Penn-Trafford notebook: Learning from loss critical for Warriors

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, September 1, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane said the film session after a season-opening loss to Norwin was the most important of the season.

Penn-Trafford dropped a 26-14 decision Aug. 23 and Ruane needed to see what was on film to help the team improve.

“Well, that’s what nonconference games mean,” Ruane said. “You hate to lose, but you get things on film and correct them.

“I mean, the Week Zero film is the most important film of the of the season. We see what speed we played at, what we didn’t do and got to make a lot of corrections.”

What bothered Ruane more than anything was the way his team lost. They had a bad snap, a couple of key penalties, a few blown assignments, a couple of dropped passes, didn’t tackle well and couldn’t slow down Norwin’s running game, which produced 210 yards on the ground.

He did feel Norwin’s offensive and defensive lines did well and that their running backs ran with desire.

“Yeah, it’s a disappointing loss. Let’s put it that way,” Ruane said. “The way we lost in particular was disappointing.

“Incredibly great job by (Norwin) coach (Mike) Brown, but we have a lot of work to do. But we’re not hanging our heads. It’s Week Zero. So we have a lot of football to play, but obviously we have a lot of things that we got to get better at.”

Things don’t get any easier.

Penn-Trafford comes home and plays two solid teams (Mt. Lebanon and Moon) before opening WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference action Sept. 13 at home against Woodland Hills.

The Warriors defeated Moon in the 2021 WPIAL 5A championship game.

Two QB system

Ruane said he’d use two quarterbacks this season and in Week Zero, he did.

Seniors Jonny Lovre and Derek Carr took snaps against Norwin with Lovre getting the majority.

Lovre completed 10 of 19 passes for 117 yards. He ran three times for 12 yards.

Carr lined up behind center during the first series and eventually ran the ball five times for 25 yards. He did not attempt a pass.

If Week Zero is any indication, Lovre will be used to throw the ball.

“Both will get an opportunity,” Ruane said. “We like the change of pace and the plan is to use Derek in certain situations.”

Senior running back Tasso Whipple lined up as wildcat quarterback and took direct snaps. Whipple rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes.

Ruane wanted to use both quarterbacks last season, but Carr was injured during the Week Zero game against Canon-McMillan and missed the rest of the season.

“We’re both good friends,” Lovre said. “We’re pushing each other and pulling for each other to do well.”

Good advice

Penn-Trafford boys golf coach Jeff Newsom told his team if they could get their team score in the low 190s, they’d win a lot of matches.

They listened.

The Warriors shot a 189 on Aug. 26 and defeated Hempfield, 189-213, at Glengarry Golf Club.

Leading the way were Jacob Lenart 35, Owen Szekely 37, Cam Kiste 38, Aiden Dzurko 39 and Anthony Barilla 40.

A day earlier they defeated Hempfield at Manor Valley Golf Course 197-228.

Lenart had a 36, Szekely and Dzurko 39s, Noah Dubyak 41 and Barilla 42.

PT opens with win

Penn-Trafford field hockey team opened the season with a 1-0 victory against Shady Side Academy.

Liz Welsh scored the game’s only goal with an assist from Brooke Bauer with 9:40 left.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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