Winding down
J-M’s DeHoet still likely TD Club winner despite injury; only Frazier remains alive
Lori C. Padilla
TikTok³ÉÈË°æ Touchdown Club leader Deakyn DeHoet didn’t have a chance to increase his total of 176 points.
The Jefferson-Morgan senior will still claim the 2025 area scoring title, barring an explosion of points from Frazier’s Derek Diamond during the rest of the playoffs.
DeHoet suffered an injury in the Rockets’ loss to California in the regular-season finale and could not play in 13th-seeded J-M’s WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Laurel. The fourth-seeded Spartans shut the shorthanded Rockets, 35-0, on Friday.
Diamond bulled his way to 118 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries and also ran in a two-point conversion for eight points in the 11th-seeded Commodores’ 27-12 playoff victory over sixth-seeded California at Trojan Stadium to up his total to 112 on the season, which keeps him in fifth place.
Diamond is the only player still active among the top 10.
Following DeHoet are Albert Gallatin’s Adam Pegg and Tee Guesman, the Colonials’ one-two punch at running back that led the independent squad to a perfect 10-0 record, with 150 and 140 points, respectively.
The Trojans’ Malachi Peak, like DeHoet, had his final game wrecked by an injury, his coming in-game during his second carry against Frazier. Peak never got back on the field again due to the ankle injury and ended his season in fourth place with 126 points.
Rounding out the top 10 are Jefferson-Morgan’s John Woodward (92 points) in sixth, followed by Southmoreland’s Jackson Mickens (78), Belle Vernon’s Chase Petrosky (72), West Greene’s Joel Rizor (68) and the Leopards’ Curtis Wade (66).
Woodward was held off the scoreboard in the loss at Laurel and Mickens was shut out in the seventh-seeded Scotties’ 42-6 loss to 10th-seeded Hopewell in their Class 3A first-round game at Russ Grimm Field.
The top scorer among local players for the week, getting a big boost from Frazier quarterback Brady Secrest, was the Commodores’ Chase Fulmer who reeled in five receptions for 124 yards and three touchdowns against the Trojans.
Fulmer increased his output to 60 points for the year, putting him in a tie for 12th place with California’s Brandon Meier and Carmichaels’ Will Murray, just behind 11th-place Cannon Bupka of the Mikes (62).
Rizor and Meier are freshmen.
Southmoreland’s only points against the Vikings came on Averyon Darnell’s 20-yard TD pass from Dawson Wolfe which moved him up into a three-way tie for 20th place with Wolfe and AG’s Roman Smith at 50 points.
Waynesburg Central was the area’s fifth playoff team and the 13th-seeded Raiders lost at fourth-seeded South Allegheny, 61-13, in a Class 2A first-round game. Waynesburg quarterback Teagen Couse helped teammate Zach Jiblits jump up into a tie with him for 15th place in the standings in the most bizarre way.
Crouse threw a fourth-quarter completion to Jack Ricciuti who lateraled to Jiblits who then raced 69 yards for a touchdown. Jiblits finished the year with 54 points, as did Crouse, who also threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Ace Litwinovich for his first TD reception of the year.
The Raiders’ Nate Ricciuti kicked an extra point to end up with 36 points. He is third among kickers, behind Southmoreland’s Liam Smith (53) and Albert Gallatin’s Sam Evans (42) but just two ahead of fourth-place Owen Searcy of Frazier whose team is still playing.
California’s points came on Alan Dennis’ spectacular 67-yard touchdown run and Landon Abercrombie’s 4-yard touchdown pass from Logan Hartley.
Abercrombie hopped up into 19th place with 52 points while Dennis bumped his total up to 46 which puts him in 24th place.
Frazier, the only local team standing after the first round of the postseason, plays third-seeded Bishop Canevin at Canon-McMillan in a quarterfinal game Friday.