Raiders coach Giorgi hopes his ‘third season is the charm’
Waynesburg Central's Daniel Huffman (left) takes a hand-off from Jake Stephenson during a drill at practice.
Waynesburg Central quarterback Jake Stephenson is back after missing last year due to an elbow injury that required surgery. (Photo by Jonathan Guth)
Waynesburg Central's Teagen Crouse completes a drill during practice at the high school field.
Aaron Giorgi hopes his third season at the helm is the charm as Waynesburg Central is focused on getting back on track after a winless campaign last year.
Giorgi, a Charleroi graduate who coached at Jefferson-Morgan, knows his players went through a tough season a year ago, and although they didn’t win on the scoreboard in the 10 games they played, Giorgi views those players as winners.
“The guys that stepped in and played last year did the absolute very best that they could do,” Giorgi said. “And, I could not be more proud of the effort they gave.”
The Raiders were also plagued by injuries after starting quarterback Jake Stephenson hurt his elbow the week before camp began and had to sit out the season after having surgery.
Waynesburg’s No. 1 tailback, Breydon Woods, was also out for several games, and the offensive line never had its full five starters together for multiple games due to injuries.
“We were pretty ravaged with injuries last year, and I know people don’t see that outside reading the final score line,” said Giorgi. “We had Chase Fox fill in at quarterback after Jake went down. The kid never played quarterback his entire life, and he is learning how to play quarterback for the very first time in his life as a junior.
“We had Daniel Huffman, who was alternating at running back the previous year with Breydon in the backfield, being asked to carry the ball every play, and he was physically tasked to handle that responsibility. I mean, he really stepped up and ran hard, and some of the linemen who would probably be spot players, ended up being starters, and they did the very best job they could.
“I know saying, ‘He did the very best job’ still doesn’t equate to wins, but whenever we’re dealing with high school sports, its more than just winning and losing, and people have to sometimes realize that. It’s about character, and these kids showed a tremendous amount of character last year.”
Stephenson is back for his junior season, and will play at safety on defense. Woods returns at tailback and safety, and Huffman will be at running back and linebacker.
Fox will be in his more natural position at wide receiver, and will go at linebacker on defense. Senior Colby Pauley returns at middle linebacker after leading the team in tackles last season. Pauley will play wide receiver on offense.
Waynesburg’s offensive line is led by seniors Layden Haynes and Dalton Hoy, and junior Vince Maley, who was at center last year but will be moved to tackle.
“We had to play so many guys last year, we are probably bringing back four or five guys that started at some point on the line,” Giorgi said. “They’re battled tested.”
The Raiders open their season at Carmichaels in non-conference play. They stay in Greene County the next week at Jefferson-Morgan before hosting California in the third week of the season.
Waynesburg hosts Keystone Oaks on Sept. 15 in its Century Conference opener before traveling to McGuffey the next week. Washington, Brentwood, Sto-Rox and Charleroi round out the mighty Class AA conference. The Raiders host Uniontown in non-conference play.
“Our big key this entire season is instilling the belief in the kids,” said Giorgi. “Whenever I took over, they just had the passing of their coach, Chad Coss, and they had a couple of rough years.
“It is about instilling the belief that they can compete with these teams. It will be really key for us to get a couple of victories and get them motivated and see that, ‘Hey, guess what? Things can change through hard work.’ It is about believing it and seeing it the first couple of weeks.”