Derry Area linebacker leading charge for Trojans

You’ve surely heard of Aliquippa’s stifling defense, with the Quips tallying four shutouts through their first five wins, holding opponents to an average of 1.6 points per game.

But there’s another WPIAL Class 3A school gaining a reputation for smothering offense, a team that went 3-25 the three seasons before its current coach took over in 2014.

That’d be the Derry Area Trojans, who have come on strong the past few years and are coached by Tim Sweeney, a former linebacker at Penn State and a Derry alum. The Trojans shut out North Catholic, 270, Sept. 21, handing North Catholic and junior quarterback Zack Rocco their first loss of the season.

Derry’s holding opponents to 8.2 points per game, the fewest points allowed in the Big East Conference.

“It’s just the things that we teach our kids starting back in June,” Sweeney said. “What the expectations are and how we play defense. It’s more about how we play defense versus the X’s and O’s and the schemes and those types of things. It’s a mentality that the players have and that the players have embraced more so than the coaching staff out-coaching other coaches and their team.”

Who’s leading the charge?

That would be senior Dom DeLuca, a 6-foot-5, 225pound aggressive outside linebacker who also plays running back. With a small coaching staff, Derry doesn’t keep track of his tackles or sacks, but Sweeney doesn’t need those numbers to see how DeLuca dominates.

“It’s not fancy to play defense, but we have some guys on our team, starting with Dom DeLuca, who’s a throwback guy, who embraces playing defense,” DeLuca said. “Not that he doesn’t give his best effort playing offense. He’s scored a couple touchdowns for us and I’m sure those are big moments for him, but he’s an old school guy that really loves to play defense. He really puts his heart into everything that he does. … If there’s a better defensive player in Western Pennsylvania, I’d like to know it is. Because in my opinion, it’s Dom DeLuca.”

There’s also sophomore defensive back Matt McDowell, who grabbed two interceptions in Friday’s win, junior defensive lineman Max Malis and senior inside linebackers Bastien Anderson and Colton Nemchek.

Derry will be put to the test Friday when it faces Elizabeth Forward, the only other undefeated team in its conference. Elizabeth Forward beat Derry, 39-7, last year.

Charleroi

It wasn’t all that long ago that Charleroi went 0-9. Three years, to be precise.

This year, though, the undefeated Cougars (4-0, 3-0 Class 2A Interstate Conference) continue to roll and, led by senior quarterback Geno Pellegrini, running backs Hunter Perry and Brayden Mihalkin and receiver Dakota Romantino, are averaging 59.3 points per game. Midway through the season, Charleroi has the highest-scoring offense in the WPIAL.

Sarah K. Spencer: sspencer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @sarah_k_spence.