Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Aaron Harris
School: McGuffey
Year: Junior
Sport: Soccer
Harris’ week: The Highlanders striker started the week by scoring four goals in a 6-0 Section 6-AA victory over Uniontown Tuesday. He followed that performance with two goals in a 9-0 section win over Brownsville Thursday and had both of McGuffey’s goals in a 3-2 loss to last season’s WPIAL Class AA runner-up South Fayette in a non-section match Saturday. Harris also tallied two assists against Brownsville for a total of eight goals and two assists in three games.
“We knew Aaron was going to have to shoulder the load,” McGuffey head coach Jim Kita said. “We look to him being our leading scorer. He’s a returning WPIAL all-star as a sophomore. That speaks volumes. What is more impressive is most games he is getting doubled and still scoring goals.”
Dynamic duo: Scoring goals at a tremendous clip is nothing new to Harris. He and his older brother, Tyler, were the highest scoring tandem in the WPIAL last season. Tyler Harris, who is now playing at Penn State Behrend, finished second in the WPIAL with 31 goals and Aaron finished seventh with 24 goals.
With Tyler gone, Aaron has assumed a leadership role in orchestrating McGuffey’s fast-paced offense. The Highlanders (2-1, 3-3) were on a roll until the loss to the Lions and they fell to Ringgold in a section matchup Tuesday night.
“I really miss playing with (Tyler) because we’d always work together and had the same process,” Aaron Harris said. “We’d know where each other was and we really being out there together.”
Using his field vision and a shot that reminds Kita of Tyler’s, Aaron is ready to lead the Highlanders back to the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.
“When you have brothers, you’ll always see similarities because they battle against each other for so many years,” Kita said. “They have similarities in ball skills and keeping it away from defenders. Both are tremendous at finding open space with the ball.”
Looking ahead: Behind the Harris brothers, McGuffey reached the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals last year before falling to South Park, 1-0, in a shootout.
Despite South Fayette missing its leading scorer from last season, the Lions are undefeated and McGuffey is the only team to score more than one goal against them with Aaron tallying both.
“It really showed us what our team is capable of and what we can do against a really good team,” Harris said.
Opponents are responding to Harris’ play by shadowing him with two defenders and playing him tough in front of the goal. A wrestler during the winter, Harris is used to the rugged play. Kita expects there to be no slowing Harris this fall.
“We learned a lot about what he can do,” Kita said. “I’m hoping he can maintain that. He isn’t quite as big as Tyler, but he’s just a junior so I hope he can take the beating. He’s a wrestler so it shouldn’t be tough for him.”
Compiled by Lance Lysowski