College notebook: Hondru hasn’t lost gift of grab
As a tight end at Peters Township High School, Connor Hondru made several big catches during a standout career that included him being named the Observer-Reporter’s Football Player of the Year in 2020. One of those catches was a touchdown grab that gave the Indians a win over Gateway in the WPIAL semifinals.
Hondru, now a linebacker at Miami (Ohio) showed last Saturday that he still knows how to catch passes, even if he is playing defense.
Hondru had an interception and returned it 25 yards during the RedHawks’ 31-24 upset victory over Cincinnati.
A redshirt sophomore from McMurray, Hondru has two tackles in three games.
In football
IUP’s Cole Weightman, a sophomore defensive end from Belle Vernon, was named the PSAC Defensive Player of the Week Monday for his performance in the Crimson Hawks’ 49-14 win over Shippensburg.
Weightman posted six tackles (four solo), along with a forced fumble, quarterback sack and a pair of QB hurries. He chased down the scrambling Raiders QB to force a fumble that IUP picked up and took back for a touchdown just before halftime, which put the Crimson Hawks up 14-7 and gave IUP the lead for good.
Weightman became a key piece for the IUP defensive line as a rotational end over the final half of the 2022 season and into the NCAA Division II playoffs, stepping into a starting role in the early stages of the 2023 season.
Ryan Coe has been kicking up a storm for North Carolina, which is the third stop in the career of the former South Fayette standout.
Coe, a graduate transfer from Cincinnati who started his career at Delaware, made three of four field-goal attempts in North Carolina’s first two games but did not dress for the Tar Heels’ game last Saturday against Minnesota and his status for this weekend’s game at Pitt is unknown.
Coe has a long field of 47 yards this season.
He was brought in through the transfer portal by way of Cincinnati, in hopes of bolstering Carolina’s kicking game. As a Bearcat in 2022, Coe went 19-for-23 with a long of 52 yards and was voted second team All-American Athletic Conference.
Coe was named to the 2023 Lou Groza Award Preseason watch list. He has played in 42 career games, making 48-of-61 field goals and all 99 of his PAT attempts.
Linebacker Noah Plack is the third-leading tackler for Connecticut through three games. The South Fayette graduate and Delaware transfer, is a graduate transfer at Connecticut. He has made 20 tackles (12 solo), 2½ tackles for a loss and has a half-sack.
Plack’s teammate, junior defensive lineman Jelani Stafford, is the sixth-leading tackler for the Huskies. A California graduate and transfer from Youngstown State, Stafford has 12 tackles (9 solo) and five tackles for loss. In UConn’s 24-17 loss Saturday to Florida International, Stafford had 3 ½ tackles for loss on defense and also played running back on offense, getting three carries and gaining seven yards, including a one-yard touchdown.
Logan Pfeuffer threw an eight-yard touchdown pass in overtime Saturday night that gave Grove City a 27-24 victory over Case Western Reserve in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.
Pfeuffer, a junior quarterback from Venetia and a Peters Township graduate, has completed 31 of 57 passes for 465 yards and three touchdowns through three games for the Wolverines, who are 3-0 entering a home game Saturday against Carnegie Mellon.
Wide receiver C.J. Cole made his mark at West Virginia during spring practice and it carried over to the Mountaineers’ win over Duquesne. In that game, Cole, a redshirt sophomore, caught two passes for 17 yards in the Mountaineers’ 56-17 victory.
Cole received the Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award this spring, signifying WVU’s most outstanding walk-on player.
Cole was the Observer-Reporter’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2019.
In cross country
Kyle Gibson, a Canonsburg native, has been hired as assistant coach at the University of Houston.
Gibson joins Houston after coaching at Oklahoma State during the 2022-23 cross country and track and field seasons and guiding a pair of national champions and more than 17 All-Americans.
“I am very excited about Coach Kyle Gibson coming on board to coach the distance program,” said Will Blackburn, Houston’s director of track and field and cross country. “He comes from a family generation of distance coaches and has coached at all levels in the NCAA. His knowledge, experience, and excitement to continue to grow the distance program at Houston made him the right person for the job.”
Prior to Oklahoma State, Gibson served as the head cross country coach at Oral Roberts and an assistant on the track and field staff. He spent two seasons as the head coach of the track and cross country programs at Drury University from 2019-21.
In golf
Rocco Salvitti of Canonsburg helped Notre Dame win the Folds of Honor Collegiate held at the American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven Mich.
Salvitti, a Pittsburgh Central Catholic graduate, made his freshman debut with the Fighting Irish and finished 24th overall, shooting 5-over 218 over three rounds. He shot rounds of 74, 72 and 72.