Tradition helps Upper St. Clair overcome inexperience
Upper St. Clair linemen Wyatt Kovell completes a block and runs to take on the next tackler while teammate Ivory Travers and assistant coach Tom Stilley watch the pre-season football camp drill.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Upper St. Clair linemen, from left, Jacob Lapinski, Mark Banbury, Nick Chimento, Marcus Fennell and Tyler Kirk work on their form under the watchful eye of assistant coach Tom Stilley during a preseason workout.
Upper St. Clair linemen Zach Ehasz takes his turn pushing a tackling sled under the watchful eye of assistant football coach Jeff Donati.
Upper St. Clair assistant coach Jeff Donati observes the blocking technique of Zach Ehasz during a practice drill.
By Eleanor Bailey
Almanac Sports Editor
ebailey@thealmanac.net
UPPER ST. CLAIR – With only six returning starters from a conference runner-up and playoff club, expectations would be for a down year for Upper St. Clair football this fall. That’s not the Panther way, though.
“Our players understand the expectation of this program. They understand their responsibility and they embrace it. In this community, football is important, Friday nights are important,” said USC coach Mike Junko. “We are blessed to have coaches and kids with that mentality. It’s par to make every season count.”
USC has a tradition of excellence. The Panthers have won seven WPIAL titles and two state championships.
In 2021, the Panthers intend to challenge Peters Township, Bethel Park, Moon, South Fayette and West Allegheny for the Allegheny Six Conference championship and battle for a WPIAL Class 5A title. They were 4-1 in the league last year and 5-3 overall after falling to Penn-Trafford, 35-7, in the playoffs.
“Every year, if you are a part of the USC program, the goal is to win the conference. This year is no different,” said Junko, who enters his fourth season after replacing legendary Jim Render, the winningest coach in the WPIAL with more than 400 victories.
The Panthers are parading into the season with little experience after graduating more than two dozen players. They boast just 12 seniors. There are 30 juniors and as many as 18 sophomores and close to 40 freshman listed on their varsity roster.
“Our senior class is not big in numbers but its good in quality players and leadership,” Junko said.
Ethan Hiester and Mateo Cepulio lead the veterans as three-year starters.
Hiester was an all-conference punter. In addition, he rushed for 317 yards and scored five touchdowns out of the backfield as well as accumulated 24.5 tackles as an outside linebacker.
Cepulio intercepted and recovered one fumble each and recorded 17 tackles as a cornerback. He ranked second on the team with 31 receptions for 432 yards as a wide receiver.
Jamaal Brown teams with Heister in the backfield and at linebacker while Aidan Besselman will flank Cepulio in the wide out slots and on the corners at defense. Both are juniors.
Brown rushed for as many yards as Heister and scored four times. Besselman had eight catches for 276 yards and three TDs. On defense, Brown had 22 tackles and Besselman 19. Cepulio had a 71-yard interception return last season.
“Ethan and Jamaal are two of the more experienced backs in the WPIAL. They are physical runners. Given the choice of finishing the run or opting out of bounds, they will choose to finish the run,” Junko said.
“Mateo and Aiden both have a lot of experience and they will anchor the core of receivers. They understand our system and give us flexibility to do more.”
In the backfield, Aiden Conn and Tyler Goney give the Panthers depth while Jacob Hufnagel and senior Nick DeRubeis have worked “extremely hard” to be top targets and “possession receivers” for the Panthers. Ivory Travers and Matthew Gaither are two-way threats as H-backs behind Brady Bartusiak.
Brown, Hiester, Besselman and Cepulio are USC’s core four.
“It’s nice to have guys like them because they carried and caught the ball a bit on Friday nights. That’s a big reason why we like them because our biggest challenge on offense will be expanding their roles, adjusting and shifting our production.”
For the past two years, USC relied upon the Ethan Dahlem-David Pantelis connection for the bulk of its offensive production.
While Pantelis grabbed 33 passes for 490 yards and seven scores last fall, Dahlem accounted for 5,121 yards of offense, throwing for 3,785 and 31 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,336 and 20 touchdowns the past two seasons. Patelis is playing at Yale and Dahlem is continuing his career at Case Western.
With Dahlem graduated, Brady Erdos operates the offense along with fellow junior Charlie Stohl or Hiester in the role out of the wildcat attack. Erdos boasts a “strong arm” and the ability to run but most important, says Junko, he has “grown up” with the offense.
“He is a system kid,” Junko said. “He has been around it for a number of years but there is a learning curve to our offense. So in order to put him in a position to be successful we will rely on the maturity of the guys around him to help him along the way.”
Bartusiak, a senior, and junior Mark Banbury play critical roles in USC’s development as well. Both are returning starters. An H-back, Bartusiak also is an outside linebacker on defense. Banbury anchors the line at center/guard.
On the line with Banbury will be players who came on last year, including seniors Wyatt Kovell and Chase Rosenberry as well as junior Marcus Fennell. Newcomer Tyler Kirk, a junior, will fill the spot not played by Banbury. Zachary Ehasz and Jacob LaPinski also figure in the mix. Many also play on the defensive line.
“It’s a gritty group,” Junko said. “They respond well to coaching and understand the system. On defense, it’s an area we need to see improvement and consistency because we struggled there the last two years. We struggled to stop the run and that leads to a crux of troubles.”
With Hiester and Brown, the Panthes are strong at linebacker. Shea Moorehead looks to replace Luke Banbury, who is now at Cornell. Ivory Travers and Hunter Schroeck, a standout baseball player, along with Bartusiak sure up the position.
“We have a lot of real good kids at linebacker. They are experienced and we are excited about the young guys that have looked good in camp.”
In addition to Cepulio and Besselman, the secondary will be comprised of safeties Tim Speer, Jacob Hugnagel, Tyson Swigart and Aiden Conn.
“To be successful in their conference you have to have a good secondary,” Junko said. “It’s very important because teams can throw the football in this league.”
With Hiester back to handle the punting and Matt Russell back as placekicker, special teams appears a strength for the Panthers.
“We spend a lot of time on (special teams),” Junko said. “When you’re a young team, we feel we need to take advantage of every phase we can. Special teams can turn a game in a positive direction real quick.”
With non-league clashes against West Toronto, Mt. Lebanon, defending state champion Pine-Richland, Penn Hills and Baldwin, the Panthers have five weeks to prepare for their conference opener against Peters Township on Oct. 1.
“Our goal is to have our younger players gain as much experience and grow in the early part of the schedule and compete and make sure we arrive as a healthy and improved football team by our conference opener,” Junko said. “We expect to be a much different team.”