Penn-Trafford set to begin training camp without a Laffoon in uniform

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 10, 2018 | 6:12 PM

Names come and go through high school football programs. They populate teams one at a time or in clusters of two, three or more. They go away for a generation or two, and then come back again as a cousin or little brother, only to conjure memories of relatives’ past and to build on the family legacy.

At Penn-Trafford, the name Laffoon has practically been engraved on the roster for the better part of a decade.

But this year that trend ends.

The Warriors will open training camp Monday without a Laffoon on the roster for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

“It’ll be weird for sure,” said Cam Laffoon, who quarterbacked the Warriors for the last two seasons and visited the team Thursday during a heat workout. “We’ve been here for so long. It’s nice to know we were part of the tradition here.”

In recent years, it seemed the family put a copyright notice on the quarterback position.

Brett Laffoon played under center for three years before his brother took over. He threw for 2,471 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior and set the school’s career mark for touchdown passes with 71.

Cam last season threw for 1,511 yards and 15 TDs and ran for 799 and eight scores.

Both players led the Warriors to championship games Heinz Field. P-T lost to Central Catholic in 2015 and Gateway last year.

“We have seen a lot of players move on,” Warriors coach John Ruane said. “They have been remarkable performers and leaders.

“While sometimes tough, we have to focus on our team this year. We appreciate the legacy but don’t focus on the past.”

A third brother, Brandon Laffoon, was a lineman until 2012. A cousin, Louis Laffoon, was a running back from 2008-11.

Brandon Laffoon played at Grove City but gave up the game due to concussions.

Cam will attend West Virginia for engineering but also is done playing the game.

“It’ll be strange not playing,” Cam said. “I might play intramurals. Some of the receivers that played with my brother (in college) are down there. We’ll see.”

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

Tags: Penn-Trafford