After recent steady improvement, Trinity seeks next step
The improvement in Dan Knause’s first three seasons as Trinity’s head coach has been steady and exciting. The Hillers have made the playoffs twice, won a postseason game and defeated perennial powers Thomas Jefferson and Belle Vernon.
That’s some heady stuff for a program that was 3-7 the season before Knause arrived.
Last year, the Hillers went 5-6 overall, but they went 4-1 in the Allegheny Six Conference and lost to Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals.
So what is the next step for Trinity football? Knause outlined his expectations for this year’s team, then quickly moved on.
“We tell our kids our goals. We have aspirations to be the first conference champion here since 1986. We talked about our goals, then we erased them on the board and said make today count,” Knause said.
“It’s daily development. We get lost in it. Our kids believe in it and things like beating TJ and Belle Vernon happen because of daily development. Our older kids realize that now.”
Trinity has plenty of older kids this year at the skill positions. None of them are more experienced than senior quarterback Jonah Williamson, who has been the hub of the offense. A Harvard commit, Williamson passed for 1,059 yards and six touchdowns a year ago, and rushed for 814 yards and 12 scores. In the last two seasons, Williamson has accounted for almost 4,800 yards and had a hand in 43 touchdowns.
“I say he’s like having an extra coach on the field,” Knause said of his quarterback. “It’s not too often you have a four-year starter at quarterback. The offense, we were starting it around him as a freshman and it has grown with him. Last year we had to adapt because we were so young around him, but this year these guys have grown up and we can get more creative.
“Jonah’s football IQ is through the roof. We allow him to make in-game adjustments. We rely on him to get us in the right play. We also emphasize taking care of the football, and with him touching the ball so much that starts with him.”
Williamson will have familiar targets at the end of his passes. Trinity returns its top three pass catchers from a year ago in junior Chase Kostelnik (15 receptions), junior Braden Berdar (15 receptions) and senior Anthony Giorgi (13 receptions).
Junior Owen Gardner moves into the lead running back role after sharing the workload with Nico Mauro last year. Gardner rushed for 346 yards and averaged eight yards per carry.
“Owen popped as a sophomore,” Knause said. “He can be a special running back. He has a nice blend of strength, balance and speed. He has some of the best balance I’ve ever seen.
“Our program, though, is built on distribution of the ball. We’re not going to rely on one guy to touch it 40 times a night.”
While the Hillers are experienced at the slip position, they do have to rebuild their offensive and defensive lines.
“That has been the focus during camp,” Knause said.
The rebuild will start with a pair of returning starters, senior Jackson Starr and sophomore Matt Richards. The latter was first team all-conference on defense as a freshman.
“Our aim is always going to be to stop the run on defense,” Knause said. “Defensively, we lost some guys because the people we have are really good football players.”
One of those players is inside linebacker David Gill, who plays bigger than his size.
“He can be special,” Knause said. “He played behind two very good inside linebackers. His passion for the game is contagious.”
The secondary, which is led by senior Ben Priest, is more experienced than a year ago.
Winning also is contagious, and that’s what Trinity plans to have run throughout the program this season.
“The expectations here have changed,” Knause said, “and we’re proud of that. We’ve gone from people hoping you make the playoffs to expecting it. That’s where you want to be as a program. That’s an encouraging sign that we want more for ourselves and the community wants more because it has seen where the program can go.
“We’ve been in the WPIAL quarterfinals two years in a row and the teams that have beaten us in that round (McKeesport and Aliquippa) are traditional powers. We’ve gone from hoping to make the playoffs to expecting to make them. We’re excited about this year.”