Simonelli, Avella trying to piece together winning season
Sweat rolls down his face and even his face guard for Avella High School senior Shawn Willard, a Avella High school football defensive lineman. Shawn was on a water break during Heat week, the first week of practice for WPIAL football teams.
Avella High school senior Steve Miller, running back, goes through ball security and cutting drills the first week of practice.
Dalton Simonelli doesn’t mind playing with fire.
He has done so from his days as a youth, helping his father at the family business.
When not in school or participating in sports, the senior at Avella works at 3-D Welding, handling all types of industrial work.
“I started when I was young,” Simonelli said. “My dad was an ironworker and had has own welding business. So as I grew up, he taught me more and more. I just stuck with it. Our business is (headquartered) in our garage and we have portable welding rigs. We’ll go out on jobs – like if a semi breaks down – and we’ll go out and weld it. It’s work that has to get done somehow.”
If Simonelli can transfer the success he’s had in the welding industry to the sport he’ll play this fall, Avella should have a competitive football team.
Simonelli was supposed to be a running back or tight end, depending on the play, but was forced into playing quarterback last season when Luke Lloyd went down with an injury for a few games.
“We put in a lot of time going over plays and getting ready for practice this year,” Simonelli said. “Luke and I spent a good amount of time together. It wasn’t my first time playing quarterback. I played in little league but that was my first varsity quarterback start.”
Simonelli completed 29 of 75 passes for 414 yards and three touchdowns. Lloyd finished his senior season completing 51 of 120 passes for 827 yards and six touchdowns. Interceptions were a problem as the two combined for 21.
“We have to stick together and play as a team,” Simonelli said. “We have to know our routes and everything on offense and defense. It will all come down to who wants to come out and play football.”
Interestingly, Simonelli got his start at the quarterback position in the youth league in much the same way he did on varsity.
“My neighbor, Clint Varner, asked me to come out (for football) when I was younger, so I did,” said Simonelli. “Our starting quarterback went down, so I was asked to play quarterback. I said, ‘Why not?'”
Because of his size (6-0, 190), Simonelli would make a strong lineman in Class A. But his agility and quickness makes him more important as a skill-position player.
“The main part of the offense will revolve around Dalton,” said Avella head coach Ryan Cecchini. “He played some quarterback last year and now it’s his job full-time. We expect him to step up and have a good season.”
Cecchini said a strong arm is one of Simonelli’s assets.
“He is a big quarterback for Class A,” Cecchini said. “He is close to 200 pounds, so he can take the hits. We want to run the ball with him too because we feel he has the ability to be a dual-threat quarterback. We use a lot of the same plays with Luke last year and he was a running quarterback, so we’ll keep the same plays.”
The Eagles had two victories in nine games and only one in the Class A Tri-County South Conference. They averaged 12 points a game and surrendered an average of 41, so improvement needs to be made on both sides of the football. Lloyd and wide receiver Tyler Frasier were the only two seniors on last year’s roster.
“I think we are going to be a competitive team,” said Cecchini. “We have everyone coming back except for two guys, so we have a lot of kids with experience. Luke and Tyler were a big part of the offense. Tyler had over 700 yards receiving. We moved Luke around to several different positions so we could get him the ball.”
Steve Miller, the team’s leading rusher with 331 yards, returns for his senior season and Mitch Macik, a small but quick back, will get some carries.
“Steve was a bigger threat at linebacker on defense,” said Cecchini. “He and John Mull were definitely the leaders of our defense. They were our leaders in just about every category.”
Senior Garret Geresti, who sat out last season, will take Lloyd’s place a safety, and will also play wide receiver.
“He provides some size,” Cecchini said. “He’s about 6-2 and that can create matchup problems.”
Despite the six-classification format, Avella will compete in the eight-team Tri-County South with new conference members Fort Cherry and Monessen and traditional rivals California, Carmichaels, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown and West Greene.