‘Unsung hero’ John Rottinghaus happy to fly under radar on stout defensive line at Pine-Richland

Scanning through the starting lineup on Pine-Richland’s dominant defensive line, several names jump off the page right away.

Ryan Cory is a 6-4, 290-pound junior rated as a three-star recruit by 247 Sports, and he already holds scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Kansas State, Kentucky, Connecticut and Duquesne. Joey Perry is a senior linebacker-turned-defensive end who showed out with three sacks and nine tackles in the Rams’ 34-3 WPIAL Class 5A championship win vs. Upper St. Clair Saturday. And Aiden Hasley is the younger brother of former Pine-Richland standout Jeremiah Hasley, now a freshman linebacker at Duke.

And then there’s John Rottinghaus, whose last name is more synonymous with field hockey in Western Pennsylvania circles than anything football related.

Growing up in a house with three sisters, Rottinghaus didn’t have any older brothers to compete against and learn from. Instead, he looked up to his older sisters, Molly and Ella — two of the best field hockey players to come out of the WPIAL in recent years. Both went on to play at Boston University, where Ella is currently a sophomore.

His younger sister, Georgia, is a sophomore midfielder at Pine-Richland who recently earned all-section recognition after leading the Rams to a fourth consecutive WPIAL title. Chances are she’ll soon follow in Molly and Ella’s footsteps as a college field hockey player, perhaps even at BU. Molly has since graduated from BU and is now a football recruiting specialist at the University of Wisconsin.

“I think Molly has always kind of been the boss, and I’ve always listened to her,” Rottinghaus said. “I think Ella and I were a little closer. Or just more alike.”

Rottinghaus was always kind of overshadowed by his sisters’ athletic achievements growing up, but he insists he didn’t mind. And although he still has a ways to go to match their contributions to the family trophy case, Rottinghaus now has another WPIAL championship to go with the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A titles Pine-Richland won in 2020 when he was just a sophomore on special teams.

Despite his three-sack performance in this year’s WPIAL title game, though, Rottinghaus is still flying under the radar, just like he always did growing up. But Rottinghaus isn’t looking for any attention — he just wants to win.

“They always say it starts up front,” Rottinghaus said. “We try to do our job, and then it opens up the linebackers to do their job and makes it easier on the DBs. Our defense just flies around and works well as a unit, and I think that’s why we’re having success.”

At 6-2, 220 pounds, Rottinghaus doesn’t fit the mold of a typical big-school defensive lineman — especially not a defensive tackle. But like Perry and Hasley, Rottinghaus converted from linebacker to interior lineman early in the season when coach Jon LeDonne and his staff decided to go with a speedier, slimmed-down line.

After Rottinghaus and the rest of the new-look line held Upper St. Clair to minus-26 rushing yards in the WPIAL championship game win, LeDonne looks like a bona fide genius.

“It’s kind of like, you pick your poison,” LeDonne said. “If you want to double team Ryan, John is going to use his strength and speed to make that hurt. Having those guys there gives our linebackers freedom to roam a little bit.”

Rottinghaus plays the game with a high motor and a ton of pride, and those are big reasons he’s able to be so disruptive as a pass rusher against larger offensive linemen. Even while playing on the inside, he’s able to use his speed as an advantage without getting pushed around. LeDonne calls him the “unsung hero” of the Rams defense.

“He’s weight-room strong. A really strong, explosive kid, and he’s just very determined to do his job,” LeDonne said. “You talk about a team player and putting the team first, John has done that since we’ve been here in February.”

Now that he has a second WPIAL title, Rottinghaus is focused on helping his team get three more wins to finish out his career with another state championship. Not many would have expected it when Pine-Richland was 1-3 in September, but there’s nobody hotter than the Rams now.

Next up is a PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal matchup vs. perennial powerhouse Cathedral Prep on Pine-Richland’s home turf. The game is a rematch of the 2020 PIAA Class 5A championship game won by the Rams, 49-7.

Cathedral Prep will certainly be out for revenge, and many are expecting a much closer game this time around. Then again, most WPIAL football followers seemed to predict an even matchup between Pine-Richland and Upper St. Clair last week.

And while Rottinghaus may never receive the individual accolades or recognition to match his ultra-talented sisters, he already has experienced more team success than most kids ever dream of — and he’s not done yet.

“Every day in practice, we’re having fun,” Rottinghaus said. “We’re working, but we’re having fun with each other. It’s the best time of our lives right now.”