2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: West Mifflin’s Armand Hill

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 | 8:25 PM

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West Mifflin senior Delron White was having a strong first part of the 2023 season as he carried the rushing load for the Titans.

But when he went down with a leg injury in the second half of a 38-14 loss to conference rival Avonworth in Week 5, West Mifflin coach Rod Steele turned to Armand “Mondo” Hill, a freshman, to help lead the offense.

Hill, who already was a starter at defensive back, broke out in a big way. Starting with a conference game against Seton LaSalle and continuing against Quaker Valley and Hopewell, he tallied had more than 1,000 rushing yards in his first three full games.

The Hopewell win alone, he ran for 495 yards and five touchdowns. The total ranks as the second most in WPIAL history.

Hill finished the season with more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. On defense, he led the Western Hills Conference with seven interceptions and was named a first-team all-conference pick on both sides of the ball.

Hill is no longer a secret among teams in the WPIAL, but Steele said he is ready to show he can take that next step to keep the train rolling down the tracks for the Titans.

“He’s continued to develop his body and getting stronger,” Steele said. “He’s put in the work. He’s put 15 pounds on from a year ago.

“He just has the intangibles that you just can’t teach. He is very instinctive with great vision and great balance. He mixes power with quickness. We’re looking for him to come in and contribute like he did in the last half of last year and just be the player everyone knows he is. He just wants to continue to work hard and be ready for the season.”

Hill scored nine touchdowns and collected 620 rushing yards in the final three games of the season as the Titans finished 7-5. That total included 219 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries in West Mifflin’s WPIAL Class 3A first-round win over Mt. Pleasant.

“He’s been focused on being the best he can be since he was a young kid,” Steele said. “Most of the kids he has played in high school he played in youth ball. They are all familiar with him and what he can do.”

Hill’s accomplishments didn’t go unnoticed for too long.

A week after his game against Hopewell, he spoke with Penn State cornerbacks coach Terry Smith and received an offer from the Nittany Lions.

It was the first of 11 offers he owns to this point. That includes Pitt, West Virginia, Maryland and, most recently, from defending national champion Michigan.

The offer from the Wolverines came in mid-May.

“He’s a pretty humble kid who doesn’t get too high on the accolades for what he has accomplished,” Steele said. “He enjoys playing the game and enjoys being out on the field with his friends.”

Armand Hill

West Mifflin

Sophomore

RB/DB

5-foot-10, 170 pounds

Stars: Unranked by 247Sports and Rivals

Division I offers: Penn State, Pitt, UNLV, West Virginia, Michigan, Bowling Green, Akron, Maryland, Toledo

2023 stats: 114 carries, 1,528 yards, 15 touchdowns; 7 interceptions (led Western Hills Conference)

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: West Mifflin