Aug 22, 2018 4 min read

The Bentworth High School football team drops down into Class A for the 2018 season.

Unfortunately for the Bearcats, that is not all that dropped.

Bentworth’s roster is smaller than last season but the Bearcats will be looking to make their mark in the Tri-County South Conference.

Last season, Bentworth went 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the Class AA Century Conference.

The Bearcats defeated Brownsville and Chartiers-Houston in conference play and beat Riverview and Waynesburg in non-conference games. Bentworth finished in sixth-place in the conference.

The Bearcats averaged 23.4 points a game and yielded an average of 36.2. Bentworth’s four wins came against opponents with a combined record of 5-33.

The Bearcats open Friday against Brownsville before beginning Tri-County South play the following week.

The top two teams in each Class A conference qualify for the WPIAL playoffs with two other wild cards joining the postseason participants.

“The No. 1 thing is, we’re moving back into Class A,” said veteran head coach Ron Skiles. “We should be a more competitive team. We played a lot of freshmen and sophomores last year. We’re still young but we’re more experienced.

“Skill-wise we’re pretty solid. At quarterback, running back and receiver, we’ll be OK.”

Junior Shawn Dziak returns at quarterback with senior Spencer Fereza, and sophomores Trent Cavanaugh and Owen Petrisek, returning at running back.

Dziak threw for 1,515 yards with 109 completions in 212 attempts (51.4 completion percentage), 16 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Fereza is the leading returning ground gainer, amassing 313 yards in 2017 with 5.4 yards per carry. Petrisek caught 19 passes for 162 yards and scored two TDs.

Senior Bruce Hook is back at wide receiver along with junior Dylan Farkas and seniors Jacob Kisner and Shawn Bakos.

Up front, the Bearcats will feature seniors Colon Heinrich and Daniel Sturchak. Other Bentworth linemen include sophomores Nick Scarfo and Nathan Menzer, and senior Mason Shemasek.

“The defense is returning a lot of players,” Skiles said.

The coach added that Shemasek, Heinrich and Sturchak will be on the defensive line.

Cavanaugh, Bakos, Petrisek and junior Austin Pistilli will be the linebackers. In the secondary, the Bearcats will count on Dziak, Kisner and Hook to provide experienced coverage and support for the front seven.

Cavanaugh was the team’s leading tackler last season with 101, 57 solos.

Two players who will be difficult to replace are the graduated Ben Peternel, who was a top receiver and defensive back, and placekicker Levi Jordan.

Bentworth will get a pretty good idea how much progress it is making in its Tri-County South opener when it plays West Greene.

Skiles expects defending conference champion California and the Pioneers to be the top teams in the conference.

He added that Monessen “always has athletes” and Mapletown is “well-coached.”

Other Tri-County South teams include Chartiers-Houston, which also is dropping from Class AA, Jefferson-Morgan and Avella,

Where the Bearcats fit into the conference depends on their preseason practices and work.

“It depends on how we developed in the three weeks of practice leading up to the regular season,” Skiles said. “We have a lot to teach and the players have a lot to learn. We’ll just see how it develops and how well we can get them coached.

“West Greene was a pretty good team last year and California went a long way in the playoffs (semifinals),” Skiles said.

In addition to the conference schedule and the season-opener at Brownsville, the Bearcats will play Cornell and Leechburg in non-conference games.

Bentworth’s last winning season and WPIAL playoff appearance was 2015. Prior to that season, the Bearcats’ last winning season was 2005 and it was the last season they won a postseason game, a victory over Mapletown.

Unlike last season, when the Bearcats played two home games at Washington & Jefferson College’s Cameron Stadium, they will play all their home games at the district’s home stadium in Ellsworth.