Trib HSSN football player of the week: Dec. 13, 2021

By: Don Rebel
Monday, December 13, 2021 | 1:09 PM

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In 10 regular season games, Central Valley running back Landon Alexander rushed for 1,362 yards, an average of more than 136 yards per game.

Then, in five district and state playoff games, he proved why he was Alexander the Great.

The senior capped off his incredible postseason and his scholastic career Saturday with 231 rushing yards and scored the game’s only touchdown, a 28-yard fourth quarter run in the Warriors’ 7-0 win over Wyomissing in the PIAA Class 3A title game.

The victory allowed Central Valley to become the fifth WPIAL school to repeat as state champion.

“Landon is a big-game running back,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. “The bigger the game, the better he performs. In his junior and senior years in the WPIAL championship games, he rushed for over 200 yards. In his junior and senior years in the PIAA championship games, again he had 200-plus rushing yards. What else do you want in a player when the game is on the line; he is at the top of his game.”

In the three WPIAL playoff wins this year against East Allegheny, Elizabeth Forward and North Catholic, and in the two PIAA postseason victories over Central (Martinsburg) and Wyomissing, Alexander rushed for more than 200 yards in each game, and finished with 1,035 rushing yards in the five playoff games.

However, it takes a lot more than one special running back to put up those spectacular numbers.

“Landon knows how important our offensive line has been all year,” Lyons said. “Just like all offensive lines, they fly under the radar and accept their role on this team. The key to them all year is they played all year together; not one guy missed any snaps during the year. This cohesion allowed them to get better every week and feed off of one another as the year progressed.”

What made Alexander’s state championship game performance stand out was he carried the ball 35 times against a strong Spartans defense, even though he wasn’t playing at full strength.

“Landon was not 100% coming into the game against Wyomissing,” Lyons said. “He was nursing a sprained MCL, but with hard work from Landon and our training staff, he was able to perform Saturday afternoon, and boy did he ever.”

The win was the 27th consecutive victory for Central Valley. Alexander and his fellow seniors finished with a lot of district and state hardware. Not bad for a group that was under.500 and lost in the opening playoff game when they were freshmen back in 2018.

“This group is very special and will go down as one of the great senior groups because of their overall body of work,” Lyons said. “Three consecutive WPIAL championships, three consecutive PIAA finals appearances, winning the last two and 27 consecutive wins and counting.”

For his career, Alexander finished with more than 4,000 rushing yards and was a dominant force his junior and senior seasons.

Lyons was asked what Alexanders legacy will be at Central Valley?

“It will be his ability to remain humble and to be a gentleman throughout all of his accomplishments. Central Valley will remember Landon Alexander as a player who performed at his highest when the game and stage was bigger. Every player on our team loved having Landon as a teammate because of his ‘team first’ approach.”

WPIAL Week 15 Honorable Mentions

Alex Tecza – Mt. Lebanon

With the wind of change blowing in Hershey on Saturday during the PIAA Class 6A championship game, Mt. Lebanon running back Alex Tecza helped to lead the Blue Devils’ offense to a perfect season.

Tecza carried the ball 26 times for 89 yards and scored on runs of 2 and 4 yards in the fourth quarter that sealed the deal on the first state title in Mt. Lebanon history.

The senior running back also had five receptions for 45 yards and hooked up with Joey Daniels on a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter as Mt. Lebanon rolled past defending champion St. Joseph’s Prep, 35-17, to cap off a 15-0 season.

Cade Yacamelli – Penn-Trafford

Imhotep Charter had a sizeable advantage when it came to total yards on offense and time of possession over Penn-Trafford in a PIAA Class 5A championship game classic that went beyond regulation.

However, when the first overtime period ended, the golden advantage went to the Warriors, who proved the only numbers that matter are the final score.

Once again P-T was led by Wisconsin recruit Cade Yacamelli, who rushed for 100 yards on the dot and scored on a 2-yard run as the Warriors edged the Panthers in overtime, 17-14, for their first PIAA championship.

Tiqwai Hayes – Aliquippa

Nobody knows how the scholastic career of 14-year old Tiqwai Hayes will play out over the next three and a half years, but it was a golden start for the Aliquippa freshman.

The Quips’ bell-cow ran behind the beef of the offensive line 32 times in Thursday’s PIAA Class 4A title game and ended up rushing for 141 yards.

Hayes scored three touchdowns on runs 42, 1 and 8 yards as the school fighting three classes above its enrollment weight knocked out Bishop McDevitt, 34-27, to secure the program’s fourth PIAA football championship.

2021 HSSN Players of the Week

Week 14 – Joey Daniels, Mt. Lebanon

Week 13 – Cade Yacemelli, Penn-Trafford

Week 12 – Tiqwai Hayes, Aliquippa

Week 11 – Josh Jenkins, Sto-Rox

Week 10 – Chris Hood, New Castle

Week 9 – Cadin Olsen, Armstrong

Week 8 – Bobby Boyd, McKeesport

Week 7 – Brad Birch, Gateway

Week 6 – Alex Tecza, Mt. Lebanon

Week 5 – Nijhay Burt, Steel Valley

Week 4 – Devin Whitlock, Belle Vernon

Week 3 – Trenton Carter, Carmichaels

Week 2 – Abraham Ibrahim, Chartiers Valley

Week 1 – Graham Hancox, Seneca Valley

Week Zero – Carson Davidson, Blackhawk

Tags: Central Valley