Westmoreland high school notebook: Dustin Shoaf joins 4,000-yard club

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, September 18, 2018 | 6:27 PM

Throw in the 200 yards he rushed for in his freshman season — half the total he ran for last Friday — and Yough senior running back Dustin Shoaf has joined the WPIAL’s 4,000-yard club.

Shoaf ran for 401 yards and five touchdowns on 41 carries last week at Deer Lakes.

Yough coach Scott Wood discovered Shoaf’s additional yardage, and it gives the standout 4,131 career yards heading into Friday’s home game against Burrell.

What stands out more than the career yards, perhaps, is the fact that Shoaf has two 400-yard games, something no other WPIAL rusher has ever done, Wood said.

Shoaf ran for 428 against Southmoreland last year.

Shoaf has a chance to finish among the top rushers in Westmoreland County history. Only eight others have topped the 4,000 mark. Three have gone over 5,000. One has reached 6,000.

The other local members of the 4,000 club are: Matt Gavrish, Penn-Trafford 6,512; Max Suter, Greensburg C.C. 5,252; Jason Murray, Belle Vernon 5,046; Nick Kalcevic, Belle Vernon 4,343; Terrelle Pryor, Jeannette 4,238; Brandon Williams, Valley 4,214; Dane Brown, Franklin Regional 4,159; David Miller, Greensburg C.C. 4,028.

Shoaf has 1,047 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.

Norwin girls soccer likes Pitt

It might be considered an accomplishment for a high school sports program to send three recruits to the same Division I school over say, several years.

But Norwin has accomplished that feat in the same season.

A third player from the Knights’ current girls soccer team, sophomore midfielder Lacey Bernick, gave a verbal commitment to Pitt on Monday.

She joins sophomore forward Katelyn Kauffman and junior defender Eva Frankovic as Panthers recruits.

Duquesne also showed interest in Bernick, a speedster and one of the team’s better goal-scoring threats this season. She saw valuable playing time last season but was played defense for Norwin, which won the PIAA Class AAAA title.

Norwin is ranked nationally again. The Knights are up to No. 27 in the Top Drawer Top 50. They started last season at No. 1.

“I chose Pitt because I really like the new coaches, Randy and Ben Waldrum,” Bernick said, echoing sentiments of Kaufman and Frankovic, who initially chose Kent State before changing her mind. “Also, the school as a whole really focuses on student athletes, and it just has a great atmosphere.”

“She’s the fastest player I’ve ever seen,” Norwin coach Lauren Karcher said of Bernick. “Her quickness with and without the ball is unreal. She has a great understanding of the game and utilizes both technique and awareness to beat her opponents. Lacey is also a great team player and won’t pass up an opportunity to provide someone else with an assist.”

Offer for Guess

Belle Vernon five-star junior kicker and punter Cameron Guess picked up his first Division I scholarship offer Tuesday.

Don’t expect it to be his last.

Guess, the nation’s No. 1 ranked punter in the Class of 2020 by Kohl’s Kicking Camps, was offered by Toledo after a visit to the campus over the weekend. He attended the Rockets’ game against Miami.

“The offer is a relief,” saidGuess, who is rated as the 13th best kicker in the junior class. “It’s something I have always thought of but never knew if it would happen. It’s amazing for me and my family for this to happen.”

Guess gave up soccer this year to concentrate on kicking. He mostly played goalkeeper last season.

In the Leopards’ first two games this year, Guess made all seven extra points, averaged 37 yards on three punts and buried nine touchbacks on kickoffs.

He averaged 42 yards per punt and made 31 extra points last year.

Another offer for Fenton

Latrobe senior standout Reed Fenton received another offer to play Division I basketball, with Siena reaching out this week.

Fenton, who averaged over 20 points last season, also has offers from Brown, Drake, Drexel, Canisius, Lehigh, Boston, Fairfield, Bowling Green, Holy Cross, Marist, American, Navy, Dartmouth, and NJIT.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Latrobe, Norwin, Yough