Penn-Trafford, like Exeter, is no one-hit-wonder

Matt Bauer was disheartened after losing at Hempfield in mid-September. His Exeter football team slipped to 2-2; hopes of an extended playoff run began to fade.

On the other side of the state John Ruane experienced the same sinking feeling. The Penn-Trafford coach thought he had the makings of a good football team, especially after opening the season with wins over Norwin and Hempfield Area (in Greensburg). Then: back-to-back losses.

“We were humbled,” Ruane said. “That might’ve been the best thing for us.”

The Warriors haven’t lost since. They have won nine straight, claimed their first WPIAL championship and face Exeter in the GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week. The PIAA Class 5A semifinal will be played Friday at 7 at Bald Eagle High School.

The likelihood of two teams bouncing back after 2-2 starts to find their way to a state semifinal is rare; that’s just one of the striking similarities between the Warriors (11-2) and Eagles (10-2).

Each has a close-knit, senior-oriented lineup.

Each finally got over the hump to win its first district title after years of being good but not good enough.

Each worked its way up from the bottom a decade or so ago to become a perennial playoff contender.

Exeter suffered through back-to-back winless seasons in 2007 and 2008 before Bauer was hired for 2009. By his third season the Eagles were 7-4 and in the District 3 playoffs. They’ve had a winning record every year since and made districts nine straight seasons before being denied last year (when District 3 trimmed its Class 5A playoff field to four teams).

Penn-Trafford missed out on the WPIAL playoffs in 2009 for the first time in years. Ruane was brought in the next season. In his second year the Warriors were back in the playoffs and have been every year since, twice making the championship game.

Three times they entered the playoffs unbeaten but were turned back, twice by Pittsburgh Central Catholic, once by Gateway. Last year their season was ended by Pine-Richland, which went on to win a state title. In District 7 there’s never a shortage of powerhouse teams ready to end your season.

“We’ve been close, we just haven’t, for whatever reason, finished the deal,” said Ruane, who is 107-30 in 12 seasons. “We have a lot of great teams out here, and you’ve got to play your best (in the playoffs).”

The Eagles have been doing that. They have won six straight, with road playoff victories in each of the last three weeks. They played a near-perfect game last week in beating the state’s top-ranked team, unbeaten Gov. Mifflin. That came seven weeks after a 33-point loss to the Mustangs. Ruane doesn’t view Exeter’s win was any kind of fluke.

“We saw why they beat Gov. Mifflin,” he said. “This is a tremendous football team. Tons of skills, tons of play-makers. You can tell those guys have a lot of chemistry. They get to the football and they play well as a unit. You can tell that’s a program, as opposed to a one-hit wonder.”

That’s the case for Penn-Trafford. Like the Eagles they are built from the ground up. Their strength is a big, veteran offensive line that has opened the way for Wisconsin recruit Cade Yacamelli to run for 1,634 yards and score 24 touchdowns. Four starters from that line returned from a season ago; two have college offers.

“They’re big kids but they’re very athletic,” Ruane said. “That’s critical for how we run zone. We knew going in that would be the strength of our team, especially with two guys behind them who can run.”

Ruane was confident Yacamelli was headed for a big season. The key piece has been Carter Green, a first-year starter at quarterback. He’s not tall and doesn’t have a big arm but he’s a shifty runner and he brings the kind of leadership skills to the position Ruane was looking for.

“Carter’s one of the most competitive kids you’ll ever meet,” Ruane said. “In high school, that’s enough. We felt his leadership, his competitiveness, was going to take us a long way. He’s the least prototypical quarterback we’ve had, but he’s also the first to take us to a WPIAL championship. Take that for what it’s worth.”