WPIAL’s best football players take break for TribLive HSSN event
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Tuesday, July 23, 2019 | 7:35 PM
The TribLive HSSN Preseason All-Star football team is introduced Tuesday at Kennywood Park.
Norwin’s Jack Salopek is introduced as a member of the Trib HSSN preseason Top 25 football team Tuesday, July 23, 2019, at Kennywood Park.
Highlands’ Johnny Crise is introduced as a member of the Trib HSSN preseason Top 25 football team Tuesday, July 23, 2019, at Kennywood Park.
Woodland Hills’ Joshua Rawlings - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Union’s Aaron Gunn - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Penn-Trafford’s Caleb Lisbon - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Thomas Jefferson’s Dan Deabner - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Hempfield’s Fintan Brose - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Central Catholic’s Elliot Donald - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson- Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Montour’s George Padezanin- Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Aliquippa’s Zuriah Fisher - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Peters Twp.’s Josh Casilli- Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Baldwin’s Dorien Ford - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
North Allegheny’s Jake Lugg - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Mars’ Michael Carmody - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Penn Hills’ Aakeem Snell- Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Blackhawk’s Marques Watson-Trent - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
McKeesport’s Deamontae Diggs- Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Central Catholic’s A.J. Beatty - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Westinghouse’s Dayon Hayes - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
Sto-Rox’s Eric Wilson - Trib HSSN preseason Kennywood Top 25 football team
High school football teams have worked out together for months in weight rooms and practice fields, but suddenly those offseason sessions have a more serious tone.
Camp is only three weeks away.
“Absolutely, things start to heat up,” Norwin quarterback Jake Salopek said. “We start to work a little bit harder as the season gets closer.”
However, for one fun afternoon, the best players from the WPIAL and City League gathered Tuesday at Kennywood Park as TribLive HSSN Preseason All-Stars on an event stage tucked between the Thunderbolt and Noah’s Ark.
But with August nearly here, many teams are working out in earnest daily. In fact, some all-stars attended practice in the morning Tuesday before heading to the amusement park.
Teams will begin traditional practices in pads Aug. 12, but unofficial workouts started weeks ago.
“My coach (Jason) Booker comes up to me after every practice and says, ‘Hey, that’s one down. You’ve only got a limited amount,’ ” Highlands receiver Johnny Crise said. “That shocks me to give it all every time.”
Recognized Tuesday were Salopek, Crise, Central Catholic’s A.J. Beatty and Elliot Donald, Hempfield’s Fintan Brose, Gateway’s Tui Brown and Derrick Davis, Mars’ Michael Carmody, Peters Township’s Josh Casilli, Thomas Jefferson’s Dan Deabner, McKeesport’s Deamontae Diggs, Aliquippa’s Zuriah Fisher, Baldwin’s Dorien Ford, Union’s Aaron Gunn, Westinghouse’s Dayon Hayes, West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson, Seneca Valley’s Josh Kaltenberger, Penn-Trafford’s Caleb Lisbon, North Allegheny’s Jake Lugg, Pine-Richland’s Luke Meckler, Montour’s George Padezanin, Woodland Hills’ Josh Rawlings, Penn Hills’ Aakeem Snell, Blackhawk’s Marques Watson-Trent and Sto-Rox’s Eric Wilson.
The group includes nine players already committed to colleges: Beatty (North Carolina), Brose (Delaware), Carmody (Notre Dame), Hayes (Pitt), Kaltenberger (Purdue), Johnson (Pitt), Lugg (Harvard), Rawlings (Virginia) and Salopek (Western Michigan).
The 16 others hold Division I offers.
“Every day, the closer the season gets, I’m more nervous, more excited,” said Gunn, a junior lineman with offers from West Virginia, Kentucky and Michigan State, among others. “All the emotions start coming back from football. I love it.”
Football teams start heat acclimatization Aug. 5, a PIAA-mandated weeklong adjustment period for dealing with summer temperatures.
The first scrimmages are Aug. 17. Week Zero games are Aug. 23-24.
“Senior year kind of snuck up on us, to be honest,” Crise said. “Time flies. People don’t kid around when they say that.”
As teams wind down their summer workouts, attention soon shifts to the second Monday in August — the date camps open across Western Pennsylvania.
After months of noncontact workouts, the pads come out of storage that day. There’s a lot to like about camp, said Padezanin, a two-way lineman who highlighted the down time between practices for building team camaraderie.
“But honestly,” Padezanin added, “that first day of hitting is pretty fun.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
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