Quaker Valley’s improbable story capped with 1st PIAA football title

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 9, 2017 | 2:55 PM

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If there’s a screenwriter available, Jerry Veshio has a story to tell.

The plot is almost unbelievable: A high school football team’s coach quits 18 days before the season, so a former coach comes out of retirement for one season. He takes over a resilient but unproven program that’s never won a WPIAL title, let alone a state title, and sees them all the way to Hershey.

The crazy ending came Saturday.

“I want to know what one of you guys is going to help me write my screenplay?” said Veshio, as his players celebrated in the snow at Hersheypark Stadium, some drawing QV on the snowy turf with their feet. Quaker Valley defeated Middletown, 41-24, in the PIAA Class 3A championship, just three weeks after the Quakers earned the team’s first WPIAL title.

“It’s surreal,” Veshio said. “It’s incredible.”

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Quaker Valley (14-1) won with a strong ensemble cast. Running back Jordan Taylor rushed for two touchdowns, quarterback Ricky Guss threw two and rushed for another, wideout Ethan Moore caught two and the defense was dominant once again.

The Quakers didn’t let Middletown’s offense reach the end zone until late in the fourth quarter. It was reminiscent of Quaker Valley’s defensive effort at Heinz Field, when the Quakers shut out Aliquippa.

Middletown (14-1) finished as state runner-up for the second year in a row. The District 3 champion lost to Beaver Falls, 30-13, last season.

“Going into the year, not many people thought we were even going to make playoffs,” said QV senior kicker Landon Grant, who also celebrated a state soccer championship in Hershey this fall. “Winning WPIALs, then winning a state championship, pulling out games against Aliquippa and these big programs, it’s just crazy. But I never doubted these guys for a minute.”

On a slick field, Taylor rushed for 147 yards on 15 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 34 and 35 yards. Guss added 97 yards on 16 carries.

Quaker Valley led 28-7 after Andrew Seymour returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown just before halftime. The lead reached 41-10 early in the fourth after a one-yard touchdown run by Guss, who endorsed Veshio’s movie plans.

“That would be awesome,” Guss said, laughing. “I guess you could make it a movie, but to me it’s not a movie. It feels so real.”

The plot twist came in early August when coach John Tortorea resigned unexpectedly while his assistant coaches stayed on. Veshio, a former teacher and administrator who hadn’t coached football since 1986, took over as the team’s interim head coach.

“We did a good job of staying focused all year,” Guss said. ” … Losing our head coach was tough, but we’ve got a lot of seniors. We’ve got a lot of good coaches who stayed with us and guided us.”

The Quakers faced another twist this week when senior Isaiah McNair, the team’s top receiver and cornerback, was sidelined with an undisclosed “upper-body” injury. Without McNair, Guss targeted Moore, who had five receptions for 98 yards.

Guss completed just 6 of 14 attempts for 104 yards but his touchdown throws were timely. His first, the 66-yarder to Moore in the second quarter, broke a 7-7 tie and came 72 seconds after Middletown returned a punt for a touchdown.

Moore and Guss connected on a 1-yard touchdown later in the second to lead 21-7, a goal-line audible by the quarterback.

“Losing Isaiah is a blow, physically and emotionally what he does on the field for us,” Guss said. “We knew guys were going to have to step up, and Ethan did a great job of that today. He was ready for it too.”

Middletown’s only touchdown in the first three quarters was a 55-yard punt return in the second to force a 7-7 tie. Led by running back Brady Fox, the team had two long drives that turned into field-goal attempts, one made and one missed.

Fox rushed for 56 yards on 18 carries but 31 yards were on one carry.

Fox had 161 rushing yards and four touchdowns in last week’s semifinal, and quarterback Scott Ash had 189 yards passing and two touchdowns. But Quaker Valley stifled that offense Saturday. Ash threw incomplete on his first seven attempts — the Quakers intercepted two — and he finished 4 of 16 for 92 yards.

Veshio credited his four senior defensive linemen: Seymour, Jacob Kolesser, Jake Presicka, and Oliver Funk.

“Those guys are nails,” Veshio said. “When they go, those four linebackers behind them go. It starts right there. They make that defense.”

Middletown’s first offensive touchdown came with 4:16 left in the fourth. The team didn’t score again until there were 14 seconds left.

“They’re just tenacious,” Veshio said. “They’re the best defense in the state. I don’t care what the statistics say, they are the best defense in the state.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Quaker Valley