82 • TRIB TOTAL MEDIA
Coach: Ray Braszo
2019 record: 4-5, 3-3 in
Class 2A Allegheny Conference
All-time record: 293-207-12
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 at Serra Catholic* 7
9.18 Keystone Oaks 7
9.25 at Brentwood 7
10.2 at Ligonier Valley* 7
10.17 at Shady Side Academy* 3
10.23 Apollo-Ridge* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Ronnell Lawrence
26-75, 272 yards, 3 TDs
Receiving Nyzair Burt
10-146 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing Nijhay Burt
109-730 yards, 10 TDs
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• Steel Valley is one of 11
schools to win more than one
WPIAL football championship
in the 2010s. The others were
North Allegheny, Central Catholic,
Pine-Richland, Gateway,
Thomas Jefferson, Central
Valley, West Allegheny, South
Fayette, Aliquippa and Clairton.
• Last year was the first time
Steel Valley missed the playoffs
since 2013.
• Steel Valley went 3-1 at
home last season with the
only loss coming to Avonworth.
The Ironmen went 1-4
on the road.
• Coach Ray Braszo is entering
the second season of his
second stint at Steel Valley.
He went 26-14 from 2006-09.
ROBERT FOWLER
NIJHAY BURT
STEEL VALLEY SEEKING
RETURN TO POSTSEASON
Looking back with 20-20 hindsight,
the Steel Valley football team
needed some time to get its bearings
at the start of last season.
The core players who led the
Ironmen to three consecutive WPIAL
Class 2A title games — including
championship seasons in 2016
and ‘18 — had moved on. Coach
Ray Braszo, in the first year of
his second stint at Steel Valley,
needed some time to implement
strategy and fit players into the
right positions.
Instead, the season-opening
schedule was brutal.
Steel Valley faced three eventual
playoff teams, including undefeated
WPIAL champion Avonworth,
in the first three weeks of the year.
By the middle of September, the
Ironmen were 0-3 and reeling a bit.
“After that, it was a tough road
all the way down because it was
hard to make up those games,”
Braszo said. “You had your three
losses. You sort of had to hope for
the other teams to lose. It was all up
to the other teams. We were in our
first year and it was just an uphill
battle the whole time.”
The success the team had in
recent years set the program’s
standards extraordinarily high,
and sometimes, that can be a curse
as much as a blessing.
“Off the bat, trying to build the
team to believe in us, some of the
kids that were back, our leadership
was probably not as great at that
point,” Braszo said. “We had a
young team coming into it. A lot
of kids were gone. We just had to
build from the bottom up, even
though they had all that success.”
The Ironmen did build, rebounding
to win four of their next five
games. It wasn’t enough to give
them a playoff berth, but it did
build some momentum within
the program.
“I think that we definitely were
playing better and we were way
more organized as a team,” Braszo
said. “It started to settle down a lot
more for us. Our numbers weren’t
real high and we had problems
building a lineup, but we definitely
played better and had a lot more
fun toward the end of the year.”
Adding to the program’s momentum,
a handful of top players in
key spots return for Steel Valley.
That starts with junior Nijhay
Burt, who ran for 730 yards
and 10 touchdowns last season
as the team’s feature back in the
I-formation.
“He’s really a good, tough runner
and a really tough defensive
player,” Braszo said. “He’s started
since the ninth grade. We’re going
to build around him. We’re excited
about that.”
The Ironmen also have experience
at quarterback with senior
Ronnell Lawrence returning.
“Those are obviously two positions
you want to have experience
back,” Braszo said. “We’re looking
forward to those guys leading our
offense.”
Lawrence will have a handful of
familiar faces to throw to as well,
with tight end Inenella Leonard
and receivers Nyzair Burt and
Ahmir Culmer returning.
Steel Valley started a pair of
freshmen on the offensive line
last season. The duo — Nyron Foy
and big tackle Greg Smith — survived
the baptism by fire and return
as sophomores with starting
experience.
Guard Robert Fowler is the senior
leader on the line.
“We have something to build on
up front,” Braszo said. “We don’t
have a lot of linemen, so hopefully
no one gets injured, but everyone always
has that problem. Those three
guys should lead our linemen.”
by JONATHAN BOMBULIE
ALLEGHENY • STEEL VALLEY