Pine-Richland’s new feature running back said he gets asked the question all of the time.
“Every time I meet someone new, it’s, ‘Wait, your name is Mac Miller?’” he said.
And while the teen — Mac is actually short for Maclane — shares the same name as the late great Pittsburgh rapper, it turns out that his rhyming skills aren’t quite on par.
“I’ve been asked to [rap], but I can’t do it. That’s not my thing,” said Miller, a rap fan who added that while he likes Mac Miller’s music, he calls Lil Uzi Vert his favorite artist.
One of Miller’s things, though, is football. A 5-foot-9, 185-pound junior and first-year starter, he had 27 carries for 234 yards and scored three touchdowns last week as Pine-Richland opened the season with a 35-24 win at Hilliard Davidson, Ohio.
Miller may not be huge, but he is a tough runner who doubles as a standout wrestler, and his strength showed off in a big way against Davidson as it often took multiple defenders to bring him down.
“He’s just got that mentality,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “He’s strong as hell, tough as hell. He’s got great balance from his wrestling background. They say that some of the best football players are wrestlers, and that goes back to Bill Fralic in the 1970s. You would hate to be on the opposite side of the ball as him.”
Miller saw some action last season at running back and linebacker, finishing fourth on the team in rushing with 315 yards and two touchdowns. But after sitting behind 1,000-yard rushers Ryan Palmieri and Ethan Pillar the past two seasons, it’s now “Miller Time.”
“He’s got good vision,” LeDonne said. “He’s more of a downhill guy. He’s compact, so he’s not a big target to hit. He kind of bounces off you like a bowling ball. He watched Ryan as a ninth grader and then Ethan last year, so the approach to the game, the practice, the preparation, he has some good mentors and role models. The torch has now been passed.”
While Miller started football in third grade, he has been wrestling since kindergarten. In that sport, he’s a two-time section champion who will take a 69-17 career record into his junior season.
“Leverage, hand fighting, explosiveness,” Miller answered when asked which of his wrestling skills help him most in football.
Miller’s got big goals this season. Individually, he would like to run for 1,500 yards. And as a team, he and his buddies would love to reach the WPIAL Class 5A championship game for a third consecutive season. After winning WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2022, the Rams lost to Peters Township in last year’s WPIAL final.
With Miller and sophomore quarterback Aaron “Oobi” Strader teaming up in the offensive backfield, the Pine-Richland offense will be tough to stop this season. The Rams will have a big challenge on their hands Friday when they host Central Catholic. Pine-Richland is ranked No. 2 in Class 5A and Central Catholic is No. 1 in Class 6A in the Pittsburgh Union Progress rankings. The Rams handed Central Catholic its only regular-season loss last season when it pulled out a 26-19 win.
“It’s going to be a tough game, but I think we’re ready,” Miller said. “We’re ready to get after it like we did last year. We’ve got the same mindset and that’s just to be physical.”
A big Bethel Park win … by design
Look good, play good.
While Bethel Park was dealing Seneca Valley a 50-14 defeat in Week 0, its coaching staff was sporting identical fresh new kicks. But these shoes weren’t made by Nike or Adidas. No, they were the creation of a superstar designer with local ties who donated them to the team.
The Bethel Park staff was decked out in matching John Geiger “Black 002 Lows,” a design created by the Sto-Rox graduate whose shoes and clothing can be found on the feet and backs of famous athletes and celebrities. Geiger recently donated 20 pairs of the shoes, which have sold on his website for $320, to Bethel Park coach Phil Peckich and his staff. Peckich, a Montour graduate, said he met Geiger through mutual friends and that the two have known each other for more than 10 years.
“We were talking about doing something like this for a while,” Peckich said. “And when he did a custom shoe for [coach] Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers for the Super Bowl, that got the wheels spinning. We talked in the early spring about just starting with a shoe for the coaching staff and then potentially morphing down the road into full team apparel.”
So, the shoes might just be the start of this John Geiger/Bethel Park collaboration. So far, so good, as the staff is 1-0 wearing the kicks. Peckich said he has personally been wearing Geiger shoes while coaching games dating back to 2019, but this was the first time the coaching staff followed suit.
“It’s a great shoe and the staff loved them, but most of the guys have no clue what these shoes are and what the price of them is,” Peckich said with a laugh.
Added Peckich, “It’s just very thoughtful of him. We’ve been friends for a while, and it’s been great to see his growth and what he’s had to overcome. And to get support from a Pittsburgh person is very big. For us to have a person in the design world like him is great.”
Out, but back soon?
Steel Valley not only lost to Clairton, 30-7, in the season opener, but the Ironmen also lost standout senior running back-defensive back Donald Barksdale to an apparent injury. Barksdale, who ran for 2,061 yards and scored 37 touchdowns while helping Steel Valley reach the WPIAL Class 2A final last season, played only a half against Clairton before exiting.
But as it turns out, it’s nothing that will keep Barksdale out long term. In fact, it’s expected that he will play Friday when Steel Valley hosts Washington. In addition, it’s also possible that Barksdale’s younger brother, Da’Ron, could be given the green light to play this week or next week. Da’Ron “Daedae” Barksdale, a wide receiver-defensive back, missed most of last season due to a knee injury and has been waiting to be fully cleared. The brothers are both being recruited by Division I schools.
Elsewhere, a team that played for the WPIAL Class 1A title last season is hoping to have one of its star players back soon. South Side junior running back-defensive back AC Corfield did not play in the Rams’ 44-8 win against Sto-Rox last week. South Side coach Luke Travelpiece would not get into specifics as to why Corfield is out, but said he considers him to be “week to week” and that he “shouldn’t be out long.” Corfield rushed for 1,286 yards — averaging 10 yards a carry — and scored 17 touchdowns last season.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.