Luke Miller struggled during his freshman season at Duquesne.
While the Dukes had one of the most successful campaigns in recent memory — earning their third NCAA Division I FCS playoff berth and second outright Northeast Conference championship in program history last fall — Miller was kept off the field with a torn ACL injury.
“That’s hard for a lot of guys who are told they’re out for a whole year and can’t make an impact on the team they’re on,” said Miller, a Pine-Richland graduate and leading tackler on the Rams’ 2020 Class 5A WPIAL and PIAA championship team. “All your work is just in the athletic training room. Doing my best just in there with the other guys, helping other guys get better, other guys helping me get better, working with each other, it just really motivated me to keep going.”
Miller is reaping the benefits early on this season.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound sophomore linebacker is Duquesne’s leading tackler with 26 through four games. Miller recorded three tackles, one for a loss, with his first career interception in the Dukes’ 35-0 victory against NCAA Division II West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon in their home opener at Arthur J. Rooney Field.
“We knew he was a really good football player,” said Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt, a 1978 Keystone Oaks graduate who in his 20th season on the Bluff recorded his 150th career victory Saturday. “He transferred here, and he suffered the knee injury. He’s had to get through a lot, but I knew if there was anybody who could do it, it was him. He’s just a positive young man.”
After suffering lopsided losses to NCAA Division I FBS opponents Toledo and Boston College on the road to open its season, Duquesne’s defense began to flex its muscles last week.
The Dukes held then No. 20 Youngstown State to just 38 second-half rushing yards en route to upsetting the Penguins on the road, 28-25, last Saturday for the second victory against a nationally ranked FCS opponent in school history.
Miller was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high 14 tackles against Youngstown State, which knocked the Dukes out of the FCS playoffs in the first round last season.
Duquesne (2-2) then held West Virginia Wesleyan to 155 total yards of offense, 11 of which came on the ground.
Defensive back Antonio Epps, a South Allegheny product, recorded a team-high six tackles, while linebacker Derron Moore had four tackles and defensive back CJ Barnes had three with an interception.
“I think they’re starting to get confidence,” said Schmitt of his defense. “They battled those first two games, big challenges playing the FBS teams, and last week started to get better with the running game.”
Duquesne is also becoming more accustomed to the scheme of first-year defensive coordinator Mickey Jacobs. A Duquesne product, Jacobs had previous stints at Duquesne, Pitt and Buffalo.
Miller said he is optimistic about his defense’s prospects after Duquesne was first in the NEC and fourth in the nation with four defensive touchdowns a year ago.
And that all starts with the Dukes defensive line and linebackers.
AJ Ackerman, an Elizabeth Forward product, leads the Dukes defensive line. He had accumulated 56 tackles, 12½ for a loss, with 5½ sacks in his five seasons on the Bluff, before missing all of last season with a lower-body injury.
Norwin product Gianni Rizzo is Duquesne’s returning leading tackler from his inside linebacker position next to Miller.
“The more WPIAL guys the better on Duquesne,” said Miller, who played a season at Kent State before transferring to Duquesne. “It’s really about the culture we have here. We have a great culture with all these WPIAL guys, and not only the WPIAL guys, everyone from everywhere. It’s awesome having that hometown feel in the locker room.”
Epps is the Dukes’ second-leading tackler with 21 on the season, while Rizzo has 15 and a sack and defensive end Jack Dunkley has 11 tackles with a team-high three sacks.
“I don’t want to put a cap on a great defense, but as long as we keep working every day and honing in on the game plan, we can have one of the best defenses in the conference again,” Rizzo said.
Duquesne was led offensively against West Virginia Wesleyan by quarterback Jordan Heisey, who made his first career start with Darius Perrantes in concussion protocol.
Heisey completed 17-of-23 passes for 161 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
John Erby caught a game-high 10 passes for 91 yards for the Dukes, while Jermaine Johnson caught two passes for 18 yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Shawn Solomon Jr. also rushed for a game-high 89 yards and a touchdown, while JaMario Clements chipped in 62 yards and a score to go along with Dazhaun Hopkins’ 70 yards on the ground.
“It’s a great bunch of kids,” Schmitt said. “We started off a little bit sluggish, but they answered what I wanted, which was to play with detail and we eventually got to that.”
Robert Morris hangs on for first Northeast Conference victory
Robert Morris rushed for three touchdowns and used a 14-point, third-quarter surge to get past Wagner, 21-14, to earn its first Northeast Conference victory of the season Saturday afternoon at Wagner College Stadium in Staten Island, N.Y.
Colonials running back Tyvon Edmonds Jr. rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries against Wagner (2-2, 0-1).
Quarterback Anthony Chiccitt, a Bethel Park graduate, threw for 219 yards and an interception but also rushed for 18 yards and a score for the Colonials (2-2, 1-0), while Seton LaSalle graduate Jamar Shegog had four tackles and one sack for the defense.
No. 9 Slippery Rock dominates in second straight road victory
Quarterback Brayden Long threw for 268 yards and a touchdown and No. 9 Slippery Rock rushed for 140 yards and three scores en route to a 33-7 victory against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division foe Shippensburg on the road at Seth Grove Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Running back Idris Lawrence rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown for the Rock (3-0), while Demaetric Crenshaw and Long also added scores on the ground. Running back Chris D’Or rushed for 63 yards against the Raiders (1-2).
Senior wide receiver Tony Grimes, a Penn Hills graduate, caught a team-high seven passes for 76 yards for Slippery Rock, and Mike Solomon caught three passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Defensive lineman Todd Hill was particularly disruptive for the Rock defense. The Steel Valley product, who played previously at Duquesne and Pitt, had six tackles, 4½ for a loss with two sacks. Defensive back Eddie Faulkner IV, a Shady Side Academy graduate, had five tackles, one for a loss, with a half sack.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania remains perfect on the road
Indiana University of Pennsylvania won its third consecutive game on the road to open the season Saturday afternoon, this time blowing out Millersville, 42-14, at Biemesderfer Stadium.
The Crimson Hawks (3-0) earned road victories at Ashland and Lock Haven over the past two weeks before dispatching of Millersville (0-3) with four touchdowns on the ground and a defense that produced four sacks and two turnovers.
Running back JD Yonger rushed for 39 yards and two scores, while Kaleb Monaco added 34 yards and two touchdowns for IUP, which also received 181 yards and two touchdowns through the air from quarterback Nico Marchitelli.
Redshirt senior defensive back Chuck Ingram had 16 tackles, a one-half sack and an interception for the Crimson Hawks. Freshman defensive back Noah Johnston, an Allderdice graduate, added 11 tackles for IUP with Maurice Feazall contributing five tackles and 1½ sacks.
California University of Pennsylvania comes up clutch in fourth quarter for win
California University of Pennsylvania scored 10 fourth-quarter points and its defense recorded a program-record seven sacks en route to defeating Lock Haven, 27-20, on the road at Hubert Jack Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Defensive lineman Julian Laventure and linebacker Armani Caraballo recorded two sacks each for California (2-1, 1-0) against Lock Haven (1-2).
Vulcans sophomore defensive back Khalil Taylor, a Westinghouse graduate, also had a sack, along with linebacker Malachi Thomas.
Quarterback Davis Black threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns to lead the California offense. McKeesport graduate Bobby Boyd Jr. rushed for a team-high 84 yards on 18 carries.
Wide receiver Omari Hopkins caught four passes for the Vulcans for 31 yards and two touchdowns, which included a 6-yard scoring strike from Black with 2:48 left in the contest. Sophomore wide receiver D’Avay Johnson — a Pittsburgh native who played high school football in Hebron, Texas — racked up a team-high 98 receiving yards with one touchdown for California.
No. 17 Carnegie Mellon routs third straight opponent
No. 17 Carnegie Mellon rushed for 322 yards and the Tartans defense held Bethany, W.Va., to minus-18 yards to claim a 66-0 victory against the Bison Saturday night in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference contest at Gesling Stadium in Oakland.
Running back Tre Vasiliadis carried the ball 18 times for 167 yards and one touchdown for Carnegie Mellon (3-0), which also got a rushing touchdown each from Giacomo Valente, Rak Agyei and Joey McGinnis IV against Bethany (0-3).
Tartans quarterback Ben Mills threw for 150 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He connected with wide receivers Brendan McCullough, a Peters Township graduate, and Dominic Voiland, along with running back Willem Bouma for touchdown passes.
DJ Johnson also returned a punt 11 yards for a Carnegie Mellon touchdown.
The Tartans defense has conceded just one touchdown this season and the offense has outscored their three opponents, 165-7.
No. 9 Grove City rolls to second win of season
No. 9 Grove City rolled up 606 yards of total offense — 330 through the air and 276 on the ground — in a 56-7 trouncing of Saint Vincent at Chuck Noll Field in Latrobe Saturday afternoon.
Peters Township product Logan Pfeuffer and Knoch graduate Scott Fraser were certainly on the same page for the Wolverines (2-0) against an overmatched Bearcats (1-2) defense.
Pfeuffer threw for 271 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and also rushed for a score. His preferred target was Fraser, who caught 10 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns to set the school record for most receiving yards in a single game. Wide receiver Ryan Heckathorn, a Blackhawk graduate, also caught one pass for an 18-yard scoring strike for Grove City.
West Allegheny graduate Nico Flati led the Wolverines ground game. He carried the football 18 times for 96 yards, while Penn-Trafford product Ian Demeri added 77 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
Grove City running backs Eli Jones and Chase Rankin also rushed for touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Caleb Brubaker had eight tackles for the Wolverines, while Moon graduate Ben Bladel had five tackles, two for a loss, with a sack.
Bladel is now Grove City’s all-time sacks leader with 25½ in his career. He broke the previous record of 24½, which South Fayette product Ryan Fleming set between 2019-2023.
South Fayette product Bryce Spolnik also contributed four tackles, two for a loss, with 1½ sacks, while Penn-Trafford graduate Jack Jollie racked up five tackles and a sack.
Quarterback Jacob Pugh leads Washington & Jefferson to rout of rival Waynesburg
Senior quarterback Jacob Pugh, a Thomas Jefferson graduate, completed 20-of-29 passes for 355 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions to lead Washington & Jefferson to a 55-16 blow-out win against rival Waynesburg Saturday at John F. Wiley Stadium in Waynesburg.
Junior wide receiver John Peduzzi caught seven passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns for the Presidents (3-0) against the Yellow Jackets (0-3).
Peters Township graduate Jacob Macosko caught six passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns for W&J.
Wide receiver Isaac Trout, a Southmoreland product, caught five passes for 58 yards and one touchdown for Waynesburg.
Ty McGowan leads Westminster to win against Allegheny
Quarterback Ty McGowan, a Moon graduate, threw for 240 yards and rushed for a pair of touchdowns, as Westminster racked up 244 yards on the ground en route to knocking off Allegheny, 42-7, Saturday night at Fuhrer Field in Meadville.
Wide receiver Clayton Cannon Jr. also rushed for two touchdowns for the Titans (2-0), while Gavin Greaves added another score on the ground against the Gators (1-2)
Senior quarterback Trevor Brncic, a Franklin Regional product, threw for 125 to pace the Allegheny offense and Dominic Berarducci rushed for 53 yards and a score.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.