Nov 1, 2024 By Rob Burchianti 5 min read

Jefferson-Morgan has overcome all obstacles in recording a perfect 10-0 regular season and securing the Tri-County South Conference championship this football season.

The Rockets (10-0) will face a different kind of challenge against South Side tonight in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

It’s called the Wing-T offense.

“That’s a major concern,” J-M coach Shane Ziats said in assessing the No. 11 Rams (6-3) who finished third in the Big Seven. “That’s something we haven’t faced or seen all year.

“Overall, they’re a good, solid, physical football team.”

The Rockets are a pretty good team themselves, featuring an explosive offense led by quarterback Houston Guesman, wide receiver Deakyn Dehoet and running back John Woodward.

Jefferson-Morgan is one of six local teams that qualified for the postseason, along with California, whom the Rockets defeated 28-27 last week to clinch the conference title, Waynesburg Central, Mount Pleasant, depleted Southmoreland and Belle Vernon.

The Rockets haven’t been 10-0 since 1989 but Ziats isn’t ready to look back on a landmark season for the program just yet.

“We’re looking at South Side,” Ziats said. “We’re getting ready for the first round of the playoffs. Hopefully we’ve still got a few weeks to go before we start reflecting on the season.”

Jefferson-Morgan heads into the game almost at full strength.

“Woodward was out with a shoulder injury for a couple weeks but he came back for Avella and was there for California so he should be OK to go again,” Ziats said. “Houston’s what makes the offense go. He’s the kid that does everything and the leader on the team. Deakyn is a top receiver and we also have some guys that get overshadowed, like John Gilbert, Jase Bedilion and Ryan Baker, who also are important contributors.”

Ziats feels the victory over California as well as an early-season win over Class 2A Waynesburg should help his team be battle-tested for the postseason.

“With the way the Waynesburg game went and the way the Cal game went, both down to the last minute, I think the experience of playing in those types of close games will help us in a playoff game,” Ziats said.

“We’re as ready as we can be. We prepared for the Wing-T as best as we could, we prepared for their defense as best as we could. I think we’re ready to go. We’ll find out Friday.”

In Class 4A, No. 6 Belle Vernon (4-4) , which finished third in the Big Six, is at No. 3 McKeesport (6-4), which won the Greater Allegheny. The two also played in the regular season with the host Tigers winning 28-7.

In Class 3A, No. 8 Southmoreland (7-3), which tied for second place in the Interstate, hosts No. 9 Highlands (5-4) which finished fourth in the Allegheny Seven, and No. 10 Mount Pleasant (5-5), which also tied for second in the Interstate, goes to No. 7 Freeport (7-3), the third-place team out of the the Allegheny Seven.

In Class 2A, No. 11 Waynesburg Central (6-4), which finished in a tie for second in the Century, is at No. 6 South Allegheny (8-2), the third-place team in the Allegheny.

In addition to J-M in Class A, No. 10 California (7-3), which placed second behind J-M in the TCS, goes to No. 7 Laurel (5-5), the second-place team in the Big Seven.

The Scotties are seeking their first ever playoff win but will have overcome playing without a big chunk of their starting lineup to do it.

“We’re down eight starters,” Southmoreland coach Tim Bukowski said. “Two were kids that transferred from Geibel and we knew going into the season they wouldn’t be eligible for the playoffs.”

While Bukowski could plan for those two and a few injuries, what he wasn’t expecting was a case of mononucleosis ravaging his squad.

“We have a case of mono running around the program,” Bukowski pointed out. “Dawson Wolfe has been out for two games. He’s our second-leading tackler. Our top tackler, Ethan Shawley, was out last week as well. We just received word yesterday (Wednesday) that Stanley Chapman, who played defensive end but we moved him back to linebacker to fill for those guys, that he also has mono. That’s three of our top five tacklers. It’s a four-to-six weeks thing so their seasons are over.

“Jimmy Carson, one of our guards, has a concussion so he’s out. Elliot Premus, we honestly don’t know at this point. He hasn’t practiced all week. He had a sling on and got a cortisone shot Tuesday. He’s probably a game-time decision. Our other guard, Cole Teets, tested for mono so we have to wait and see if he’ll be available or not. Jarrell Braxton, our center, broke his hand but it looks like he may be able to wrap it and play.

“That’s where we’re at. You can withstand a couple kids being out, one or two, you can get through it. But in the situation we’re in, we’re going to have to put some guys out there who haven’t played that much. Everybody says next man up, but that’s a lot of next men up for us this week.

“I feel bad for the seniors because they built up to this moment, a chance to win that first playoff game, we have it at home and it should be a great atmosphere but the fact is we’ll be going in there shorthanded.”

Not that Bukowski is giving up on winning the game.

“Obviously we’re going to give it everything we’ve got and hope we can compete, make it a game and have a little bit of luck go our way,” Bukoski said.