Them Boys From Upper St. Clair

The Upper St. Clair Panthers football team were section champions in the WPIAL Class 5A Allegheny Nine Conference in the 2017 WPIAL football season as they had a 7-1 record in the section and had an overall record of 7-3 in the regular season.

With Upper St. Clair being the section champions in their section in 5A they were able to make the playoffs last season as they defeated Franklin Regional at home in the first round of the playoffs 6-3. But, unfortunately in the next round the Panthers would lose to the Penn-Trafford Warriors 35-14 as that game was played at West Mifflin High School. It was a heart breaking loss for the Panthers; because if the Panthers would have won that game they would have been able to play for the 5A WPIAL football championship at Heinz Field the following week.

Quarterback Jack Hansberry had a good senior season last season as he threw for 1,590 yards, 11 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. With Hansberry graduating from USC this past June the Panthers are looking for a new starting quarterback and they either will or already have found their starting quarterback for next season and the Panthers are not telling the media who it will be. Some possible candidates for the starting quarterback for the Panthers next year is upcoming senior Jason Sweeney. Sweeney completed three passes in eight attempts while under center for the Panthers last season. Sweeney also plays defensive back for the Panthers as well. As of right now the Panthers do not have Sweeney listed on their roster on the MaxPreps website but we are going to assume right now that Sweeney is going to play next season.

Another possible candidate for the starting quarterback position at Upper St. Clair (USC) is upcoming sophomore Ethan Dahlem. Dahlem is only 5"7' and also plays free safety. If USC could start Dahlem in his sophomore year that could be good as he can get a taste of what it feels to play quarterback at the varsity level. We've seen quarterbacks that start in their sophomore year that have done well in the WPIAL like Drew Saxton (South Fayette), Phil Jurkovec (Pine-Richland) and Jake Cortes (Peters Township).

If the coaching staff of USC does not like those two options at QB I just listed they could always get some other student at USC to try and play the position.

The Panthers have lost some key players as these players won't be returning next season like Jack Hansberry, Dom Cepullio, Jack Burton, Quentin Nelson, Dante Grecco and others; but just because those players will not return next season that does not mean that the other players on USC can't step up and that USC does not have to go into rebuild mode next year.

The Panthers still have players returning next year who are ready to step up their game. Colin McLinden rushed for 859 yards last season and that was pretty good. Colin is going to be a senior next year and with the great performance he had at the running back position last year as a junior, the coaching staff of USC is probably expecting him to do just as well next season as there is a chance he could rush for at least 1,000 yards next season.

Expect to see upcoming seniors Antonio Orisini, Antonio Thomas, Chris Pantellis, Jesse Fera and James Delulis to get even more playing time next season because of the good amount of playing time they had last year. What is nice for USC is that their senior kicker Sean Martin will be back next year as he made a lot of extra-pointers last season as a junior. At least USC knows they will have an experienced kicker for next season.

What is fortunately nice for USC is that they will be facing teams in their section that also will have a new starting quarterback next year as well. One of the teams that USC will face is Chartiers Valley and they are looking for a new starting quarterback as their old starting quarterback Reed Bruggeman graduated last year. USC will also face Peters Township, Woodland Hills, Fox Chapel and Moon next year as those four teams are also in USC's section. So, USC has a good chance to win at least five games in their section next year since the five teams I listed will have new starting quarterbacks with not that much experience. But, even though those five other teams in USC's section don't have an experienced starting quarterback that does not mean those teams will not have good defenses. What USC does know is they will have a good defense next season even with some of the veterans' gone next season. Really what it comes down to is if USC can find a decent starting quarterback next year, this team will easily get back in the playoffs.