LIOTTA INSTILLS CONFIDENCE
by DOUG GULASy
Shawn Liotta made a request
to Burrell athletic director Drake
D’Angelo upon taking the Bucs’
coaching job this spring.
“They got a big cannon (in Buccaneer
Stadium)that they shoot off
after every touchdown,” he said. “I
told (him) tomake sure he had a lot
of ammo for that cannon because
we’re planning to fire that cannon
off a whole bunch this year.”
The confident Liotta brings an
offensive background to Burrell
that includes assistant coaching
stints in theArena Football League
and with high-powered Clairton,
and most recently as the head
coach at Albert Gallatin.And with
packages heavy on misdirections,
exotic formations, shifts and motions,
Burrell’s offense could look
very different this season.
“I think when people come to
the game, they’ll have a lot of fun
watching us play football,” Liotta
said.
With a playoff drought that dates
to 2012, Burrell could use some
fun and some winning results, as
well. The Bucs won their Week
Zero opener against Springdale
last season, but that marked their
only victory, as they closed with
nine consecutive losses.
Burrell has a storied football
tradition, with four WPIAL titles,
and Liotta is making restoring that
tradition his top priority. Upon his
hire he established a 90-day plan
for beginning a climb to becoming
a championship program, which
included meeting with his players,
establishing a relationship built
on trust and competing constantly
over thesummer, includingatrip to
Canton,Ohio, for a seven-on-seven
tournament against two of the top
teams in the country.
“We want to build for the kids we
SHAWN LIOTTA
have now,” Liotta said. “We want
them to be a part of a championship
tradition because sometimes
the things that are in the past,
the kids don’t connect with those
things.Wehave to showthemwhat
a championship program is about
and the steps to build that.”
Several newfaces will pilot Burrell’s
up-tempo offensive attack,
starting with junior quarterback
Logan Phillips, a former wide receiver
who suffered a broken leg
as a freshman and needed an appendectomy
last year. He replaces
Seth Tatrn, who passed for five
touchdowns and rushed for six
last season.
To help Phillips with his transition
to a newposition, Burrell took
part in several seven-on-sevens
throughout the summer, including
the one at the Pro Football Hall of
Fame in Canton. The Bucs also attended
the Westmoreland County
Coaches Association seven-on-seven
for the first time.
“I’m getting a lot more comfortable,”
Phillips said. “A lot of the
jitters are coming out now. I’mjust
starting to see what I can actually
do.”
The Bucs’ skill positions took a
hit in the offseason, as senior Alex
Bellinotti, a first-team all-conference
player at tight end and linebacker
the past two seasons, transferred
to Shady Side Academy, and
senior running back Logan Bitar,
who rushed for 1,231 yards last
season, underwent knee surgery
that puts his status for the season
in question.
Senior AndrewBigler and junior
Seth Fischbach — physical players
at 6-foot-4 and 6-2, respectively
— will line up out wide. Senior
R.J. Beach, who moved from the
offensive line to the slot, and senior
Kaleb Seibert provide more
receiving options.
Fischbach caught a team-high
20 passes last season, while Bigler
is playing football for the first time
since his freshman season.
Senior Luke Kastelic, who
rushed for 220 yards last season,
figures to get the first crack at
replacing Bitar, and senior Mike
Scherer also will get a look.
“(Liotta) really knows what to
do with the people we have and
put people in positions where they
can thrive,” Bigler said. “The new
offense really brings out the players
we have and the talent that
they have.
“I like it because it catches a lot
of people off guard. So once we
run one play, they’re like, ‘Oh no,
how are we going to stop the next
one?’They’re already on their toes,
and then we hit them with another
play and keep going, and they don’t
have time to recover.”
Zack Kerr and Austin Mele, both
seniors, will anchor Burrell’s line.
Defensively, Liotta said the linebackers
will be the strength, with
Beach, Bigler, Kastelic, Mele and
Scherer.
Realignment in the offseason
brought a major change to Burrell’s
conference, with Cardinal
Wuerl North Catholic, Derry,
Elizabeth Forward, Mt. Pleasant,
Uniontown and Yough joining the
holdover Bucs, Deer Lakes and
Freeport. The Bucs will open their
season Aug. 24 by hosting Valley in
a Week Zero version of the Battle
for the Bypass.
“We set the bar high because I
think in terms of trying to teach
guys life lessons, you set the bar as
high as it can go,” Liotta said. “As
high as it can go is a state championship.
We may fall short of that,
but if we fall short of that, it’ll be
through making progressive steps
towards getting there.”
16 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 • TRIBUNE-REVIEW
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SCHEDULE
Coach: Shawn Liotta
2017 record: 1-9, 0-7
All-time record: 279-244-9
Date Opponent Time
8.24 Valley 7
8.31 CW North Catholic* 7
9.7 at Elizabeth Forward* 7
9.14 Uniontown* 7
9.21 at Yough* 7
9.28 at Deer Lakes* 7:30
10.5 Mt. Pleasant* 7
10.12 at Freeport* 7
10.19 Waynesburg 7
10.26 at Derry* 7
*CLASS 3A BIG EAST CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing: Seth Tatrn*
64-148, 764 yards, 5 TDs
Rushing: Logan Bitar
226-1,231 yards, 7 TDs
Receiving: Alex Bellinotti
15-283 yards, 3 TDs
*GRADUATED
No. Name Pos. Ht/Wt. Cl.
1 Thristone Acierno WR/DB 5-2/100 Fr.
3 Cody Sims WR/LB 5-8/160 So.
4 Jack Henderson WR/DB 5-10/150 Jr.
5 Devin Fabjik WR/DB 5-8/140 Sr.
6 Logan Phillips QB/DB 6-0/190 Jr.
8 Hunter Neusch WR/LB 5-11/205 So.
9 Seth Fishbach WR/DB 6-1/190 Jr.
11 Michael Scherer RB/LB 6-0/185 Jr.
12 Nick Hickey QB/DB 5-7/150 So.
21 Logan Bitar RB/DB 5-11/170 Sr.
22 Lukas Kastelic RB/LB 5-10/180 Sr.
25 Connor Wojcik WR/DE 6-0/160 Fr.
26 R.J. Beach WR/LB 5-9/185 Sr.
32 Cole Clark RB/LB 5-11/172 Fr.
33 Kamden Marmo WR/DB 5-6/150 Fr.
50 Tim Burkhart OL/DL 6-0/160 So.
52 Austin Mele OL/LB 5-10/170 Sr.
55 Zachary Adams OL/DL 6-0/190 So.
56 Nick Sofaly OL/DL 5-5/200 So.
58 Noah Henry OL/DL 5-10/245 Jr.
59 Joey Shybloski OL/DL 6-0/220 So.
60 Ricky Feroce OL/LB 6-1/190 Jr.
63 William Zeiler OL/DL 5-9/180 Fr.
68 Hunter Aites OL/DL 6-0/270 So.
72 Seth Fisher OL/DL 5-9/200 So.
74 Aaron Gates OL/DL 5-11/220 So.
75 Gavynn Thompson OL/DL 6-0/215 Fr.
77 Zach Kerr OL/DL 6-0/245 Sr.
81 Kaleb Seibert WR/DB 5-7/140 Jr.
84 Andrew Bigler WR/LB 6-4/220 Sr.
88 Tyler Herman WR/DB 5-10/140 So.
ROSTER
SETH FISCHBACH
BIG EAST