TRIB TOTAL MEDIA • 87
LAUREL • MAC
MITCH MILES
LAUREL HUNTING FOR
ELUSIVE PLAYOFF BERTH
It’s not the kind of distinction
any football team would want to
earn, but Laurel is one of the top
candidates all the same.
The Spartans might just be the
best team to not qualify for the
WPIAL playoffs either of the last
two seasons.
“It’s nice to be noticed,” coach
Brian Cooper said. “It would have
been a lot nicer to be in there.”
Take last year for example. The
Spartans went 7-3 with their only
losses coming to WPIAL champion
Clairton and playoff qualifiers
Cornell and OLSH. They beat WPIAL
runner-up Sto-Rox. But because
the Class A playoff bracket only
included eight teams, Laurel was
on the outside looking in.
“We just feel like if a couple
breaks went our way, we could have
easily been champions instead of
not making the playoffs,” Cooper
said. “We know we’ve been playing
quality football.”
As Laurel tries to get over the
hump and qualify for the playoffs
this season, it will set its sights on
a new bracket. Realignment has
bumped the Spartans up to Class
2A and the Midwestern Athletic
Conference.
Cooper said the promotion is
likely to be short-lived. One larger
than-average class moved Laurel
up a classification, and by the
time the next realignment is drawn
up, the Spartans will almost certainly
return to Class A.
In the meantime, they’ll take
their shots at some larger foes.
“We had a couple good, strong
years in the section we were in,”
Cooper said. “We feel we’re battle
tested and ready to go.”
Laurel makes the climb to Class
2A with a couple of impact players
in tow.
Starting in the trenches, 6-foot-
4, 285-pound WPIAL wrestling
champ Mitch Miles will lead the
way on both sides of the ball.
“He’s the best I’ve ever coached
at the high school level,” Cooper
said. “To move like he does and be
explosive like he is, the kind of run
blocker he is, how smart he is with
the game, I’m having a hard time
understanding why he hasn’t got
the big-time offers yet because to
me, he’s a big-time ballplayer. If it
doesn’t happen, some of the Division
I-AA or Division II schools are
going to get one hell of a ballplayer
because to me, he’s the best I’ve
ever seen.
“It’s nonstop. Pancake after pancake,
driving kids 10 or 15 yards
down the field.”
Add Rylan Collier, a 290-pound
three-year starter at center; Andy
Harlan, a 280-pound returning
starter at left tackle; and Cam Caldararo,
a two-year starter at tight
end moving to guard, and Laurel
should routinely push teams
around.
“We’re big up front with a lot of
experience,” Cooper said.
Injuries helped keep the Spartans
out of the playoffs the last two years,
and one of the players who went
down was running back/linebacker
Luke McCoy, now a junior, who
suffered a knee injury. He ran for
1,000 yards as a freshman, and at the
point he was injured last year, the
Spartans had yet to give up a point.
“He’s back and he’s faster than
he was. His 40 time and the speed
and strength, he looks really good,”
Cooper said. “He’s such a versatile
player and an impact player. It’s
great to see him healthy again.”
The biggest question mark is
under center. Junior Logan Ayers
looks ready to step in, but he lacks
experience and didn’t have passing
scrimmages over the summer to
hone his game. Senior Zach Maine
and sophomore Chase Tinstman
are also on the depth chart.
Kobe DeRosa, Michael Pasquarello
and Josh Gibson are back in the
backfield and Landon Esposito
returns at wide receiver.
“All those guys are fast, explosive
guys,” Cooper said. “The
speed on the field is exciting to
see. I think we’ll be very good defensively
and we’ll take a little bit
to mature offensively, but the skill
level is there.”
by JONATHAN BOMBULIE
Coach: Brian Cooper
2019 record: 7-3, 5-2 in
Class 2A Midwestern Athletic
Conference
All-time record: 336-255-10
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 at Neshannock* 7
9.18 at Beaver Falls* 7
9.25 Riverside* 7
10.3 Freedom* 7
10.9 at New Brighton* 7
10.16 Mohawk* 7
10.23 Ellwood City* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Will Shaffer*
44-97, 602 yards, 9 TDs
Receiving Dylan Aquaro*
24-358 yards, 5 TDs
Rushing Dom Wade*
144-780 yards, 7 TDs
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• Laurel is celebrating the
40th anniversary of its only
WPIAL championship. The
Spartans defeated Clairton,
14-12, in the Class A finals in
1980.
• Laurel was held under 20
points only twice last season,
in a 15-0 win over California
and in a 33-7 loss to WPIAL
Class A champion Clairton.
• With 142 boys in grades 10-
12, Laurel is the sixth-smallest
WPIAL school in Class 2A
football. Frazier (140), Carlynton
(139), South Side (136),
Chartiers-Houston (135) and
Sto-Rox (13) are smaller.
• Laurel made the playoffs the
last two seasons it competed
in Class 2A in 2016 and 2017.
LUKE McCOY