Aug 17, 2024 4 min read

By Bill Hughes

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

Now entering his fourth season at the helm of the Monessen Greyhounds football program, head coach Wade Brown has seen growth with the team.

This season, he hopes the Greyhounds take it one step further, although he knows the team is in for a tough game weekly in its new league, the Class A Black Hills Conference.

“It is going to be a meat-grinder each week, and I call our conference the SEC of Class A,” Brown said. “Fort Cherry was the WPIAL champion and state runner-up a year ago, Bishop Canevin is always a power, Serra Catholic was a WPIAL Double-A champ and state runner-up a few years ago, and we haven’t beaten Cornell since I have been here.

“A goal is to return to the playoffs, but we will have to stay healthy and disciplined the whole year, and we have to be ready for what entails.”

The other teams in the Black Hills Conference are Burgettstown and Chartiers-Houston.

Brown is excited about the experience Monessen has back.

“We have eight starters returning on both offense and defense,” he said. “There are others who played a lot, as well.”

A key will be sophomore quarterback Dennis Hawkins III, an athletic 6-3 reserve a year ago that Brown hopes to see growth from.

“He is a good one, and he is very athletic,” Brown said. “He can windmill dunk (on the basketball court) already, and we hope his athleticism helps us on the field.”

Four juniors enter the season as three-year starters, and the quartet includes running back Tyvaughn Kershaw, tight end/H-back/fullback Rodney Johnson, guard Torrence Taylor and running back/wide receiver Tavian Taylor.

Senior linemen Jacob Savage and Daniel Dozier, as well as senior wide receiver Tim Kershaw, also provide plenty of experience.

Brown also has four sophomores who gained valuable time last season as freshmen in wide receivers Kayden Kolbeck and Jay’Veyon Jeffries, running back/slot receiver Michael Hines and H-back Jaekwon Craggette.

Hawkins, both Kershaws, Tavian Taylor, Kolbeck and Hines provide experienced depth in the secondary, while Tyvaughn Kershaw will also see time on the defensive line and at linebacker.

“He is such an athlete that we don’t know what we are going to do with him yet,” Brown said. “He provides us with positional flexibility, and it allows us to do different things.”

Joining Kershaw at linebacker will be Johnson, Dozier, Jeffries, and Craggette.

Expected to see time at defensive line will be Kershaw, Johnson, Torrence Taylor, Savage, and Dozier.

Brown said there will be freshmen who will make contributions, but he wants them to earn their recognition.

For the first time since he has been head coach, Brown believes the offseason went better than expected, and he credits the players.

“The kids have been working really hard with weightlifting and conditioning,” he said. “It is something we haven’t had at this level, and they have taken it up a notch.

“We are excited to see how it translates to the football field and hope it leads to us having a successful season.”

The conference isn’t the only part of the schedule Monessen has to worry about, as it plays nonconference games against WPIAL runner-up South Side Beaver, West Greene, Beth-Center, and it hosts rival Charleroi in the opener.

“We lost to South Side in the playoffs last season, and they made it to the finals,” Brown said. “West Greene beat us as well, and Beth-Center, under Coach (Tony) Ruscitto, who I played for at Duquesne, will be tough.

“We open with Charleroi, and it is a rivalry game, and everyone knows how rivalry games are.”