Times have certainly changed in the football world, with high-octane spread offenses becoming more and more prevalent at the high school level while I-formations and wing-T playbooks get thrown out the window.
But for at least one gray, dreary Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, fans of old-school football were transported back to a simpler time — when big, burly offensive linemen ruled the day and running the ball was king.
No matter where you looked on Saturday, the fingerprints of each winning team’s offensive linemen were all over their championship victories. For Fort Cherry, the Rangers held their own against Clairton’s vaunted defense and opened up enough holes for Matt Sieg to rush for 87 yards and two TDs in a dramatic 21-20 victory in the Class 1A title game — matching the amount of points the Bears had previously allowed in 13 games all season.
“I was on the ground a couple times for the first time all year,” said Fort Cherry senior right tackle Joey Klose. “They were strong. But we were stronger.”
As for South Park, the Eagles leaned on towering twins Troy and Parker Cunningham to pave the way for Eric Doerue’s 149-yard, two-touchdown effort in a 21-14 win over top-seeded Seton LaSalle in the Class 2A final. Parker Cunningham is a James Madison recruit, while Troy Cunningham holds several FBS offers and recently set a school record with six sacks in a WPIAL semifinal win against Ellwood City. Together, they helped South Park control the ball for more than 36 minutes on Saturday while limiting the Rebels’ time of possession to just under 12 minutes.
“The big thing about them is, not only are they big kids, but they are tremendous athletes,” said Eagles coach Brian Abbey. “Both of them were youth level skill-position players. Even coming in as ninth graders, I think Troy was looking at being a tight end.”
For Avonworth, the offensive and defensive lines served as the backbone of a team that reached three consecutive WPIAL championship games before finally getting over the hump with a 17-0 win against Central Valley in the Class 3A title game. After graduating standout playmakers like running back Brandon Biagiarelli and wide receiver Andrew Kuban from last year’s team, the Antelopes turned to a committee of ball carriers in the backfield this fall.
With 5-10, 225-pound senior tailback Nico Neal leading the charge alongside younger brother Luca Neal and Dmitri Velisaris, all three players have rushed for more than 500 yards on the season behind a road-grading offensive line. In Saturday’s win against the Warriors, the Neal brothers combined to rush for 135 yards, while Nico Neal scored a pair of touchdowns to go along with a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter to polish off the shutout.
“These guys buy into what we do,” said Avonworth coach Duke Johncour. “We’re a tight-knit group. We’re a community team. We love each other. … We lost [senior captain Nik Engelmore] in the Week 0 game. He’s been unbelievable. He’s fought through adversity. Imagine if we had that guy on the line.
“We’re fortunate to have a team that buys in and fights together and bonds together and picks the slack up. Where injuries lie, they fill in the gaps for each other. It’s been a special, special year.”
Finally, in Saturday’s grand finale between defending Class 5A champion Peters Township and top-seeded Pine-Richland, it was the Rams and their punishing offensive and defensive front that left a lasting impression on all the fans who came out to watch their 20-9 triumph — and you can bet they left a lasting impression on the Indians, too.
“Those guys up front for them did a pretty good job for them,” said Peters Township coach T.J. Plack. “It was just a physical game. It was tough sledding inside that box.”
After graduating all five starters on last year’s offensive line, including two-time PUP all-star Ryan Cory, many wondered whether Pine-Richland would be able to maintain its intimidating presence up front. And as the only two-way starter on the offensive and defensive lines this season, senior Josh Nindl (6-5, 304) helped spearhead a unit that bulldozed its way through the Class 5A tournament while allowing just 16 points combined against Franklin Regional, Bethel Park and Peters Township.
“At the beginning, it was tough, but as the season went on, we started to really jell together,” Nindl said. “We started believing in ourselves. Our combos were looking great, and we just started dominating up front.”
Nindl has also gained notoriety in social media circles this season for his viral dances after games alongside teammates Tanner Cunningham and Sam Heckert, with some of the videos generating more than one million views on TikTok alone. Although Nindl isn’t the one posting the videos online, his dance moves are typically the center of attention in the comment section — and he even had a young fan come up to ask him for a picture after Saturday’s game.
Hey, it’s about time some of the big boys take center stage for once, right?
“Going out in public sometimes, people will recognize me,” Nindl said. “It hasn’t gotten to my head yet. … Even after the game, a kid came up and asked to take a picture with me.
“It’s a little surreal, to be honest.”
Fort Cherry’s Sieg continues pursuit of PIAA records
With Fort Cherry’s thrilling 21-20 comeback victory against Clairton in the Class 1A title game, the Rangers are guaranteed at least one more game this season, with a PIAA semifinal matchup on tap against District 9 champion Port Allegany on Friday night.
Of course, that also means junior quarterback Matt Sieg will get at least one extra game this season to resume his pursuit of history as he continues to chase down a handful of WPIAL and PIAA record holders.
Against the Bears, Sieg passed for 161 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 87 yards and two scores, giving him 1,285 yards passing and 20 TDs to go with 1,804 yards rushing and 32 TDs on the year. For his career, Sieg now has 4,176 yards passing and 6,178 yards rushing for a total of 10,354 career yards — good for third most in WPIAL history.
Although former Steelton-Highspire quarterback Alex Erby entered the season as Pennsylvania’s career leader in total yards and touchdowns, Bishop McDevitt senior Stone Saunders is on his way to rewriting the record books after leading the Crusaders into the PIAA Class 5A semifinals for the fourth year in a row. Saunders now has 13,296 yards passing and 199 passing touchdowns along with 97 yards rushing and seven rushing TDs, giving him 13,393 total yards and a PIAA-record 206 total TDs. He is also on the cusp of breaking Erby’s career passing yardage record of 13,562.
As for Sieg, his 159 career total TDs put him well within range to catch Saunders for the PIAA touchdown record next year, provided he can stay healthy. Sieg is also all but guaranteed to surpass Sto-Rox grad Lenny Williams’ WPIAL record of 11,559 career yards early on next season.
“A win for us is just 4 yards at a time. Three gains of 4 yards is a first down,” Sieg said. “As long as we just keep those going, we’re going to set ourselves up for success.”
South Park’s Doerue approaching another rare milestone
Entering the season, South Park senior Eric Doerue already had 3,057 yards rushing for his career — and with his powerful running style behind the Eagles’ terrific offensive line, Doerue had plans of achieving some lofty goals in 2024.
A 6-foot, 210-pound wrecking ball, Doerue blew past the 4,000-yard mark during a 33-0 win against Ligonier Valley on Oct. 11, and he also surpassed assistant coach Tyler Scruggs as the school’s career rushing leader in a 62-6 win against Shady Side Academy in the regular-season finale on Oct. 25. Still, Doerue never envisioned the prestigious milestone he is on the verge of reaching next.
With a career-high 1,745 yards rushing on the season, Doerue is now up to 4,802 yards rushing for his career. And with Saturday’s win against Seton LaSalle securing at least one more game for Doerue to play before he graduates — potentially two more if the Eagles can get past District 9 champion Central Clarion for a spot in the state finals — he could potentially become only the 28th player in WPIAL history to rush for 5,000 career yards.
“I didn’t even know that,” Doerue said. “If I can get to 5K, that’s awesome. … Getting to states has always been the goal. I wouldn’t say we came in here thinking we were going to win, but we are supposed to be confident in ourselves. The goal is always states.”
Pine-Richland’s Cunningham comes up clutch for Rams
With a rich tradition and championship pedigree that now includes nine WPIAL titles, Pine-Richland has certainly had its fair share of star players come and go through the years. But when it’s all said and done, few players will have made more of an impact in big moments for the Rams than unsung senior Tanner Cunningham.
A 5-8, 175-pound receiver-defensive back, Cunningham had a game to remember in Saturday’s 20-9 win against Peters Township in the Class 5A title game, when he caught two passes for 71 yards — including a 64-yard touchdown on a long pass down the middle of the field to give Pine-Richland a lead it would never relinquish. On defense, he tallied five tackles, a fumble recovery and a game-clinching interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter.
“I take pride in coming down and hitting people,” Cunningham said. “I don’t care how small I am.”
As impressive as his performance was against the Indians, it was hardly the first time Cunningham has risen to the occasion when the Rams needed him most.
In last year’s 13-6 win against Penn Hills in the WPIAL semifinals, Pine-Richland had just scored a game-tying touchdown in the final minute, when a low snap on the extra-point attempt nearly sabotaged the Rams’ late comeback. As the holder for the place-kicking unit, Cunningham did a magnificent job corralling the ball and setting it down in time for Grant Argiro’s go-ahead PAT. One week later, he hauled in two interceptions in a 43-17 loss against Peters Township in the WPIAL title game.
And of course, Cunningham returned an interception for a 40-yard touchdown on the second play of the game in last week’s 28-7 win against Bethel Park to send Pine-Richland back to the championship game. Whenever the Rams’ season comes to a close, though, so will Cunningham’s football career. The multi-sport standout is committed to play baseball at Frostburg State in college.
“No one can really tell who I am, but I’m playing my heart out every game for my teammates,” Cunningham said. “I’m leaving it all out there, all the way through.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
