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Burgettstown has a West Allegheny look

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

A player from Burgettstown finds hlmself flipping over while trying to do a tackling drill during practice.

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

Burgettstown players practice stripping the football away from the ball carrier.

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

Members of the Burgettstown football team run a play during heat acclimation week practice.

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

Burgettstown head coach Greg Marshall points out a play during practice. Marshall had an 11-9 record in two seasons with the Blue Devils.

By Joe Smeltzer

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

At this time last year, brothers Druga – Mark in his sixth season as head coach and Rich as his defensive coordinator – led a successful operation in Burgettstown. The Blue Devils were coming off consecutive unbeaten regular seasons, rolling up 18 straight regular-season wins in the autumns of 2018 and ’19.

Burgettstown started 2020 by beating Fort Cherry. Then, a 41-0 loss to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Week 2 became a proverbial apple in the Garden of Eden. The Blue Devils lost their next two games by a combined 77-14 and wound up finishing a meek 3-4 to miss the playoffs for the first time in Mark Druga’s tenure.

In 2020’s bleak midwinter, more sad news awaited.

After a 38-21 overall record and two conference championships over six years, Mark Druga resigned as head coach, and Rich decided to move on, as well, returning to the West Allegheny coaching staff.

West Allegheny is also where Burgettstown found Mark Druga’s successor.

Greg Marshall, a 34-year-old who was a part of four WPIAL championship teams in 12 seasons at West Allegheny, is now in charge at Burgettstown, accepting the job in March.

A Sept. 3 game in Rogersville against West Greene will be Marshall’s first as a varsity head coach.

“I think we’re all geeked,” Marshall said, “I think we’re all ready to go. I think the kids are ready to go. I know us, as coaches, are ready to go. It’s something that we’ve been thinking about since we’ve been out there, starting the lifting program. The West Greene date has been circled on our calendar for a long time.”

The Pioneers will be Burgettstown’s first test of 2021, and the Blue Devils will have to replace some playmakers from last season. Running back Shane Kemper has moved on to Clairon, and receiver Cole Shergi has also graduated. Marshall is still in the process of assessing returners such as quarterback Jackson LaRocka.

“We’re going by the ‘eye test’ right now,” Marshall said. “I need to see it. I need to see these kids respond to our coaching.

“I like the athletes that we have. I like the work ethic that we have, and I think we’re coming together and starting to build and find our identity.”

Like the program itself, Marshall is experiencing a transition from a personal standpoint. Having worked with Rich Druga at West Allegheny, Marshall has easily reached out to the brothers for guidance.

“It definitely helps,” Marshall said. “I know, especially in the very beginning, just finding out what the deal was. Why was the job coming open, and was there anything going on that I needed to know about behind the scenes? Being able to ask those guys those questions, Mark and Rich, to ask those questions and for them to answer those questions honestly has been a big help.”

Every member of Marshall’s varsity coaching staff either coached or played at West Allegheny. Jamie Schumacher will be the offensive coordinator and Mike Frankowski, who played for coach Bob Palko and graduated in 2012, will assist Marshall in running the defense. The other five – David Rubis, Kyle Guilfoil, Dante Flati, Nick Martin and Jordan Diven – were also Palko products.

Burgettstown will have a pair of scrimmages to lead into its Labor Day Weekend opener. The Blue Devils will scrimmage at Yough before hosting South Park.

After a pair of non-conference games at West Greene and Avella, Burgettstown’s Big Seven Conference opener is scheduled for Sept. 17, when it hosts OLSH.

In 2020, the conference was balanced, with Rochester and Shenango going 6-1 to share the conference championship and OLSH following closely behind at 3-2. It will be challenging for Burgettstown to break its brief playoff drought, and for Marshall, doing so will be one of the first boxes to check in his tenure.

“We just hope to be one of those teams that come out when the dust settles at the end of the season,” he said. “Right now, that’s our focus.”

So, what will become of Marshall’s Blue Devils? We might not know the long-term answer for a while. In any case, 2021 will be the dawning of a new age.

“We’re just trying to build a culture,” Marshall said. “We’re trying to get our kids to buy into what we’re preaching as coaches. How we want them to act as men, how we want them to have good character, and be good students and be good brothers.”

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