Volleyball team motivates Fort Cherry
Jim Shiel got an unexpected motivational tool Tuesday night and he didn’t have to do anything other than make sure football practice ended at its normal time.
That allowed the football players at Fort Cherry High School to make the short trip to Peters Township to watch the school’s volleyball team compete against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals. The Rangers went down 2-0 in the best-of-5 match and could have easily given up and called it a season.
Instead, the Rangers rallied and won the fifth and deciding game, 15-3, to advance to the semifinals. The football players on hand got a front-row view of what perseverance means to a successful competition.
“It’s a great talking point (about never giving up),” said Shiel, the Rangers’ veteran football coach. “Both teams support each other. Most of those volleyball players, I coached them at middle school so it’s exciting to see them do so well, too.”
That lesson could help the football team as it heads into a first-round WPIAL Class A playoff game Friday night against Sto-Rox at home. The Rangers take an 8-1 record into the game with Sto-Rox, 6-4 and winner of three of its last four games. Shiel relishes the home game, and the atmosphere it brings.
“School spirit is as high as I’ve ever seen it,” Shiel said. “We get good fan sections at the football and volleyball games. Being in front of our fans on our field will definitely be an advantage.”
The winner of this game is expected to get top-seeded Clairton in the next round.
Fort Cherry, the runner-up in the Tri-County South Conference, is a similar team to Sto-Rox. Both teams rely on speed, quickness and skill-position players. The Rangers’ do-everything threat is Ryhan Culberson, who has passed for 617 yards, rushed for 867 yards and has 142 receiving yards. Scott Miller (15 receptions, 448 yards, 29.9 yards per reception) and Devon Brown (13, 167, 12.8) have been Culberson’s main targets.
Sto-Rox is coached by Jason Ruscitto, who played at Beth-Center and Mon Valley Catholic and whose father, Tony, coached at such schools as California, Mon Valley Catholic, Belle Vernon, Canon-McMillan, Beth-Center, Duquesne and South Allegheny.
“It’s always great coming back to the area,” said Ruscitto, who is coaching his first playoff game in Washington County. “I’ll have family who is going to be there and that’s always nice.”
Sto-Rox is led by the pinpoint passing (72 of 117) of Brady Doubt, who has 1,190 yards, nine touchdowns. His 417 passing yards in a Week 3 win over Shenango was the 10th-best single-game performance in WPIAL history. But freshman Eric Wilson should get playing time.
“We have a nice blend of seniors with our underclassmen,” said Ruscitto. “We have a good core of seniors.”
Ruscitto said it will be a challenge to stop Culberson.
“He’s big and he has a big arm,” said Ruscitto. “He’s tough to stop. When he was at South Fayette last year, he was part of a machine. Here, he’s the man.”
Mapletown junior tailback Dylan Rush needs 204 yards to reach 2,000 for the season. Rush is coming off a 164-yard, 33-carry performance in a 22-12 comeback win over Monessen. The No. 13-seeded Maples travel to No. 4 Northgate in the Class A first round. … Clairton has won eight of the last 10 WPIAL Class A titles and gets Avella in the first round. … Chartiers-Houston has three losses, but they have been to quality opponents, Class AAA McGuffey, conference opponent and No. 2 seed Washington, and Jeannette, seeded third in Class A. … There are eight undefeated playoff teams: West Allegheny in 5-A, Thomas Jefferson and South Fayette in 4-A, Derry in 3-A, Washington and Steel Valley in 2-A, and Clairton and Rochester in 1-A.