Woodland Hills Kid

[Captain Kangaroo]

North squad prepares for Foothills

Jim Paul and his coaching staff rushed his team from Spartan Stadium to Hempfield Area High School's gym this week, dodging the raindrops.

"If it clears up, we're going back out," Paul said. Typical football coach.

The North squad began practice Monday to prepare for the ninth annual Foothills Classic, set for 7 p.m. Saturday at East Allegheny High School.

"These are a nice bunch of young men," said Paul, who coaches at Derry Area. "We have three from Greensburg Salem, a guy from Jeannette, and one from P-T. It adds some local flavor. It really is a nice group."

The North squad features four players from Greensburg Salem, Gateway and Derry.

"They are wonderful in practice," Paul said about the Greensburg Salem players. "This is fun to coach. All of these kids love football."

The team has two senior running backs in Brandon Sticca from Greensburg Salem, who rushed for 1,134 yards and 14 touchdowns; and Joe McDaniel from Woodland Hills, who put up 392 yards rushing and 88 receiving. Both will be playing in the East-West game held in Altoona on June 26.

"It's an exciting opportunity," Sticca said. "It's going to be the same thing up there. It's better to play in two games rather than one. But it doesn't bother me. It will prepare me for college."

Sticca will go on to play at Marshall University, and McDaniel will play at the University of Akron, which has former WPIAL standouts wide-out Jeff Garrison (Greensburg Central Catholic) and defensive-lineman Dorian Beard (Penn Hills).

"It's an honor for the kids for such an outstanding season they had," Greensburg Salem coach George Kemerer said. "Being the conference champs, it gave the kids some recognition. They can now go back and tell their kids that they played in an all-star game." Five players were featured from that Woodland Hills' squad that finished second in the Quad East behind Pittsburgh Central Catholic.

"It really says something about the players on the team," McDaniels said. "The record we had reflects on the players."

Paul said he is looking at three quarterback prospects in Dennis Sellman from Woodland Hills, Dewey Schmitt from Derry and Zak Jenniches from Burrell.

On defense, the team includes Jeannette linebacker Anthony Matt, who racked up 204 tackles, including 19 for loss, and 13 sacks this past season.

The team wanted to practice at Penn-Trafford's field instead of Hempfield, but it was restricted because of renovations to P-T's stadium. Paul wanted to thank Jason Ross and Hempfield for letting them use their facilities.

This is the second time that Paul has coached the North squad, the last time being three years ago.

Both squads are practicing on artificial turf throughout the week to prepare for East Allegheny's Churchman Field.

"More players are used to it," Paul said. "It's more of a convenience. Players don't have to worry about spikes and stuff like that."

The game showcases the seniors from the area teams, split on to North and South squads, dependent on where the school district falls in comparison to Route 30. For example, Greensburg Salem players are on the North squad, but Greensburg Central Catholic and Hempfield players are on the South squad.

Some players still have to get in the football mind-set after not putting on pads for nearly eight months.

"Athletes are athletes," Paul said. "You would think they would be out of it, but most of them are saying 'Wow! This is great.' "

"It feels kinda weird," Greensburg Salem wideout and defensive back Jacob Zeoli said. "I'm used to a wrestling mats. This is definitely an honor."

Even this game is only a showcase, Paul guaranteed the game will provide for its share of competition.

"You have athletes competing and you have coaches competing," he said. "It's not win at all costs, but I'd like to get a win. The North hasn't won in a while."

Paul brings his Derry coaching staff into the game, giving the players only a week to learn a system of plays.

"It's weird to work will all different formations," said Zeoli, who is wrestling at Slippery Rock next year. "It's all the same though. This is fun. It should be a good time."