Experience, skill make Bethel Park a contender
Eleanor Bailey
If experience equals success, then Bethel Park should be one of the football teams to beat in the Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference.
“When you look at the people who return, I’m not sure there’s a team that returns as much (as we do) in the league,” said Phil Peckich, who enters his fourth season as Black Hawks coach. “Expectations are to win the conference and play long into November.”
In order to achieve those goals Peckich cautioned, “We have to come in daily with a great mindset and ability to get better. If complacency sets in, that’s where you get stale and you don’t achieve what the talent says you could be.”
The Black Hawks indeed are talented and experienced. They return seven starters on defense. Three linemen return to an offensive line blest with depth. They also have a plethora of skill players, particularly those who can catch the football.
“Our thing is we bring back a lot of experience. In a lot of places,” Peckich added. “We have a ton of talent and will feature a bunch of athletes. Guys who are really good football players, too.
“Plus, we have a talented sophomore class that’s looking to get its feet wet and seniors who have waited their turn to compete for spots.”
Will Sabatos and Santino Nowozeniuk are perhaps the most talented players on the team. They are assuredly the most experienced.
A 6-2, 200-pound senior, Sabatos is a Miami (Ohio) commit and ranked among the top defensive backs in the WPIAL. Although injuries allowed him to play in only six games last fall, he made 20 tackles (three for loss) and recorded a sack. As a tight end, he had 23 receptions for 439 yards. He scored six TDs.
Nowozeniuk is receiving college interest. A two-way starter and four-year veteran, like Sabatos, he is a wide receiver and a cornerback on defense. Nowozenuik led the Hawks in receiving with 40 catches for 839 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Brady Bruckner can play cornerback or strong safety on defense. A 6-1, 171-pound senior, he is also versatile on offense. He provides the Black Hawks another solid target for rookie quarterback Max Novak, who looks to fill the shoes vacated by Dan Devine, a 2,000-yard plus passer.
“These guys will be playmakers,” Peckich predicted of Sabatos, Nowozeniuk and Bruckner.
Antonio Williams, who returns in the secondary with the aforementioned trio, moves from wide receiver to running back. He will combine with Tyler Miller as well as Lucas Skerbetz in the backfield as the Black Hawks look to offset the loss of 1,540 rushing yards and 25 TDs by David Dennison, who has graduated.
“They are all of similar stature and talent level. Comparable,” Peckich said. “Antonio and Tyler played and gave us quality minutes.
“What we do and who we are all starts up front though. That’s been the ID of our football team. How our team is built. In the trenches and establishing the line of scrimmage.”
Guards Nate Purcell and Ryan Bergia as well as tight end Nate Cirincione anchor the offensive line. Senior veterans, all three are returning starters. Nathan Huffman and Dillan Donnellan are the tackles along with sophomore Jackson Pastor and freshman Michael Tomaino. Hunter Stevens, Henry Tetlow and John Antonucci add depth to both sides of the line.”
“There will be a rotation and we will run a lot of people in and out up front. We have a lot of competition.”
There is competition at linebacker although Jackson Johnson and Tyler Miller are returning starters on the inside and outside, respectively. Tanner Vogel is in the mix of outside linebackers while Skerbetz, Jackson Ehlers, Luke Beardsly, Jake Quinn and Caleb Crawford are among those vying at inside backers.
“We have options but we have to get guys ready to roll. Our defense will be talented in many spots but we have to be able to stop the run. In games where we struggled last year, we did a poor job of stopping the run. We have to do a better job of that.”
The Black Hawks are looking to do a better job down the stretch. Last year, Bethel Park posted a 7-5 overall record. The Black Hawks were 2-3 in the Allegheny Six Conference. After beating North Hills in the first round of the playoffs, they lost to eventual WPIAL champion Peters Township.
“The important thing is to start well and we begin with five quality opponents,” Peckich said. “We want to be playing our best football as we transition into October.”
That’s when the Hawks commence conference play with West Allegheny, at home with arch-rival Upper St. Clair on Oct. 9, at Thomas Jefferson and then back-to-back home affairs with Peters Township and Trinity.
“Whoever shows up to play, who puts it together usually wins. How well you play when it matters counts. It’s important to play well against a big rival like USC but we could win that game and lose the rest and not be in a good spot. We want to play well all five weeks.”