OUR QUESTIONS, HIS ANSWERS
Are you excited for the challenge of moving up to compete in Class 5A this year? Yeah, for sure, the 5A [ classification] is definitely deep. In order to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. Peters Township and everyone are top- end teams for sure. So having a chance to play a good opponent week in and week out is exciting, and something we look forward to, for sure.
How many times have you replayed last year’s WPIAL semifinal loss to Belle Vernon in your head? Is it something you tried to bury
away in your mind? It’s definitely something I tried to put away. For a long time I didn’t want to look at the game film. We were up at half, I think, and up going into the fourth quarter, too, and they just found a way to finish. Looking back, there’s a lot of things where I say, ‘ I should have made that throw,’ or made this decision, but you can’t dwell on the past. You can’t change the past, so it doesn’t matter.
What’s your go- to restaurant for a postgame meal after a big win? Favorite restaurant has to be Pep’s after the game. That’s the spot where everyone goes. The parents meet up and the kids get a booth in the back. That’s definitely the spot after games, Pepperoncini’s Pub.
What is one thing you did during the quarantine that you wouldn’t have done otherwise? I started working out a lot. I think I worked out six hours a day the first three months of quarantine. It wasn’t even heavy intense stuff. It was just a little bit of stretching and yoga, different ways to get my body ready without weights. I even changed up my diet a bit … just taking care of myself, I guess. Do you play fantasy football? Oh yeah, we just had our fantasy draft last week. Who was your first- round pick? I think my first round pick was Saquon Barkley. I got the second overall pick. Of course the guy who ran our league, our league president got [ Christian] McCaffery. Have you ever won a fantasy football league before? I think I won two years ago. I feel pretty good coming into this year, but I grabbed Leonard Fournette in the fourth round, and that was like two days before he got cut … He went from like 20 [ projected] points to six points.