Humensky, Avella to put best foot forward
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Senior Brian Humensky (54) moves with his Eagles teammates as they advance in a drill during preseason conditioning at Avella.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
The linemen at Avella square off as they practice moving on the snap.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Junior quarterback Cole Jaworowski tunes up his throwing arm as the Eagles train for the 2022 season in the Class A Black Hills Conference.
By Joe Tuscano
Staff writer
jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
Brian Humensky is a good neighbor to have. Just don’t expect him to cut your grass anytime soon.
Last summer, under less that ideal conditions to run his lawn mower, Humensky slipped while cutting his neighbor’s yard and his left foot found its way under the mower blade.
His big toe was severed.
Humensky gathered up the toe and rushed to the hospital, where they reattached it to the foot.
“I was mowing my neighbor’s grass as a job,” said Humensky. “It was raining out and I slipped as I was going down a hill and my foot went under the mower. I went to the hospital and was there a couple of days. They sewed it back on and I missed about half the season.”
Fortunately, Humensky’s injury was one readily fixable, which was a godsend to the Eagles’ football team. The 6-1, 220-pound senior lineman is one of the few returning starters on a roster of about 20 players.
“We didn’t even know if he was going to play last year,” said Avella head coach Ryan Cecchini. “It was obvious he wasn’t 100 percent. This year, he looks like a completely different player. He looks fully ready to go. We’re happy and looking forward to the season he can have.”
Humensky didn’t get cleared to play until the first week of the season.
“He didm’t get a full practice in most of the weeks,” said Cecchini. “He got cleared but he still wasn’t at 100 percent. Now, he looks better.”
Humensky said the yard to be cut was not large. It was just the steepness of the hill that caused the accident.
“It was a neighbor’s yard so it wasn’t too bad,” Humenski said.
Humensky’s return to health is good news for an Avella team that returns just five starters and has five other returnees who don’t have a lot of experience.
Avella must find replacements for KJ Rush, the 6-3, 235-pounder who was a do-everything player in the backfield; Brandon Samol, who caught 35 passes for 400-plus yards and Noah Markle, the team’s starting running back. All have graduated, leaving Cecchini with the thankless job of replacing nearly every skill-position player from last year. And lineman Harrison Fischer was one big dude at 6-3 and 375 pounds. He’s also gone.
“He anchored our offensive and defensive lines,” Cecchini said of Fischer. “He was probably one of the biggest linemen in the WPIAL.”
With a team that went 1-9 overall last year, and nine players either sophomore or freshmen on the roster, it could be another year of rebuilding for the Eagles.
Avella lost eight players to graduation this year and eight the year before.
“We’ve turned everything over in a couple years,” said Cecchini. “Out of the 10 returners, five had not taken a snap. We have a ton of freshmen and sophomores.”
Cole Jaworowski, a 6-1 junior, will replace Rush at quarterback.
“He got some snaps at quarterback when we moved KJ around. KJ played fullback, running back, wingback and tight end. We moved him all over the place just so we could get him the ball.”
Austin Oiler is set to replace Markle at running back.
“He’s more of a smaller, shifty guy,” Cecchini said.
Humensky returns, probably at tackle on both sides of the ball.
Sophomore Reed Jaworowski, Cole’s younger brother, could start at wide receiver with sophomores Nate Rankin and Eli Maidment.
Cecchini is no stranger to starting over and has a plan for the inexperienced players.
“You start with the basics,” he said, “then with the simple concepts of the offense and defense. As they pick that up, you expand on it. That dictates your timeline, how fast they can absorb that and how fast they can put everything into action that they are learning.”
Avella was shifted from the Tri-County South Conference to the Black Hills in Class A. Joining the Eagles are Bishop Canevin, Burgettstown, Carlynton, Chartiers-Houston, Cornell, Fort Cherry and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.