Aug 23, 2016 5 min read

Brad McLaughlin did a little of everything for Burgettstown last year, finishing the season as the team’s leading rusher and passer while also playing solidly in the defensive backfield.

But if second-year head coach Mark Druga has his way, McLaughlin’s plate will be less full this season.

“He was definitely the heart and soul of our team last year,” said Druga. “This year, we’re hoping he’s not our leading rusher. Our tailback is back strong, Shane Tennant. He committed himself to the weight room and offseason conditioning, so we feel like we have a strong tailback this year after fighting through injuries last year.”

Druga knows that if the Blue Devils are going to make a run at another playoff berth in 2016 after making it last season for the first time since 2009, they’re going to need McLaughlin on the field.

“Brad is a fantastic person and player,” Druga said. “I know he’s not the prototype quarterback that you think of now, throwing the ball left and right with pinpoint accuracy. Brad has a strong arm to do that. But he also has the ability to make things happen when things don’t go right. He never gives up.”

That style of play can lend itself to injuries, as it did when McLaughlin suffered a season-ending broken collarbone midway through his sophomore season.

A similar injury to McLaughlin this year would likely derail the Blue Devils. And with positive expectations in Burgettstown after a 5-5 season in 2015 that included a 5-3 record in conference play, McLaughlin realizes he has to pick his spots to run, even if that means taking a little away from his overall game.

“When I was younger, I was a running back. I just like to run the ball,” the 5-10, 180-pound senior said. “I can make plays with my arm and my legs. I would like to have a better year than I had last year. I guess they might hold me back a little. I’m fine with running the ball a lot. I like to scramble.”

McLaughlin shocked some opponents with big games through the air in 2015. There was a 226-yard, three-touchdown effort to open the season against Waynesburg and a 325-yard, five-touchdown game against Charleroi.

But he also made impacts in other ways.

In the Blue Devils’ playoff-clinching, 10-0 win at Brownsville in Week 9, McLaughlin threw for 101 yards and also scored the game’s lone touchdown on a 24-yard run in the second quarter.

That win, which clinched Burgettstown’s first playoff spot since 2009 and gave the Blue Devils their first shot at a winning season since 2007, had the town feeling a lot of pride in its football team.

“After our Brownsville game, we were coming in on the main artery into town and the fire department had the lights on for us,” said Druga, a longtime Burgettstown assistant before taking over when Terry Havelka retired following the 2014 season.

“It was almost like we were being escorted in. The town was fired up. They were hyped about it. Our core group of seniors, who aren’t with us any more, will always be with us. They built that foundation and it’s trickled down. They went through many years, trying years, where people bailed on us. Our team is fired up, tighter than ever. It really has been a great stepping stone for myself and what we have been trying to accomplish here for years with the past two head coaches, just trying to rebuild the program. We believe we have it on the right path, no doubt about it.”

The WPIAL’s new conference alignments that became necessary when the PIAA moved to six classifications have created excitement for Burgettstown.

Gone are the long road trips of recent years to Derry, Southmoreland and Mt. Pleasant. The Blue Devils were moved from the Interstate to the Class AA Century Conference along with Charleroi and Washington, among others, and now have some of their natural rivalries back.

“I think it’s a remarkable shakeup for us, No. 1 being in close proximity with most teams or the history with most teams,” said Druga. “Derry, we had to go through three counties to get to Derry. I said, heck, we’re going on a field trip next year. We’re just going to stay at Idlewild (Amusement Park) for a night. The coach is doing a great job at Derry, but there’s no way you can have a rivalry, even though we had great games with them. We have new teams in the conference that aren’t new – Beth-Center. Chartiers-Houston, Bentworth – in the past we played them all the time. We’re very excited about that.”

The players also like the shift.

“It feels good to be able to play old rivals like Chartiers-Houston,” McLaughlin said. “I know a lot those guys. It’s good to have different competition sometimes. I really do like the new classifications, and I feel like we’re going to have a really good year.”