Freeport rested, ready for WPIAL quarterfinal matchup with dangerous West Mifflin team

By: George Guido
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 | 5:51 PM

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It’s rare that high school football teams are healthy at this time of year, but Freeport will have a full roster ready to go Friday night.

The Yellowjackets (9-1) take on West Mifflin (6-5) in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at Freeport Area Stadium.

Freeport received a first-round bye last week, while the Titans were busy defeating Southmoreland, 54-28.

Veteran Yellowjackets coach John Gaillot had several practices during the bye week designed to keep his team sharp.

“We had some hitting drills to keep our shoulders loose for three days,” Gaillot said. “I liked the effort they gave, and they got the weekend off.”

Freeport is unaccustomed to byes. The last time the Yellowjackets sat out the opening round was 1974.

“It’s a curse and a blessing,” Gaillot said. “I’d rather play than have a bye. Especially this year, we weren’t terribly banged up. But no excuses, we’re ready to go.”

The two teams have played only two other times, with Freeport winning 14-0 in 1990, and the Titans coming back in 1991 for a 16-3 win.

Freeport is celebrating its 100th year of football, while West Mifflin, when it formed in 1960, was such a large school district that it had North and South high schools. North won the 1963 WPIAL title, defeating Butler. North and South merged in 1984 because of declining population in the area.

Freeport is 16-31 in WPIAL playoff games; West Mifflin 18-19.

West Mifflin teams have relied on speed in the past. The Titans made the WPIAL finals in 2000, ’04 and ’12.

“They’re very athletic,” Gaillot said. “Their whole secondary is top-notch. Their quarterback is a great athlete. It’s going to be a very tough challenge, but we’re up for it.”

Titans quarterback Shai Newby has 53 completions for 1,360 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was 9 of 9 against Southmoreland. His favorite pass-catcher is TyJier Williams, who has close to 1,000 receiving yards. Bruising running back DelRon White has carried the ball for 400 yards.

“We’ve been sort of up and down,” West Mifflin coach Rod Steele said. “We lost our big right tackle, then we lost his backup. But we’re starting to play some good ball, and we’re looking forward to playing a conference champion in Freeport.”

Freeport has won six in a row for the first time since 2015, the last time the Yellowjackets made the semifinals. The only loss on the season was to Armstrong, a team still alive in Class 4A.

Said Gaillot: “West Mifflin’s scrappy, too. A mirror image of us. They have a lot of speed. I like where we’re at. We had a lot of penalties in the Deer Lakes game (a 42-10 win), so we’ve got to clean that up.”

“The kids have been stepping up, and we’re happy to be on the right track,” Steele said.

In a statistical anomaly, Gavin Croney leads Freeport with 906 passing yards, and Ben Lane leads with 906 rushing yards. Croney also has 335 rushing yards.

Brady Stivenson and Lane have 19 catches each.

Tags: Freeport, West Mifflin