The Thomas Jefferson football banquet annually is a festive event.

This year's was no exception.

The 58th annual TJ football banquet recently took place at the Georgetown Centre in Pleasant Hills.

The TJ gridders were honored for winning a second consecutive WPIAL championship. The Jaguars blanked New Castle, 42-0, in the 2016 WPIAL Class 4A championship game at Heinz Field.

“Football is the ultimate team sport,” TJ coach Bill Cherpak said. “You can't win with 11 guys; you can't win with 15 guys. It takes everyone to win; it's everybody that's involved with it. Everyone has to work together.

“It's really special here. We do expect and demand a lot from the kids. I know it's tough; it's supposed to be tough. We know what it takes; we push them hard. That's really our main goal, to prepare the kids for life. We want the best for everybody. When you leave here, we have expectations for you.”

There were 13 seniors on the 2016 team, which finished with a 12-1 overall record. The Jaguars compiled a 34-5 record in the three years the seniors competed at the varsity level.

“There were a lot of different personalities; they all had their own roles,” Cherpak said of the senior gridders. “It's pretty impressive what they did. They carried on the tradition of the program; they carried on that torch.”

Senior leadership was provided by Tommy Campbell, Nick Freiwald, Jake Giegerich, Quinton Hill, Bobby Kelley, Dustin Lanning, Jon Muehlbauer, Jimbo Nassida, A.J. Putignano, Luke Petruzzi, Scott Ruffing, Nick Territ and Zane Zandier.

Nassida, a 6-foot, 250-pound lineman, landed the prestigious Breisinger Award. He is the sixth TJ lineman in the past five years to win the coveted award.

Cherpak interjected personal highlights about some of the other players, including:

• Campbell — “There is a lot of pressure on the kicker; it's a unique situation. He did a great job.”

• Hill — “He was somebody we could rely on.”

• Kelley — “I put a lot on his shoulders. Throughout the season, he got better and better.”

• Lanning — “He was amazing. You can't have a 2,000-yard running back without a great offensive line.”

• Muehlbauer — “He made a lot of big plays for us; he was a big part of what we did here.”

• Putignano — “A.J. was a leader. He and Devin (Danielson) stepped in and did a great job.”

• Petruzzi — “Luke was loud; it was just awesome. He was a boisterous leader. He led by example, and was very motivated.”

• Territ — “Nick did a great job on special teams for us.”

• Zandier — “He did all the little things that made the difference.”

The junior and sophomore classes also were recognized at the banquet for their contributions to the championship season. They had the most players on the team.

Many of the juniors had integral roles in TJ's success story, and will be looking to continue the Jaguars' winning ways next season.

There were 20 juniors on the team, consisting of Sean Bell, Logan Burnsworth, E.J. Brueggman, Jared Collington, Matty Dadig, Danielson, Garret Fairman, Ed George, Chris Gooch, Jimmy McCoy, Brayden Lautner, Noah Palmer, Nathan Pearson, Shawn Radovic, Alex Ruffing, Michael Siemon, Nico Stoicovy, Nick Urbanowicz, Justin Vigna and Nathan Weir.

“Essentially, the juniors are now the seniors. They need to lead by example,” Cherpak said. “We are looking to three-peat; nothing else is going to do.”

There were 22 sophomore team members, including John Adams, Sean Barrett, Jackson Conway, Justin Covelli, Thomas D'Ascenzo, Joe Dolata, Gabe Dominick, Brendan Fitz, Mike Janosko, Andy Kalup, Jack Mich, Jordan Murga, Jacob Puckey, Dom Serapiglia, Max Shaw, Erick Singyangwe, Alex Snyder, Austin Sobeck, Alex Territ, Ridge Vlha, Zach Wagner and Alex Weber.

“It's a big jump from your sophomore to your junior year,” Cherpak said. “It's a big class. It's a good group. There's a lot in that group.”

Rounding out the championship squad were the freshman players, including Logan Danielson, Daniel Deabner, Mac Duda, Brendan Finnerty, Jake Fisher, Denver Haynes, Ryan Loukas, Dylan Mallozzi, James Martinis, Dominic Pearson, Christopher Samolovitch, Brendan Sluk, Shane Stump and Nate Werderberder.

The Jaguars' junior varsity and freshman teams compiled undefeated records in 2016.

“Everybody has an opportunity,” Cherpak said. “The future is now.”

The banquet was capped by the showing of the team's Hollywood-style highlight film, “Back to Back,” designed and produced by football boosters Scott Breisinger and Steve Colditz.

“The ‘back to back' actually has two meanings,” Breisinger said. “The obvious one is of back-to-back WPIAL championships. The most important one, though, is about the TJ family. Not just the players, but the coaches, band, cheerleaders, majorettes, fans, and the entire community and how they all come together and support the team. Everyone has each other's ‘back.'

“During the video, you heard the players talking about playing for their teammates; you heard all the coaches saying it throughout. Then, at the end, coach Brettschneider said it best with this quote that I put up on the screen — ‘It's everything about us and our family. Families do what they need to do. They have each other's back, and they will die for each other. Do you understand that?!' ”

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Cherpak was assisted by 10 coaches in 2016, led by Frank Brettschneider and Jack Giran, the offensive and defensive coordinators; along with Pat Oster (linemen), Jon Drager (running backs), Chris Drager (defensive ends/tight ends), Zack Bonatesta (running backs/linebackers), Trevor Wildman (wide receivers/defensive backs), Dom DeCicco (wide receivers/defensive backs), Tony Battaglini (quarterbacks) and Tyler Wehner (volunteer coach).

“I feel we have one of the best coaching staffs in all of Pennsylvania from top to bottom,” Cherpak said. “They each have different styles of motivation. We try to make it fun; nothing's more fun than winning.”

Led by Zandier (WR/DB) and Devin Danielson (OL/DL), Thomas Jefferson dominated the all-conference squad with 11 selections.

Zandier and Danielson were named offensive and defensive players of the year.

Nassida (guard), Danielson (tackle), Giegerich (tight end), Zandier (receiver) and Hill (running back) were first-team offensive selections. Danielson (lineman), Palmer (lineman), Giegerich (linebacker), Muehlbauer (defensive back) and Zandier (defensive back) were first-team defensive selections.

Muehlbauer, Kelley and Hill were second-team selections at receiver, quarterback and linebacker, respectively.

Burnsworth (lineman), Fairman (linebacker) and Petruzzi (linebacker) received honorable-mention recognition.

Zandier (WR/DB), Danielson (C/DL), Giegerich (TE/DL), Hill (RB) and Muehlbauer (WR/DB) also were all-conference selections in 2015.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Hill is the first player in TJ football history to attain 4,000 career rushing yards.

Hill ended up with 4,432 yards and 63 touchdowns on 576 carries in his four-year varsity career.

The bulk of his rushing yardage was amassed over the Jaguars' past two WPIAL championship seasons, as Hill totaled more than 3,500 yards and scored 52 touchdowns in 2015 and ‘16.

“Quinton is the full package as a running back,” Cherpak said. “He has great size and balance; he can run with speed and power. He also has great vision and instincts.”

The Jaguars amassed 3,331 yards rushing as a team this season, mainly behind the blocking of Devin Danielson and Putignano, at tackle; Nassida and Lanning, at guard; Serapiglia, at center; and Giegerich and Palmer, at the tight end position.

Hill has been quick throughout his career to acknowledge the blocking of his teammates on the offensive line.

“It's a great honor to hold the record,” he said after breaking the career rushing mark. “I couldn't have done it without the outstanding blocking I get up front every week.”

TJ has generated a 34-3 record against WPIAL teams over the past three years, including a 12-0 mark in 2016, and has won seven consecutive WPIAL playoff games, and nine of its past 10.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

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