The 2013 high school football season officially came to an end locally Friday when Monessen and Yough were eliminated from the WPIAL Class A and AA quarterfinals, respectively.
Looking back on the season, there were some outstanding individual accomplishments on the football field by some of the area's football players.
One of the most notable is Yough quarterback Tyler Donahue, who set a school record by passing for 1,514 yards, hitting 115 of 195 passes. He also threw 18 touchdown passes.
Another possible record set at Yough this season was Clayton Waldron's 20 touchdowns.
“I tried really hard to find some school records here and haven't found any, but I don't think anybody ever threw for 1,500 yards and I also don't think anyone ever scored 20 touchdowns in one season here,” said Yough coach Mark Crovak.
At Monessen, a school that has traditionally had some of the greatest individual performances has never kept track of records; there were two marks that were believed to have been set this season.
One is by running back Clintell Gillaspie, who scored 204 points on 31 touchdowns and 18 additional points on two-point conversions.
It is believed he is the first Greyhound to score over 200 points in a season.
Another possible school record by Gillaspie is his 679 yards receiving for a running back at Monessen.
The other high-water mark for the Greyhounds is by quarterback Noah Rullo, who threw 19 touchdown passes, which is believed to be a school record.
As far as passing yards, Rullo's 1,308 yards are well behind the 1,626 yards Reggie Allen had in 1977 and the 1,448 that Erik Keffel threw for in 1984.
“Monessen has never kept records and while we have had some kids who put up amazing numbers and even sent a lot of players to the NFL over the years, I think you couldn't go wrong by saying some of those numbers could very well be school records,” Monessen coach Andy Pacak said.
Ringgold quarterback Nico Law had a phenomenal season for the Rams. His 1,494 yards passing represents a single-season school record, breaking the mark of 1,295 yards set by Jamont Kinds in 1994.
His passing yards and 1,110 yards rushing marked the first time in the school's history that a quarterback eclipsed 1,000 yards passing and rushing.
Ringgold receiver Alan Pritchett caught 30 passes for 524 yards, but his numbers were not enough to catch the school's record-holder, Jeff Tyree, who had 42 receptions for 633 yards in 1994.
Getting back to Law, he wasn't the only quarterback to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in the area as Elizabeth Forward's JaQuan Davidson passed for 1,038 yards and rushed for 1,109 to become the first EF quarterback to accomplish that.
At Charleroi, there is no doubt that Dakota Moorer was often a one-man highlight show for the Cougars. And while Charleroi is another school that does not keep career records in football, it is possible that Moorer's numbers this season - 42 receptions for 714 yards - could represent school marks.
“We were just talking about that last week. We couldn't find any records over the years, but I would have to think what Dakota accomplished very well could be a season record,” Charleroi coach Ed Jenkins said.
Jeff Oliver is a sports editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2666 or joliver@tribweb.com.
