6 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2022 • VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
FOX CHAPEL BACK FOR
MORE PLAYOFF SUCCESS
Fox Chapel won five games in
the 2021 football season — and
one of those victories was quite
significant.
The Foxes won their first WPIAL
playoff game since 1997, a 13-10
victory at Upper St. Clair, a school
with one of the highest winning
percentages in WPIAL history at
.702, a 473-193-9 overall mark.
It meant for a pleasant ride back
to the Fox Chapel campus.
“It honestly felt great for us,”
said senior Roman Mason. “It kind
of felt like our whole season. It was
tenacity. We’d get knocked down,
but we always came back. The
whole season we were doubted. We
were prepared and, collectively,
thought it was our game.”
For returning lettermen like Mason,
a running back and outside
linebacker, it was a nice carryover
into the offseason, even though the
Foxes lost the following week to
eventual WPIAL and PIAA Class
5A champion Penn-Trafford. Mason
is also Fox Chapel’s senior
class president and a Sharpsburg
Borough junior councilman who’s
already expanded public parks
usage there.
A key replacement is needed
for graduated quarterback Collin
Dietz. Ready to step up is junior
Ben DeMotte, who saw limited
action last season, sophomore Matt
Begg, freshman Max Melocchi and
Nathan Johnson, a transfer from
Florida.
“Ben did well in the 7-on-7s we
were doing in the summer and
he has a football IQ in that he
can run our offense and get us
into the proper formations,” said
Fox Chapel coach Tom Loughran.
“He just has to understand the
passing concepts and the running
concepts. He has a strong enough
arm with all the passing routes
we want to throw. We just have to
get him under fire in the heat of
the action and see how he works
with that.”
The Foxes also have to replace
Khi’lee Patterson, who played several
positions, including quarterback
in the Upper St. Clair game
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when Dietz was hurt. Likewise,
top-notch running back Zidane
Thomas and receiver Colin Kwiatkowski
have graduated.
Landyn Moore is a returning
receiver and Loughran would like
to work more tight ends into the
lineup after running a four-wideout
offense last season.
Besides Mason, who made 53
tackles, returning on the 3-4 defense
for Fox Chapel will be inside
linebacker Jack Visco, nose guard
D’Angelo Hamilton, who started
toward the end of the season as a
freshman, and cornerbacks Tyrese
Samuels and Christian Jackson.
The Northeast Conference
stayed pretty much the same, with
the exception of Kiski Area moving
down to Class 4A. Woodland Hills
has replaced Kiski Area. Woodland
Hills is Class 3A in enrollment but
has chosen to play up to Class 5A.
“In the last four years, two of the
state champions have come from
our conference and last season, we
played Penn-Trafford in a playoff
game, and they won the state,”
Loughran said. “In my opinion, 5A
is the most difficult league and our
conference is very good.”
Seven of the 10 teams on Fox
Chapel’s schedule this year were
playoff teams last year. There are
about 75 players to start the season,
about a quarter of those in the
freshman class.
by GEORGE GUIDO
No. Name Pos. Ht/Wt. Cl.
1 Christian Gaston WR/DB 5-9/180 Sr.
2 Landyn Moore WR/DB 5-8/185 Sr.
3 Will Fera WR/DB 5-9/175 Sr.
4 Aiden Aluise WR/DB 5-8/170 Sr.
5 Roman Mason RB/LB 5-11/210 Sr.
6 Rayquan Smith WR/DB 6-4/170 Sr.
7 Matt Fugh RB/LB 5-9/190 Sr.
8 Isaac Jacobs TE/LB 6-1/180 Jr.
9 Kenny Kidd WR/DB 5-8/175 Sr.
10 Ben DeMotte QB/DB 5-8/165 Jr.
11 Peter Tran WR/DB 6-0/190 Sr.
12 Tyrese Samuels WR/DB 6-1/160 Jr.
13 Elliot McCann QB/LB 6-3/175 Jr.
14 Victor Nernberg WR/DB So.
15 Cooper Hendren WR/DB 6-0/140 So.
16 Matthew Begg QB/LB 6-3/185 So.
17 Andrew Olando WR/DB 5-10/150 Sr.
18 Nathan Yeske WR/DB 5-11/160 So.
19 Charlie Lusk WR/DB 5-8/145 Sr.
20 Anthony Fourquet RB/DB 5-10/165 So.
21 Lincoln Burgess WR/DB 5-10/135 So.
22 Jack Visco TE/LB 6-0/200 Sr.
23 Henry Stallings WR/DB 5-8/150 So.
24 Ben Bonidy RB/LB 5-9/150 So.
25 Nolan Childs TE/LB 6-0/180 Jr.
26 Caleb Shirk TE/DB 6-0/150 So.
27 Liam Koffler RB/LB 5-7/180 So.
28 Jack Viti WR/DB 5-11/165 So.
29 Adrian Valdez RB/LB 5-9/160 Fr.
30 Owen Zaremby WR/DB 6-0/145 So.
31 Joe Geller QB/LB 6-0/170 Fr.
32 Andrew Kratsa RB/LB 5-8/140 Fr.
33 Nathan Johnson QB/DB 5-11/140 Fr.
34 Richie Staus WR/DB 5-9/147 Fr.
35 Max Melocchi QB/DB 6-2/170 Fr.
36 Krisztian Salvador TE/DL 5-11/145 Fr.
38 Shane Browell WR/DB 5-7/115 So.
39 Alex Tsai K 5-7/160 Sr.
40 Harlan Sheehan K 5-10/140 Jr.
42 Troy Susnak TE/LB 5-9/195 Jr.
43 John Jump WR/DB 5-8/130 Fr.
44 Vic River OL/DL 5-11/180 Sr.
45 Mason Miles RB/LB 6-1/215 Jr.
47 David Shurina WR/DB 5-8/105 So.
49 Vinnie Delaney WR/DB 6-0/139 Fr.
54 Luca Catone OL/DL 5-6/205 So.
55 Luca Poli TE/LB 5-7/200 So.
56 Ramadani Mada OL/LB 6-2/220 Sr.
58 Nasir Nelson OL/DL 6-1/220 Jr.
60 Martin Martinez OL/DL 5-7/235 Jr.
62 Darin Davis OL/DL 5-8/265 Fr.
63 Blake Kuhn OL/DL 6-2/330 So.
65 D’angelo Hamilton OL/DL 6-1/290 So.
67 Kaleb Hartman OL/DL 5-6/205 Fr.
68 Sean Feczko OL/DL 6-4/230 Sr.
69 Kris Bandurski OL/DL 6-2/215 So.
70 Rowan O’Connor OL/DL 5-6/185 Fr.
71 Andrew Shepard OL/DL 6-0/195 Jr.
73 Owen Mettrick OL/DL 6-1/225 So.
74 Aidan Elwood OL/DL 5-11/200 Fr.
75 Maxwell Farber OL/DL 5-10/245 Fr.
76 Liam Foley OL/LB 5-9/190 So.
77 Alaric Waters OL/DL 6-0/245 Jr.
78 Tom Billings OL/DL 6-2/175 Fr.
80 Jeremy Hnatow TE/DL 5-11/145 Fr.
81 Parker Burgess WR/DB 5-6/115 Fr.
82 Luca Conte WR/DB 5-9/145 Fr.
83 Ryan Wang WR/DB 5-7/135 Fr.
84 Zach Sullivan TE/LB 6-0/175 Sr.
85 AJ Colbert WR/DB 5-6/105 Fr.
86 Owen Wilson RB/DB 5-6/140 Fr.
87 Chase Hendren OL/LB 6-1/155 So.
88 Dylan McCaffrey WR/LB 6-3/170 So.
89 Kagan Joyce WR/DB 5-5/125 Fr.
Krisztian Salvador
Adrian Valdez
Ryan Wang
Owen Wilson
ROSTER
LANDYN MOORE
Coach: Tom Loughran
2021 record: 5-7, 2-3 in
Class 5A Northeast Conference
All-time record: 226-363-8
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
8.26 Peters Township 7
9.2 Plum 7
9.9 at Norwin 7
9.16 Upper St. Clair 7
9.23 Pine-Richland* 7
9.30 at North Hills* 7
10.7 Penn Hills* 7
10.14 Woodland Hills* 7
10.21 at Kiski Area 7
10.28 at Shaler* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing: Collin Dietz*
87-190, 1,296 yards, 12 TDs
Rushing: Zidane Thomas*
171-1,023, 6 TDs
Receiving: Colin Kwiatkowski*
23-470, 6 TDs
*GRADUATED
BEN DeMOTTE (LEFT) AND ROMAN MASON
NORTHEAST • FOX CHAPEL