Title QBs adopt change
Quarterbacks Tyler Bradley and Jamie Diven are WPIAL champions. They have enjoyed memorable seasons and etched their names onto some all-time WPIAL passing lists.
But there is another common thread between the two that brings about a strange question. If it wasn’t for transferring schools, would we even know of Bradley or Diven?
Bradley is a senior at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who led the Chargers to a win in the WPIAL Class 1A championship Saturday at Heinz Field. A few hours later at Heinz Field, Diven played a big role in South Fayette winning the Class 4A championship.
But what if Bradley’s father, Dan, hadn’t left Ambridge to become the coach at OLSH in 2016? And what if Diven hadn’t left West Allegheny and transferred to South Fayette in January?
Tyler Bradley was a quarterback at Avonworth High School, but transferred to OLSH when his father got the job. It’s questionable if Tyler would’ve been Avonworth’s quarterback. Derek Johncour is in the same grade as Bradley and recently finished a nice career at Avonworth. Johncour’s father, Duke, is Avonworth’s coach.
Diven’s story is similar. He attended West Allegheny through his junior season. He wasn’t the Indians No. 1 quarterback last season and might not have been the starter this year, either. But Diven moved into the South Fayette district, won the quarterback job and blossomed in the Lions system.
“You really can’t think of things that don’t happen,” Dan Bradley said. “You need to just accept what happens and go from there. We’ve had some guys leave OLSH, too. You just accept it and go from there.”
True, but Tyler Bradley might have never been the No. 1 quarterback at Avonworth.
“That’s true,” Dan Bradley said with a chuckle.
In the WPIAL finals, Tyler Bradley moved into fourth place on the WPIAL all-time passing list with 8,328 yards. He is third all time in touchdown passes with 100 and his 3,228 yards this year is 10thbest mark in a single season.
Diven has thrown for 3,016 yards, 13th best in a WPIAL single season.
“Just seeing Tyler so happy and elated after the game … it’s all any parent wants for their children, to be successful, happy and enjoy the moment,” Dan Bradley said. “It was really pleasing to see him embrace the moment.”
Bradley for hoops
Dan Bradley won a WPIAL championship for the first time Saturday — and was in a gym Sunday running a basketball practice.
Bradley is the only man in the WPIAL who is a head coach for football and basketball. Bradley is in his 10th season as Avonworth’s coach. The official start of high school basketball in Pennsylvania was Friday, but Avonworth’s first practice was Sunday. Besides getting OLSH ready for the PIAA playoffs, Bradley is getting Avonworth’s basketball team ready for the season.
“You’re tired, but it’s a good tired,” Bradley said. “Just to be able to advance this deep in football and win a WPIAL makes it all worthwhile.”
Attendance
The exact attendance for the four title games Saturday at Heinz Field will not be known until later this week. But WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said the four games drew about 12,000 people. A year ago, a little more than 12,000 attended, and it was by far the lowest total since the WPIAL started having four games in one day at Heinz Field or Three Rivers Stadium in 1986.
Attendance has dropped considerably at Heinz Field over the past five years and cold weather Saturday certainly didn’t help. The four title games used to regularly draw around 20,000 fans and sometimes more. The record is 39,031 for the four games in 2001, the first year of Heinz Field.
Injury update
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s Noah Campalong, a senior running back-defensive end, was injured in the first half Saturday and taken off the field on a stretcher. He has a broken ankle and had surgery Sunday morning. He will not play again this season.
One to remember
South Fayette coach Joe Rossi won his fourth championship in eight seasons and his teams have been involved in some memorable title games. South Fayette defeated Thomas Jefferson, 31-24, in an excellent game that had plenty of twists and turns.
“The 2013 game is one we always remember,” Rossi said of a 34-28 victory against Aliquippa in the snow. “We were talking as a staff after the game about what was better. This one or the 2013 game?”
Pine-Richland opponent
Snow forced the postponement of some PIAA postseason games in this weekend. Some were moved to Sunday and District 9 will conduct two championships Monday.
Pine-Richland, the WPIAL Class 6A champ, now knows its PIAA quarterfinal opponent. State College defeated Delaware Valley, 56-19, Sunday in a PIAA game and will play Pine-Richland Friday or Saturday at a site to be determined.
Pine-Richland won a WPIAL title for the third time in five years, and the Rams also played — and defeated — State College in the quarterfinals two previous times.