Burgettstown building off trip to playoffs
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Junior running back Ryan Murray lines up a catch during preseason drills.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Burgettstown senior running back and team captain Corbin Harrison, left, takes a handoff from junior quarterback Brodie Kuzior as Burgettstown drills in preparation for the 2022 season.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Blue Devils quarterbacks Sondre Lunde, left, Travis Coles, center, and Bodie Kuzior provide passes for receivers in preseason practice.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Versatile Brodie Kuzior is the leading rusher for Burgettstown, which hosts Union tonight in the first round of the Class A playoffs.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Senior lineman Tyler Cody (72, center) drives against sophomore lineman Beau Ferris as Burgettstown work out in preparation for the season opener.
Greg Marshall’s first season as Burgettstown’s head football coach could have been worse.
The Blue Devils got to the playoffs dramatically, shutting out rival Fort Cherry 20-0 in a do-or-die regular-season finale to secure a postseason berth – not bad for a program in its first season under new leadership.
Though Burgettstown crashed out of the playoffs in the first round to eventual WPIAL Class A champion Bishop Canevin, there were plenty of positives to take away from Marshall’s first season in charge of any varsity program, and he’s feeling confident going into year two.
“I think things are really good right now,” Marshall said. “I think that we’re always in a constant state of trying to make sure that our guys know that we need to feel good about the work that we’re putting in, and we want to feel positive about the direction that we’re moving in, but at the same time, we can’t ever turn and become too complacent.”
Burgettstown is losing some key players and leaders from last year.
Jackson LaRocka, who did everything from play quarterback to return kicks, has graduated, as have linebackers A.J. Kuzior and Landon Romano and defensive tackle Austin Nease.
But Marshall sees new leaders, such as senior running back/outside linebacker Corbin Harrison and senior receiver/safety Caleb Russell, stepping up, with more perhaps emerging throughout the season.
“We lose four guys who made a big difference for us last year,” Marshall said, “and all summer long, and all spring long, it’s been trying to develop leaders. We lose some of our best leaders from last year as well, and we’re trying to develop new leaders.”
Every WPIAL team goes into each season with the goals of making the playoffs and winning the district championship. Though Marshall and his staff also want that, the team isn’t thinking of anything long-term.
Instead, Marshall, who worked on Bob Palko’s coaching staff at West Allegheny for almost a decade, focuses on a mindset that his former boss instills in his players: “Take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves.”
Burgettstown focuses on making daily progress, and the team is now through its first week of training camp.
Burgettstown opens the season Friday with a Week 0 game at Class 2A Sto-Rox. The Blue Devils begin conference play three weeks later, hosting Bishop Canevin, which, after realignment, is in the Black Hills Conference with Burgettstown. Three of the four WPIAL Class A semifinalists from a year ago reside in the rugged Black Hills.
Last season, Burgettstown made the playoffs, which is something it didn’t do in 2020. That represented progress, and while there’s still plenty of work to do, Marshall is teaching his 30 players – seven of whom are seniors – to embrace the work that goes into building a program.
We talk about ‘enjoy the process,'” he said. “Basically, just continue to work hard, keep your head down, and at the end of this thing, when you pick your head up, as long as you continue to work hard, then we’ll gauge and see where we end up.”