Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Tony Welsh
School: Beth-Center
Year: Senior
Sport: Football
Welsh’s week: The 6-0, 201-pound senior running back became just the 16th player in WPIAL history to surpass 5,000 career rushing yards, finishing the Bulldogs’ first-round playoff loss to Avonworth with 205 yards and two touchdowns.
Welsh ended his high school career with 5,062 yards and is the fifth local athlete to reach the mark – joining Beth-Center’s Keith Miller, who Welsh grew up idolizing. After the loss, Welsh was told he finished second in school history behind Miller, a 1994 graduate.
“I didn’t look at the yards. I wasn’t worried about any of it,” Welsh said. “I was just saying to myself to go out, run as hard as you can and the yards would come with it. That’s what took me to the 5,000 mark.”
Idols: Welsh grew up attending Beth-Center football games and hearing about Miller. As fate would have it, Welsh would follow in his footsteps, continuing in the program’s tradition of old-school, power-running football.
He’s now having his name mentioned with the school’s long line of talented running backs, including Miller, Deshawn Brown, Mike Sanders, Bob Greenough, and even his head coach, Ed Woods.
“I feel like I don’t belong with them because I’ve always looked up to those guys, but it’s a good feeling passing some of them up,” Welsh said. “I still look up to them and they’re still my idols.”
The bruising tailback helped Beth-Center (7-3) finish second in the Tri-County South and reach the WPIAL playoffs for an area-best 13th consecutive season. Dating back to Bill Connors’ tenure as head coach in the 1970s, the Bulldogs have not traditionally used a workhorse tailback.
That changed this fall when Beth-Center lacked experience behind Welsh. He responded with a career-high 224 carries for 1,923 yards and 28 touchdowns. Welsh had 83 career rushing touchdowns, despite receiving just 18 carries as a freshman.
“I was happy for Tony for what he was able to accomplish against Avonworth,” Woods said. “He’s a special back to do what he did in the four years he was here. A lot of kids dream to just get 1,000 yards their senior year. He’s one of those backs that will be remembered for a long time to be one of the best to come out of Beth-Center.”
Bigger, faster, stronger: After last season, Welsh began to attend Total Athlete Indoor Training in Tridelphia, W.Va., where he focused on getting faster and to better prepare him for the added workload.
He gained eight pounds and added a new dimension to his game. Unlike in previous seasons where he tried to run over defenders, Welsh became more elusive and the added speed showed on defense this fall.
His motivation was simple. Welsh heard people doubt that he’d be able to have success at a higher level. He wanted to use this season to prove them wrong.
“I thought I was underrated a little bit,” Welsh said. “Some say that if I played at a bigger school, I wouldn’t have the yards I did. But I think I would because the blocking is at a higher level – we have 180-pound guards on my team and they have 250-pound guards. I always tried to prove people wrong.”
Compiled by Lance Lysowski