Brentaro Yamane

WPIAL & City League Football Player Preview: Demus sees the change in culture at Chartiers Valley

Chartiers Valley football player Jordan Demus runs on the football field during a football game in 2019.

One in a series on motivated high school football players in the WPIAL and City League.

"Hello, welcome to Walmart."

That's a phrase that Jordan Demus has been saying a lot in the recent months. The reason why he is saying that is because of the fact that he is currently an employee at the Walmart in Carnegie, PA. While many customers at Walmart see Demus as a high school student trying to make a little money on the side, many do not know that he is a star football player at Chartiers Valley, who is trying to turn their football team back to a winning program.

Demus, who will be a rising senior in the upcoming school year, is one of the many WPIAL and PIAA football players that are hoping to still have a football season. Many people wonder what the fate of high school football in Pennsylvania will be after Gov. Tom Wolf issued that high school sports should not be played until Jan. 1, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the PIAA board voted to delay the start of fall sports to two weeks to Aug. 24, in hopes to convince Gov. Wolf's office to reconsider his suggestion of no sports until Jan. 1. For Demus, all he can focus on is getting better every day as he hopes he can get a senior year of high school football.

"I'm very excited. I’ve been waiting for senior for so long," said Demus, who also runs Track & Field at Chartiers Valley. "I’ve been lifting a lot more, working on my speed and also mastering my craft at the cornerback position."

Demus is expected to once again be Chartiers Valley's starting cornerback and kick returner for the 2020 season. Last season in 2019, Demus recorded 600 return yards, 24 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, and forced two fumbles. However, there could always be a change that Demus could also be the Colts starting running back in 2020. You just never know. The only way the idea of Demus being the starting running back could be a consideration is because of the fact that the Colts lost their three leading rushers from the past season due to graduation. The fourth and fifth leading rushers on the Colts in 2019 were Socrates Boulis and Anthony Mackey. One of them could be perhaps the starting quarterback for the upcoming season as Boulis will be a senior and Mackey will be a junior in the upcoming school year. And, with Demus having 47 rushing yards on 20 attempts in 2019, it is shows that he has played the running back position and could perhaps be the starter. You just never know.

Anyway, Demus is looking to have a big senior season as him and his Colts football team will face some new competition in 2020 as there are new teams in their section in Blackhawk, Beaver, Montour, Aliquippa, and New Castle. For the past four seasons, the Colts football team had played in 5A and had an overall record of 8-30 with no postseason appearances. The last time the Colts won a section game was in 2017 when they defeated Baldwin by a score of of 42-24 on Oct. 27, 2017. For Demus and his graduating class of 2021, this is no laughing matter. You could say that the disappointing seasons in 5A is a reason why the Colts moved down in 4A. However, for Demus, he does not care what classification he plays in, he cares about whether his Colts can get into the WPIAL playoffs or not. He thinks his team for the upcoming season is the best team that he has ever been a part of in his high school career.

"Our main goal is to make playoffs. We haven’t been there in awhile, but we plan on ending that drought this year. In my opinion, this is the best team we had in the last three years," said Demus, who was named 2nd Team All-Conference in WPIAL 5A in 2019. "Us moving down to 4A put a little smile on our face, but we know we still have to work hard because 4A isn’t no joke."

You better believe that Demus is right about 4A not being a joke.

Demus playing football has been a way that he is been able to develop relationships with his family, teammates, and coaches. He started playing the game of football when he saw his older brother playing and wanted to do it too. His whole family are big football fans, so that just made him more likely to play the game. Also, playing football has been a way that he has gotten through tough moments in my life.

"When my cousin passed away, it changed the way I played," said Demus, who likes to fish.

The possibility of high school football not being played in the 2020-21 school year is a scary thought. Football is more of a game, it's a way to be able to deal with adversity in the real life and is a way to become stronger as a human being. That's how football has shaped Jordan.

For Chartiers Valley's head football coach Dan Knause, this upcoming season will be the fourth season as the head coach for the Colts. The football players from the class of 2021 at Chartiers Valley will be the first graduating class that Knause has been with it from the beginning to the end since his arrival at the school in 2017. While, Demus' former high school teammates did not experience all four years of high school football with coach Knause, Demus will and he is blessed to be able to.

"Playing for head coach Knause is a blessing, he’s a great coach. His main goal since he first started was to change the culture and he did that. Our records in the past years might not show it, but this year is going to show it. He's a fun coach, he's serious most of the time, but when he’s not he’s very funny," said Demus.

One of Jordan's friends is Chartiers Valley Boys basketball player and rising senior Brayden Reynolds. Brayden recently received his first NCAA Division I basketball offer from Army back on Tuesday and announced it on Twitter. Later on that day, Demus responded to Reynolds by congratulating him by saying that they have both been thinking about getting a Division I offer since they were real young. Reynolds responded to Demus saying, "Love ya boy, your turn now!"

Maybe soon it could be Jordan's turn as he is currently having conversations from college football coaches at schools such as the University of New Hampshire, The Citadel, and Slippery Rock University.

As of now, Demus will focus for the rest of the summer on getting better as perhaps a WPIAL and PIAA football trophy could be in his hands in the next several months. You just never know ladies and gentlemen.

Brentaro Yamane: bkyamane@gmail.com and Twitter/Instagram @BYHilton13