Sunny days ahead for Raiders
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg junior Breydon Woods drives for a tackle wheel takedown durign the Raiders’ preseason drills.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg offensive linemen practice timimg and positioning for extra-point kicks as Waynesburg revs up for the season.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg's Colby Pauley, left, and Kaden Russell practice on a tight corner drill.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Junior running back Daniel Huffman pulls in a pass in preseason practice.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg freshman quarterback Zachery Jiblits squares up for a pass.
By John Sacco
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
The outlook for the Waynesburg Central High School football team has not been this bright in quite some time.
Chatter about the Raiders is positive. The feeling is the sun is ready to shine on Waynesburg football.
“We’re very optimistic,” said second-year Raiders coach Aaron Giorgi. “We have 35 kids and a solid nine (returning) starters and a couple more with some starting experience.
“The one thing we have been big on is learning how to win and to compete 48 minutes. We ended up short on that in some games last year. What we started to see was our kids caring. As the season went on many of them became upset with the team’s results and their individual results. They know for us to achieve, they all must do better more consistently.”
The Raiders remain in the Class 2A Century Conference, which has some new teams as part of the WPIAL’s two-year realignment cycle.
Charleroi, McGuffey, Washington and Waynesburg are the holdovers. The newcomers are Brentwood, Keystone Oaks and 2021 WPIAL Class 2A runnerup Sto-Rox.
Clearly, the Vikings, Highlanders and Prexies are the favorites. Giorgi thinks the Raiders can compete with anyone in the conference and they are playoff contenders.
He expects Brentwood and Keystone Oaks – down from Class 3A – and an unknown Charleroi team that has a new head coach are going to present weekly challenges.
It’s OK with Giorgi, who thinks Waynesburg is capable of being up to all challenges.
“The playoffs are 100 percent the goal,” Giorgi said. “You can’t just say the words. It must be an expectation.”
The postseason can be realistic, in part because of Waynesburg junior running back Breydon Woods, who rushed for 1,366 yards on 207 carries and scored 11 touchdowns last season, and sophomore quarterback Jacob Stephenson, who threw for 816 yards and eight TDs. Stephenson also rushed for three TDs.
“It’s nice to know that (Breydon) can provide such consistent production in the backfield,” Giorgi said. “He is one special individual. I’ve never coached a better back. He’s a quiet leader. He shows up every day. He’s humble. He lifts and has humility.
“Jacob’s a year older and has some experience now. We’re going to use Woods to help our passing game. A lot of teams focus on him, so we are working to be a better play-action passing team, a better RPO team. We had to evolve our RPO game to make us and Jacob more successful. He has a year in the system. He can be an impactful player.”
Waynesburg’s recent history has been marked with tough times. Things have not gone well.
The Raiders broke a 24-game conference game losing streak last year when they beat winless Frazier, 27-7. They went a little more than four years without winning a conference game. In all, Waynesburg has lost 45 of its last 48 conference games and 53 of 60.
The aim is to put that misery in the rear-view mirror.
The defense must do its part as well.
“We must play downhill more, attack and get off the field,” Giorgi said. “We need quick, secure tackling and not allow big plays.”
Other top players for Waynesburg are senior defensive end Kaden Russell; junior linebacker Colby Pauley; senior two-way lineman Nick Burris; junior receiver Devon Cowell; junior linebacker-running back Daniel Huffman and junior receiver Trenton Zupper.
Waynesburg opens the season at home Friday against Class A Carmichaels. A year ago, the Raiders lost a shootout to the Mikes, 54-33.
The Raiders then meet Jefferson-Morgan and California in non-conference play.
Waynesburg opens Century Conference play at home against Keystone Oaks. The Golden Eagles were 6-6 last season and played in the Class 3A Northwest 6 Conference, finishing third to PIAA champion Central Valley and second-place Avonworth. Keystone Oaks won its first-round playoff game, a 34-0 victory over South Allegheny before losing to North Catholic, 48-41 in the quarterfinals.
“Their quarterback (senior Nick Buckley) extends plays,” Giorgi said. “He’s a concern. They made the playoffs and won a game and lost a tough one. Keystone will be a tough out.”