Same expectations: West Allegheny aiming to make deep playoff run under Dave Schoope

NORTH FAYETTE TWP. – It’s been four years since Bob Palko coached his last game at West Allegheny High School, but his impact on the football program endures.

Dave Schoope, who’s entering his fourth season as West Allegheny's coach, didn’t mention Palko’s name when asked about the team’s hopes this year. But he certainly alluded to Palko.

“The expectations, I don’t think they ever change here,” Schoope said. “The expectations are to get into the playoffs and then push and see where you go. So that’s our expectation. We expect to be there.”

Those lofty expectations were realized often during Palko’s 24-year regime.

During his time at West Allegheny (1995-2018), Palko made the program a perennial powerhouse with eight WPIAL titles, one state championship and a 217-73 record.

West Allegheny hasn't won a playoff game since 2018 when Palko led them to the WPIAL 5A championship game. But Schoope believes that will change this year.

West Allegheny, which made the playoffs last year as the fourth-place team in the 4A Parkway Conference, was hit hard by graduation. Only four starters are back on offense while only four starters return on defense. And the program does play in a tough conference which features Aliquippa and Central Valley, which played each other in last year’s WPIAL championship game.

Still, Schoope likes the look of the 2023 team.

“We’re a little young but the kids are aware of what the expectations are,” said Schoope, a 1988 West Allegheny graduate who played football for the program.

“Last year in our blowout (victories), we got some of our younger kids some experience, which will help out this year. Our mentality is the next man up so that’s where we are. We expect to go out and compete and battle every game. We’ve got the program headed back in the right direction.”

Last year, West Allegheny started out with a 7-1 record that included several mercy-game blowouts. Its only loss up to that point was a 19-16 decision to Aliquippa. It looked like it was poised for a deep postseason run.

However, as injuries began to pile up, West Allegheny struggled down the homestretch. It lost three of its last four games including a 44-15 loss to Laurel Highlands in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Despite its losses via graduation, West Allegheny does return one of the WPIAL’s best players. That would be junior Brock Cornell, who earned first-team all-conference honors on offense as a running back and on defense as a safety.

Brock Cornell is the son of Bryan Cornell, West Allegheny’s defensive coordinator and head baseball coach.  Bryan Cornell is also a West Allegheny legend in his own right. He played on West Allegheny's baseball team when it won a WPIAL title in 1994 and, during his 20-year run as baseball coach, his teams have won four WPIAL titles.

Brock Cornell also plays baseball but already looks like a major-college football recruit. He already has scholarship offers from Duquesne and Albany.

“You watch him on film and he stands out,” Schoope said. “His game speed is what separates him from a lot of other good players. He’s one of the best I’ve seen in 30 some years of coaching.”

At A Glance

Head Coach: Dave Schoppe (fourth season, 14-13 overall record)

2022 record: 7-4 overall, 4-3 in Parkway Conference

Top players lost: QB Gage Upton, OL/DL Shane Tuthill, WR/DB Nick Longo, Nodin Tracy RB/DB

Top players returning: RB/DB Brock Cornell, OL/DL A.J. Hughes

OFFENSE: Gage Upton, who threw for 1,042 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, has graduated. Taking his place will be sophomore Brody Malatak, who didn’t throw any passes last year.

“He can manage the game for us,” Schoope said of Malatak. “We were a run-heavy team last year and we expect to be that again this year. You don’t really need to throw the ball all over the place when you can run the ball.”

As Brock Cornell proved last year, he can run with the ball. As a sophomore, he ran for 772 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 146 yards.

Cornell figures to get most of his carries as a “regular” running back. But he also figures to take some snaps directly from the center as a “wildcat.”

“Look at the history of West A.,” Schoope said. “We’ve always run some ‘wildcat.’ That’s built in.”

West Allegheny does have to replace Nodin Tracy, their second-leading rusher from last year. Tracy, who’s now playing wide receiver at Fordham, rushed for 493 yards last year while also catching 15 passes for 178 yards.

Last year, Cornell (17) and Tracy (14) combined to score 31 of the Indians’ 42 TDs.

Even though all-conference tackle Shane Tuthill graduated, West Allegheny has the makings of a strong offensive line.

While senior guard A.J. Hughes and junior Brock Stickley are returning starters, Schoope expects big things from J.C. Bozic, a junior tackle who’s 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds.

“He’s a big body. We know that when you put a big body on someone, you’re going to get some movement,” Schoope said of Bozic. “He’s come a long way since his freshman season.”

It should be pointed out that West Allegheny also must replace its kicker, Brayden Lambert, who’s now at Edinboro University. Last year Lambert was third on the team in scoring with 65 points. He connected on 32 of his 33 extra point attempts and 11 of his 18 field goal attempts.

DEFENSE: Defensively, Hughes is the only returning starter on the D-line.

Senior Derrick Curry and junior Roman Police are back as starting linebackers.

The secondary is led by Brock Cornell, who led West Allegheny last year with 96 tackles and three interceptions. Cornell also shared the team lead with two sacks.

Classification: 4A

Last WPIAL title: 2016

Last WPIAL playoff appearance: 2022

Last WPIAL playoff win: 2018

WPIAL titles: 8

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Same expectations: West Allegheny aiming to make deep playoff run under Dave Schoope