Pine Creek Journal notebook: Football stars put pen to paper

By: Jerin Steele
Sunday, December 19, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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A pair of Pine-Richland football players, Jalen Klemm and Jeremiah Hasley, made their college commitments official during the early national signing day Wednesday.

Klemm signed his letter of intent with Kansas State and Hasley signed with Duke.

Klemm, an offensive lineman, committed to Kansas State on Dec. 9, choosing the Wildcats over Akron, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Florida Atlantic, Kentucky, Liberty, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Tulane, Vanderbilt, UNLV and Washington State.

The signing was streamed on Stadium Network on their National Signing Day show from the Dallas Cowboys practice facility in Frisco, Texas.

“I just really liked the environment out there in Manhattan,” Klemm said on the Stadium livestream. “It’s purple everywhere, and that’s the environment I’m looking for. Kansas State football is the biggest thing out there. When I went on my official visit and saw the guys and how much they liked it out there and how much they liked the coaching staff, that was really big for my decision.”

Klemm was an anchor on the offensive line prior to suffering a season-ending injury. He’s the son of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Adrian Klemm.

Hasley, a linebacker, made his commitment to Duke during the summer. He also had FBS offers from Air Force, Army, Kent State and Navy.

He had a team-best 135 tackles this season and was first-team all-conference.

Other football offers

Several other Pine-Richland football players are garnering interest at the FCS and Division II levels.

Cole Boyd has received offers from Valparaiso and Fordham. He threw for more than 1,000 yards despite missing four games due to an injury. He was 95 for 180 for 1,159 yards and had 12 touchdowns to five interceptions.

Boyd’s top target, Alex Gochis, also has an offer to Valparaiso to go along with an offer from Division II Walsh (Ohio). He led the Rams with 48 receptions for 740 yards and had 10 total touchdowns. He was first-team all-conference at wide receiver.

Connor Lenz, a defensive end, picked up an offer from Clarion. He was second-team all-conference.

Players have until the second national signing day Feb. 2 to make their college decisions.

Jurkovec back at BC

Former Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec announced Dec. 6 via Twitter that he will return to Boston College for his senior year and forgo entering the NFL Draft until next season.

After starting the first two games, Jurkovec missed two months with a hand injury but returned for the final four games of the regular season. He passed for 914 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He rushed for 322 yards and five scores.

Boston College (6-6) plays East Carolina in the Millitary Bowl at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 27. The game will be televised on ESPN.

King earns honors

The awards keep coming in for Tyler King after a standout first season at Stony Brook. King, a 2019 Pine-Richland grad, was named to the FCS Freshman All-American team.

He is also a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award for the top FCS freshman in the country and received second-team All-Colonial Athletic Conference honors.

King recorded 95 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble at linebacker for the Seawolves.

Rams wrestling strong at Char-Houston

The Pine-Richland wrestling team had a pair of champions and placed third overall in the team standings at the season-opening Chartiers-Houston Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

Anthony Ferarro won the 132-pound championship, defeating Burgettstown’s Joey Sentipal, 5-0. He also accrued three pins in the event.

Kelin Laffey took home the 152-pound title with a 17-2 technical fall over Beth Center’s Tyler Barish. He had two pins prior to the final.

Freshman Dominic Ferraro had a solid debut in varsity wrestling, going 3-1 and advancing to the 120-pound final before losing to South Fayette’s Luke Dunlap.

Heavyweight Joey Schneck, a junior, placed third and freshman Robert Hoy (113) and sophomore Angelo Samuels (160) had sixth-place finishes.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland