Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Monessen sends scoreboards spinning

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, September 5, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Monessen is the highest-scoring team in WPIAL football through two weeks with a brow-raising, 60.5-point average.

The Greyhounds, who hadn’t started 2-0 since 2018, have laid out a tapestry of big plays while scoring in a number of ways.

A key playmaker is TyVaughn Kershaw, a junior running back, who has found the end zone five times in each of the Greyhounds’ games.

Kershaw (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) ran for three touchdowns, caught a scoring pass and returned a punt 84 yards for score last week in a 62-6 victory over West Greene.

His brother, Tim Kershaw, a senior wide receiver, added two 40-plus-yard touchdown runs and returned an interception 89 yards for a TD.

“Our blocking schemes and everyone doing their job, not just individually but as a team,” TyVaughn Kershaw said when asked what is working well for the Greyhounds. “We’re going out there playing more confident and finally seeing what we’re capable of with the new coaches that want the same thing we want with the same goals.”

In the opening game against Charleroi, TyVaughn Kershaw rushed for 169 yards on seven carries and scored on three rushing scores and two kickoff-return TDs.

Best for last

Norwin led by 13 points at halftime last week against Kiski Area, but the Cavaliers rallied to take a 21-20 lead in the third quarter.

Norwin coach Mike Brown didn’t fret. His team has been down in the second half before and rallied to win. The Knights did it again, regaining command on the way to a 33-21 win over Kiski Area and their first 2-0 start in a decade.

The team also trailed in the third quarter, 14-6, in the opening game against Penn-Trafford. It was a 26-14 final in favor of the Knights.

So, is Norwin becoming known as a second-half team?

Last year, the Knights rang up 23 points in the fourth quarter to rally past Plum, 30-23. It was a 23-7 score early in the fourth.

They also came back late against Woodland Hills before falling 30-23.

Norwin is the only ranked team from Westmoreland County, checking in at No. 3 this week in the TribLive HSSN 6A rankings.

Brown credits his team’s never-give-up mentality to focusing on the next play, not the last one.

“We’re just taking the season day by day and focusing on getting better throughout the week to be at our best come Friday nights,” Brown said. “I think we get better as the game goes on and once we get settled in, but both weeks we found ourselves down and the players fought back. We don’t really look at the scoreboard until the game is over.”

Norwin has two injured starters in Mike Crnkovic and Max Fierle. Both suffered knee injuries in the opener.

Crnkovic is expected back later in the season, Brown said, though Fierle is done for the year with a torn ACL.

Norwin’s last winning season came in 2007, the last time it won a playoff game.

Brotherly love

Franklin Regional senior lineman Andrew Devola experienced a special moment with his two brothers last week at Hempfield.

All three of them got into the game for a late series in the Panthers’ 49-26 win.

Devola is a two-way lineman who starts. Sophomore Cole Devola is a tight end, and freshman Dominick Devola plays quarterback.

“I couldn’t help but tear up a little,” Andrew Devola said in an X post.

D-fense

Latrobe’s two Division-I defensive standouts are not disappointing.

Linebacker Alex Tatsch and safety John Wetzel have been disruptive in their first two games.

Tatsch, a Penn State commit, has 22 tackles, seven for loss, an interception and two forced fumbles.

Wetzel, a Marshall recruit, has 13 stops and an interception he returned for a touchdown.

Brunot top player

Greensburg Salem senior Kai Brunot was named the PennLive state player of the week, via online fan voting.

Brunot rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown as the Golden Lions (2-0) defeated Ligonier Valley, 43-14.

Of the 17,512 votes cast, Brunot received 7,990.

Matthews finds rhythm

After completing only two passes in his debut at Connellsville, junior quarterback Caden Matthews, a transfer from Southmoreland, went for a career high in his second game.

Matthews completed 19 of 32 attempts for 329 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-41 loss to Meadville in four overtimes.

Prep rally

The Kiski School, a private boarding school in Saltsburg near the northern border of Westmoreland County, opened the season Friday with a loss at home against Calvert Hall (Md.).

The Cougars have a number of WPIAL players on their roster.

They include post-grad linebacker Owen Sinclair, who played at Franklin Regional, along with junior running back Levi Porter (Indiana), junior tight end Hunter Richardson (Hampton), junior RB/LB Adrian Valdez (Fox Chapel), sophomore quarterback Jonah Hilty (Pine-Richland) and sophomore lineman Cheo Stevenson (Woodland Hills).

Kiski features a number of international players, including some from France, Germany, China and Canada.

Extra points

A couple of old conference matchups will be renewed this week. Burrell plays at Mt. Pleasant, and Hempfield visits Kiski Area. Burrell and Mt. Pleasant were Keystone Conference opponents beginning in 1972, whereas Hempfield and Kiski Area used to compete against each other in the Foothills Conference, starting in 1962. … Yough won two games last year, but the Cougars are 2-0 for the first time since 2013. … Top games next week include Latrobe at Franklin Regional, Woodland Hills at Penn-Trafford, Belle Vernon at McKeesport and New Castle at Yough.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Connellsville, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Kiski School, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Southmoreland, Yough