Oct 30, 2016 3 min read

Ryan Cecchini spent Friday evening close to his computer.

He was listening to the streaming of the California at West Greene football game.

And pulling for California.

It’s not that Cecchini had any personal dislike of West Greene, but he needed California to win in order for his Avella Eagles to make it into the WPIAL Class A football playoffs.

“We didn’t even realize we were still eligible until the week before the (Week 9) Monessen game,” Cecchini said. “We talked about it that Monday. With the new format, the six classes, we were still eligible with one win. We ended up getting the second win and won the tiebreaker.”

Cecchini, the Eagles head coach, takes a lot of satisfaction with a spot in the playoffs for this team. It is the third time in four seasons Avella has made the playoffs. This appearance is appreciated but it doesn’t have that same sense of jubilation the first one in this series brought. But Cecchini feels that’s a good thing.

“Three out of four years in the playoffs, it’s a different feeling now,” said Cecchini. “I’m glad it doesn’t feel the same (as the first time) because that would mean we haven’t made it in a long, long time. … Our group of seniors, several have made the playoffs three of the last four years. That’s something to be proud of. It’s been a long time since Avella made it to the playoffs three out of four years.”

Avella did not have a good ending to the regular season, losing to Summit Academy, 50-0, in a non-conference game played Saturday afternoon. And the Eagles are not expected to catch any breaks tonight when the WPIAL releases the football pairings at the annual meeting in Green Tree. Clairton is expected to receive the top seed in Class A and it would surprise no one in Avella if the Eagles were the opponent.

“People (in the community) are excited,” Cecchini said. “We’re excited. When you make the playoffs, people notice. The whole town is pretty excited.”

Avella is in a position even with a 2-8 record, that all the non-playoff teams would be happy to have. The Eagles finished with a 2-5 record in the Tri-County South Conference, good enough to tie West Greene for fifth place. Because the Eagles defeated West Greene in Week 2, 32-20, they had the tiebreaker over the Pioneers. Cornerback Garrett Geresti had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown for one of his five scores. Quarterback Dalton Simonelli hit Geresti with an 80-yard TD pass.

“It was a competitive game,” said Cecchini. “It came down to turnovers. We limited ours. You don’t think of those early season games as deciding your season, but it turned out that way.”

Another big win came in Game 9, when Avella knocked off Monessen, 35-6, in the final conference game of the regular season.

“The seniors have led the way for this team,” said Cecchini. “It’s been Dalton (Simonelli) or Garrett, John Mull or Shawn Willard on the line, they have held this team. A lot of the other kids coming in were not experienced or limited. So the seniors paved the way for this group.”