Shaler QB Smetanka follows father’s footsteps
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Keegan Smetanka has a solid grasp on Shaler football history. He should. He’s been living it every day of his life.
Smetanka is a legacy quarterback at Shaler where his father, Bryan, set a high bar. The elder Smetanka led the WPIAL in passing in 1994 when he completed 151 of 280 passes for 2,289 yards and was a member of the Post-Gazette Fab 22.
He was also the first Titans quarterback to lead the school to the WPIAL playoffs since the school was founded in 1971.
Though Bryan may have been the first to take Shaler to the WPIAL tournament, he can see his son following in his footsteps and, likely, eclipsing his accomplishments.
“He’s coachable, he’s hardworking and he’s way better than I was,” Bryan said. “When he played as a sophomore, they weren’t very good and the (passing) windows were so small. I remember him making some passes and I was like, ‘Dang. I couldn’t have done that.’”
Keegan isn’t quite leading the WPIAL in passing this season — not yet anyway — but he’s certainly put himself in some elite company in the first two weeks. He is sixth in the WPIAL after two games, completing 34 of 43 for 457 yards and four touchdowns, including 14 of 20 for 276 yards last week in a 43-8 win against Hampton. His 79% completion rate is by far the best among the top 20. This comes after throwing for 2,113 yards last season.
Shaler (2-0) has opened the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2009, when the team opened 50. That season, the Titans qualified for the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, which was the highest classification at the time, knocked off Mt. Lebanon, 29-21, in the first round and lost to Bethel Park in the quarterfinals.
That was also the last time Shaler won a playoff game.
Since that win against the Blue Devils, there really hasn’t been much optimism around the Shaler program. The Titans last reached .500 in 2011, qualified for the postseason, dropped a 52-13 decision to Gateway in the opening round and then fell off a cliff.
That loss triggered a string of three consecutive winless seasons and a 32-game losing streak that ended five games into the 2015 season. The school was also winless in 2016, 2017 and 2020, but went 28 in 2021 and 5-5 last year.
They have not qualified for the playoffs since 2019, but that recent history is not a deterrent for Keegan.
“Last year we had a good step forward going 5-5 and it was our first time in 11 years we’ve gone 5-5,: Keegan said. “Our expectation now is way beyond that.”
Quarterbacking a Shaler team to the playoffs would be rare, but it’s not so far-fetched, despite how competitive Class 5A is this season. There are only six undefeated teams in the classification — and the Titans are one of them.
“It really started in the offseason, just getting that chemistry built-in with my wide receivers,” Keegan said. “The coaches know what plays to call and put me in the right situations to be impactful for the team.”
It also helps that he’s had his own personal quarterback coach working with him.
“At a young age, we started working on his footwork and, in my opinion, the main thing is you’ve got to have good footwork to be a good quarterback,” Bryan said. “He picked it up so fast, I knew he could be good. Then, he was in eighth grade and he stood in the pocket until the very last second and took a hit to make a throw and I realized he was going to be good.”
Banks of the Allegheny
Something is cooking at the bottom of Coxcomb Hill and, for once, it’s not coming from Oakmont Bakery.
It’s not the halcyon days of Jake Cappa and the 1997 WPIAL Class 1A championship, but Riverview is 2-0. In fact, the Raiders are the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference, which includes perennial contenders Jeannette and Clairton.
And the Raiders are doing it in a very Cappa-esque manner.
Riverview has a solid 1-2 punch in the running game.
Landon Johnson (391) and Carlo Buzzatto (317) have combined for 708 yards and seven touchdowns in two games. They are both among the top 10 rushers in the WPIAL.
If you don’t believe Riverview is all ground-andpound, consider this: The team has thrown only four passes.
But it’s not just the offense. Riverview has only given up 20 points and is coming off a 42-0 shutout of Carlynton. It was the first shutout by the Raiders since an 18-0 win at Springdale on Oct. 12, 2018.
Still, it’s a far cry from 2-0 to the postseason. But considering Riverview hasn’t opened a season with consecutive wins since 2011, hasn’t had a .500 or better record since going 6-4 in 2010 and hasn’t sniffed the playoffs since 2007, there is cause for optimism.
It’s all about percentages
There is no doubt that Fort Cherry quarterback Matt Sieg is a force, but it’s not just his overall totals that make your head spin.
Sieg has thrown and rushed for eight combined touchdowns this season on just 32 combined rushing and passing attempts. That means he engineers a touchdown on 25% of the plays when his number is called.
Maybe just as impressive, on those 32 plays, the Rangers have picked up 489 yards and average 15.3 yards per play. Sieg is averaging 19.8 yards per carry, 19.3 per completion and 12.2 per passing attempt.
Talk about consistency
Freedom running back Tyler Welsh is one of two WPIAL players to have more than 400 yards rushing through the first two weeks of the season. More impressive may be the way he’s done it.
Welsh picked up 203 yards and a touchdown in a Week Zero win against Quaker Valley, then rolled up another 203 in a loss to Ambridge last week.
If he gets to 203 this week it will be a real accomplishment. The Bulldogs will be at home against a Beaver (2-0) squad coming off an upset win against rival Beaver Falls.