Over the hump: Beaver Falls looks to get over WPIAL title game hump with loaded roster

BEAVER FALLS – Three seasons ago, Nick Nardone joined the list of Beaver Falls football coaches who led their teams to WPIAL championships.

That list includes O.H. Heckathorne (1928), Larry Bruno (1960), Bob Blythe (1984) and Ryan Matsook (2016).

Nardone, who’s entering his seventh season, could someday be the first Beaver Falls coach to have two WPIAL titles on his resume. Afterall, the Tigers did reach the WPIAL Class 2A championship game the past two years.

Yes, they did lose both of those championship game opportunities. But they did get that far. And maybe they’ll advance that far again this year and play for BF’s sixth WPIAL title in school history.

“We expect every year to be at least in (the WPIAL championship game),” Nardone said. “Our goal is to get back and win. I mean, we have a lot coming back. We feel we have a team that’s good enough to win. We just need to get over that hump.”

That hump is back-to-back losses in the WPIAL final.

In 2021, Beaver Falls set a WPIAL championship game record by committing nine turnovers in a 35-12 loss to Serra Catholic.

Last year, BF lost 34-14 to a run-oriented Steel Valley squad that didn’t even complete a pass in the game.

“The last two years, we seemed to play our best in the semifinals but didn’t play our best in the championship games,” Nardone said of teams that finished 9-4 and 11-2, respectively. “We were right there but didn’t get it done. So, we’ve got to figure out some way to get over the hump.”

The good news for the 2023 Tigers is that they have plenty of talent on their roster, including several seniors with championship game experience.

However, two dynamic stars from last year are gone via graduation: quarterback Jaren Brickner and wide receiver/defensive back Trey Singleton. They are both playing college football at Fairmont State University in West Virginia.

Brickner was a four-year starter who helped Beaver Falls outscore Sto-Rox, 43-30, in the 2020 WPIAL championship game. In 2021 when he earned all-state honors, he passed for 2,579 yards and 25 touchdowns while breaking BFs’ single-season and career passing records. Last year, Brickner threw for 1,869 yards and 16 TDs while also leading the team with 705 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, Singleton caught 33 passes last year for 1,067 yards while also rushing for 351 yards. In all, he scored 20 TDs while earning first-team honors on offense and defense on the Midwestern Conference all-star team.

“You lose Jaren, you lose Trey, you can’t replace guys like that,” Nardone said. “Jaren was not only a tremendous athlete but he was a four-year starter. He knew our offense inside and out. Trey, he accounted for a lot of our offense last year and defensively played very well.

“We probably have 12 seniors who over the last three years have gotten significant playing time, some of them as freshmen on our WPIAL championship team. Others the last two years on the runner-up teams. So, we have a lot of guys coming back who’ve played significant minutes. I’m excited to see what they can do this year.”

At A Glance

Head coach: Nick Nardone (seventh season, 49-25 overall record)

2022 record: 11-2, 7-0 in Midwestern Conference

Top players lost: QB Jaren Brickner; WR/DB Trey Singleton, OL/DL Connor Paoluccci

Top players returning:  OL/DL Sy’Mauri McCoy, OL/DL Damien Lee, RB/LB Brixx Rawl

OFFENSE: Nardone will likely replace Jaren Brickner via quarterback by committee.  It’s a three-man committee that includes Kadin Brickner, who’s Jaren’s cousin, and Da’Sean Anderson and Gary “Petey” Pugh. Kadin Brickner didn’t throw a pass last year. In fact, no one else on the team even completed a pass. Anderson did throw one pass but it was intercepted. Running back Drey Hall also threw one pass, and it too, was intercepted.

“We have three guys and it’s not a competition,” Nardone said. “It’s a package deal.”

“Kadin Brickner, he’s our pro-style quarterback. The other two will be more like ‘Wildcats’ although they have the ability to throw the ball, too. We’re putting in different packages for whatever kid may be in there.”

When Kadin Brickner is taking snaps at quarterback, Anderson and Pugh will play wide receiver. If Anderson or Pugh are taking snaps, Brickner will be on the sideline.

“It’s not a matter of all three competing against each other,” Nardone said. “It’s just a matter of what quarterback we like in certain games and certain situations. It has nothing to do with a competition.”

At the running back position, seniors Brixx Rawl and Da’Talian Beauford will get their share of carries. Last year, Rawl was second on the team with 497 rushing yards while Beauford was fifth on the team with 301 yards. Hall, who was third on the team with 371 rushing yards, transferred to Beaver.

“It’s going to be like it’s been, with two or three different running backs. We’ll spread the ball around and share the load,” Nardone said. “We really haven’t changed much of what we do as a running game.”

At wide receiver, Anderson was second on the team with 16 catches for 360 yards. Although there isn’t a lot of experience returning, Nardone says it’s a position with deep, promising potential.

And perhaps most important considering all the change at the skill positions, Beaver Falls’ line figures to be the strength of the offense.

The Tigers did graduate Connor Paolucci, who earned all-conference honors last year. But they do return arguably the best set of tackles in Class 2A.

One of them is Sy’Mauri McCoy, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound senior who started in the WPIAL championship game in 2020 and has been starting ever since. Last year, McCoy shared Lineman of the Year honors last year in the Midwestern Conference with Mohawk’s Colton Root.

The other tackle is Damien Lee, a 6-foot, 280-pound senior.

Also returning on the O-line is senior center Damiano Sims.

“Yeah, I think our offensive line has a chance to be really good if those guys stay healthy,” Nardone said.

DEFENSE: With the exception of its 34-14 loss to Steel Valley in the WPIAL championship, Beaver Falls played exceptionally well on defense last year, allowing only 10.2 points per game. The Tigers could be just as stingy this year.

Up front, they have McCoy, Lee and Sims anchoring the D-line.

Rawl, a first-team conference all-star last year, and Beauford head up a strong linebacker corps that may include Anderson if he’s not playing safety. In fact, Nardone says the Tigers have several “hybrid type” athletes who could play linebacker or in the secondary.

Speaking of the secondary, BF must replace Singleton who was an all-conference all-star on defense just as he was on offense.

Di’Nari Harris and Za’shaun McKelvy are slated to start at cornerback with Meach Taylor and Pugh playing safety.

Classification: 2A

Last WPIAL title: 2020

Last WPIAL playoff appearance: 2022

Last WPIAL playoff win: 2022

WPIAL titles: 5

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Over the hump: Beaver Falls looks to get over WPIAL title game hump with loaded roster