VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH • SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2022 • 7
PLUM HOPES MOMENTUM
CARRIES INTO NEW SEASON
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GO MUSTANGS!
1
SEAN FRANZI
Coach: Matt Morgan
2021 record: 3-8, 3-4 in
Class 4A Greater Allegheny
Conference
All-time record: 338-424-27
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
8.26 Kiski Area 7
9.2 at Fox Chapel 7
9.9 Shaler 7
9.16 Norwin* 7
9.23 at Gateway* 7
9.30 at Franklin Regional* 7
10.7 South Fayette 7
10.14 at Penn-Trafford* 7:30
10.21 Hempfield* 7
10.28 at Indiana 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing: Sean Franzi
91-176, 1,184 yards, 12 TDs
Rushing: Eryck Moore
155-1037, 9 TDs
Receiving: Logan Brooks*
50-569, 4 TDs
*GRADUATED
No. Name Pos. Ht/Wt. Cl.
1 Eryck Moore-Watkins RB/DB 6-2/195 Sr.
2 Bryce Roberson WR/DB 5-9/185 Sr.
3 Jack Tongel WR/LB 5-10/185 Jr.
4 Kaden Thomas WR/LB 6-0/190 Sr.
5 Darian Nelson WR/DB 6-2/185 So.
6 Sean Franzi QB/DB 5-11/170 Jr.
7 Owen Proskin QB/DB 6-3/175 Fr.
8 Zachary Napierkowski WR/DB 6-1/180 Jr.
9 Anthony Irwin WR/DB 5-10/170 Jr.
10 Noah Odom WR/DB 5-9/170 So.
11 Nyan East WR/DB 5-9/155 Jr.
12 T.J. Futules QB/DB 6-0/165 So.
13 Regis Burris WR/DB 5-5/165 Fr.
14 Keyonta Finley RB/LB 5-8/180 Sr.
16 Vincent Febbraro WR/DB 5-7/150 Jr.
18 Landen Ekiert WR/LB 5-8/155 Fr.
19 Michael Barr WR/DB 6-1/160 Jr.
20 Brandon Wiesenbach QB/LB 5-10/190 Jr.
21 Nick Lamia WR/DB 5-9/175 Sr.
23 Cy Thompkins RB/DB 5-9/155 So.
24 Jerome Brazell WR/DB 5-11/165 Jr.
25 D’Angelo Palermo RB/DB 5-5/140 Jr.
26 Dom Beyer RB/LB 5-7/170 Jr.
27 Eugene Hanzlik RB/LB 5-10/155 Fr.
28 Nick Sheffo RB/LB 5-10/160 So.
29 Donald Lauricia WR/DB 5-2/120 Fr.
30 Dominic Baker WR/DB 5-7/145 Fr.
31 Antonio Hanzlik WR/DB 5-10/145 Fr.
32 Owen Campbell WR/DB 5-4/120 Fr.
33 Adam Smith TE/LB 5-11/165 So.
34 Aldair Flowers K/P 5-10/150 So.
36 Nick Odom RB/LB 5-9/185 So.
40 Douglas Harchick RB/LB 5-8/135 Fr.
42 Karter Gilliland WR/DB 5-3/110 Fr.
43 Quentin Caperton WR/DB 5-4/125 Fr.
44 Trent Reese RB/LB 5-10/145 So.
45 Toks Adepetoye WR/DB 5-8/165 Fr.
48 Thomas Payne WR/DL 5-7/170 Sr.
48 Olivia Bigger K 5-6/130 Fr.
50 Darian Slaughter TE/DL 6-3/230 So.
51 Deon Steave WR/LB 5-10/210 Sr.
53 Josh Curry OL/DL 5-9/200 So.
54 Matthew Nelson OL/DL 5-7/190 Fr.
55 Nate Kondas OL/DL 5-10/220 Jr.
56 Matt Horvatic OL/DL 6-0/220 Jr.
57 Kameron Dietrick TE/LB 5-11/200 Fr.
58 Logan Wiesenbach OL/DL 5-10/220 Jr.
60 Jonathan Turner OL/DL 5-10/220 Fr.
62 Frank Grazulis OL/DL 5-10/245 Fr.
63 Mikeal Arce OL/DL 5-9/210 Fr.
66 Jacob Shipley OL/DL 5-10/230 Jr.
68 Jack Froehlich OL/DL 6-2/240 Fr.
70 Max Scheer OL/DL 6-2/200 Jr.
71 Chase Schrock OL/DL 6-3/275 So.
72 Devin Curler OL/DL 6-2/275 Jr.
74 Evan Corrigan OL/DL 6-1/235 Fr.
75 Anthony DelMastro OL/DL 6-0/275 Fr.
76 Ben Stricklin OL/DL 6-2/215 Fr.
79 Chase Nesbitt OL/DL 6-0/250 Fr.
80 Matthew Loehlein OL/DL 5-10/165 Jr.
81 Raphael Still WR/DB 5-5/115 Fr.
82 Cameron Wilson WR/DB 5-11/150 Fr.
83 Brendan Marston WR/DB 5-9/140 Fr.
84 Sloan Humphries WR/DB 5-4/110 Fr.
85 Justin Kuhn WR/DB 6-0/175 Jr.
86 Elijah Jackson WR/DB 5-9/160 Fr.
87 Gio Yanovich WR/DB 5-8/130 So.
88 Dorrian Anderson OL/DL 5-10/180 So.
89 Angelo Baleno K/P 5-10/150 So.
ROSTER
Plum football coach Matt Morgan
watched a young group of players
mature on the fly to win three
of their last five games and earn a
playoff berth last season.
Now a year older, they’ll have
a new challenge ahead of them as
the Mustangs bump up from Class
4A to 5A and play in a conference
featuring defending state champ
Penn-Trafford and perennial power
Gateway among others.
“I’m excited for this group,”-
said Morgan, who is entering his
10th season at Plum. “It’s a special
group, and it was fun to see them
hit that turning point last year and
play very well the last three or four
weeks to pick up some momentum
coming into this year.
“Honestly, we had three or four
returners from our conference
championship team two years ago,
so we had a ton of inexperience
and a lot of them were freshmen
and sophomores. Now they’re
sophomores and juniors. I can’t
wait to see how they mature over
the year and what they can do on
the field against some really good
competition.”
In terms of upperclassmen, Morgan
said they only have a handful
of seniors they’ll be counting on,
but there were plenty of freshmen
and sophomores that saw a ton of
varsity time in 2021.
One of those seniors is running
back Eryck Moore.
Moore has rushed for more than
1,000 yards each of the last two
seasons.
“Eryck has been a special guy for
us since day one,” Morgan said. “I
enjoy having him on the team. He’s
a great kid and a great leader. The
kids respond to him. We’ve got to
keep him healthy, keep him going,
give him some creases and let him
do his thing.”
Another senior two-way player
is Kaden Thomas, who has been
second-team all-conference each
of the last two years. Morgan
said Thomas has a chip on his
shoulder because he wants to be a
first-teamer.
Sean Franzi, a junior, took
over at quarterback last year and
passed for nearly 1,200 yards and
had a dozen touchdowns. Morgan
is impressed with Franzi’s
makeup.
“He showed a lot of guts and
moxie, which is what you want
to see in a quarterback,” Morgan
said. “He’s taken a major step forward
with the leadership role that
comes with being a quarterback.
It’s exciting for me to see how he
commands the attention of his
team.”
Franzi’s top target last year, Logan
Brooks, graduated, but Morgan
said several players showed
well during the summer at receiver.
One of those was sophomore
Darian Nelson, who started on
both sides of the field as a freshman.
“I’ve never had a kid have
that much of a body of work as a
freshman and be an impact player
as well,” Morgan said. “He’s
definitely going to be a name that
everyone is going to pay attention
to this year and the next two
years to come. I’m glad he’s on
our team.”
Aside from Gateway and
Penn-Trafford, Plum has Franklin
Regional, Norwin and Hempfield
as conference opponents. Many
of those schools were conference
mates with Plum prior to the PIAA
moving to six classes.
“There’s some new faces as head
coaches throughout those teams,
but we’ll be prepared going into
the season, because we’re familiar
with a lot of those schools,” Morgan
said. “Even when we weren’t
playing them, we were doing some
7-on-7s with them.”
by JERIN STEELE
ERYCK MOORE
PLUM • BIG EAST