackler from
a year ago. Despite the losses,
Lyons has plenty of talent returning,
and he’s excited about
how they’ve handled themselves
during the coronavirus
pandemic.
Senior quarterback Ameer
Dudley is back under center
after accounting for 2,476 total
yards and 32 touchdowns last season,
and Sean Fitzsimmons returns
on defense
after recording
133 tackles, 26 of
which went for
a loss, and eight
sacks. The longtime
head coach
is also excited
about the talent
he has coming up
through the system.
“We’ve always done a great
job of making sure that when
it comes to their turn, they are
ready to step up,” Lyons said.
“I can tell you this, too: We have
some guys that I’m really excited
about, guys that have really taken
care of their body and have
committed in the offseason, and
we look different physically.”
Outside of Central Valley, the
rest of the Class 3A could be wide
open. The North Catholic Trojans
are normally in the mix and
with a large group of athletes
returning from last season, plus
a chip on their shoulder, they
could make noise this year too.
As he has the past few years,
North Catholic coach Pat O’Shea
said his players need to focus on
the basics when they get to the
playoffs, and he is hoping their
loss to South Park in the first
round last season can motivate
them to a higher level of play.
“I think for the kids, it was
something that will allow them to
say, ‘OK, we need
to get better and
we need to pay
attention to those
fundamental issues
of tackling
on initial contact
on defense, you
can’t turn the
ball over, and you
can’t lose enthusiasm
or excitement,’”
O’Shea said. “But I think
the kids haven’t forgotten about
that loss, and it’s an important
one to learn from.”
WPIAL Class 2A champion
Avonworth will join the fray
this season as well after being
reclassified this offseason. The
Antelopes went 15-1 last season
and made a run to the PIAA
championship game but graduated
a large group of seniors who
were key contributors. Despite
the turnover, they are excited
for their jump up in classification.
“We’re looking forward to the
challenge, but it’s obviously going
to be a little bit different,”
Avonworth coach Duke Johncour
said. “It’s Triple-A ball, versus
Double-A ball, so the move up is
definitely a challenge.”
Avonworth will get a good idea
of where it stands when it meets
up with Central Valley in the
final week of the season.
After going 7-3 last year, Elizabeth
Forward should be in the
mix as well after a move into the
Interstate Conference. Rather
than battling in the trenches with
the likes of Derry, Freeport and
North Catholic, the Warriors will
be taking on Class 3A newcomers
Brownsville, South Allegheny
and Southmoreland along with
others.
Elizabeth Forward coach Mike
Collodi will return athletes Nico
Mrvos, Evan Lewis and tight
end Chase Whatton, along with
three of his five offensive linemen
from last year. He said after
making the playoffs the last three
seasons, he believes his team is
ready to take the next step.
“We just need to start winning
some playoffs games, which we
haven’t done yet,” Collodi said.
“We lost three years ago to Beaver,
then we lost to Beaver Falls
in a first-round game, then we
lost to Aliquippa last year. So we
just need to take that next step,
and the kids believe they can
do it because it was something
they needed to do as it was kind
of uncharted waters for them.”
by GREG MACAFEE
“We’ve always done a
great job of making
sure that when it comes
to their turn, they are
ready to step up.”
MARK LYONS
CENTRAL VALLEY COACH, ON
YOUNG PLAYERS EMERGING