Gridiron greats
DeHoet, Colonials headline H-S All-Area Football Team
Deakyn DeHoet did all he could in trying to help Jefferson-Morgan’s football team match last year’s undefeated regular season and while the Rockets came up short of that goal the J-M senior had another outstanding year.
Still, for the second year in a row there was an area team that went 10-0. Few would’ve predicted that squad to be independent Albert Gallatin.
DeHoet and the Colonials headline the 2025 Herald-Standard All-Area Football Team.
Jefferson-Morgan did go 8-3 and qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for the second year in a row with DeHoet playing a huge role. He led the area in touchdowns (28) and scoring (176 points) while serving as a wide receiver/running back for the Rockets and also stepped in to play quarterback when needed. DeHoet racked up a combined 1,564 yards with 816 rushing and 748 receiving, was one of J-M’s top defensive players as a linebacker/cornerback with four interceptions, and was his team’s punter. He also was a dangerous kick returner, considered so lethal that teams refused to kick the ball anywhere near him as the season wore on.
DeHoet had the highest average yards per rush (12.8) and catch (23.4) among the area’s leading runners and receivers.
DeHoet is the H-S Player of the Year and a member of the Elite 11 as one of the area’s top players.
There were several candidates for Coach of the Year, including first-year coaches Dustin Shoaf of Southmoreland, who guided the Scotties to a 9-2 overall record and a playoff berth, and Tony Battaglini of Frazier, who led the Commodores back to prominence with a 7-5 record. Frazier was also the only team to win a playoff game with a road upset of California.
Speaking of the Trojans, they were the lone local team to win a conference championship with a 7-0 record in the Tri-County South while going 9-2 overall under veteran coach Ed Woods. The victory over J-M that clinched first place for California was the 100th TCS win of Woods’ career.
Two other coaches got their team into the postseason: The Rockets’ Shane Ziats and Waynesburg Central’s Joe Kuhns.
None of those were the H-S Coach of the Year, however. That honor goes to Albert Gallatin’s Drew Dindl because winning all your games is a tough resume to top.
The Colonials’ powerful running game steamrolled opponents week after week and produced a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Tee Guesman (1,216) and Adam Pegg (1,014), who also reeled in 11 passes from quarterback Bronx Jamison for 375 yards.
AG rumbled for 3,807 yards on the ground and its effectiveness running the ball led to Jamison having incredible numbers in the few times the Colonials went to the air. He completed 17 of 28 passes (60.7%) for 414 yards (24.4 yards per completion) and nine touchdowns, or about one every nine throws.
Dindl improved his career record at Albert Gallatin to 40-30 overall and 40-20 as an independent. He was the first coach to lead AG to an unbeaten regular season in 45 years (Doc Franks, 1980).
Guesman and Pegg finished third and fourth in the area in rushing behind Frazier’s Derek Diamond (303 carries for 1,889 yards) and California’s Malachi Peak (191 for 1,495). Pegg was second among local players in scoring 150 points and Guesman was third with 140. Peak (126) and Diamond (118) also went over 100 points in scoring.
Joining DeHoet as members of the Elite 11 are Guesman, Pegg, Diamond and Peak, along with Albert Gallatin’s JJ Perrine, the Colonials’ top two-way lineman; Frazier’s Chase Fulmer, the area’s leading receiver (53 receptions for 714 yards); California’s Noah Layhue, who broke the school record for sacks; Southmoreland’s Dawson Wolfe, the area’s third-leading passer (1,142 yards) and one of its best linebackers, and Stanley Chapman, who had 116 tackles and blocked four punts, including three in one game; and Waynesburg Central’s two-way quarterback threat Teagen Crouse who was the area’s leading passer (101 of 183 for 13 touchdowns and 1,843 yards).
See below for the entire H-S All-Area Football Team:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Deakyn DeHoet, Jefferson-Morgan
COACH OF THE YEAR: Drew Dindl, Albert Gallatin
ELITE 11
Stanley Chapman, Southmoreland
Teagen Crouse, Waynesburg Central
Deakyn DeHoet, Jefferson-Morgan
Derek Diamond, Frazier
Chase Fulmer, Frazier
Tee Guesman, Albert Gallatin
Noah Layhue, California
Malachi Peak, California
Adam Pegg, Albert Gallatin
JJ Perrine, Albert Gallatin
Dawson Wolfe, Southmoreland
SECOND TEAM
Landon Abercrombie, California
Enzo Brown, Beth-Center
Cannon Bupka, Carmichaels
Averyon Darnell, Southmoreland
Aidan Garcia, Albert Gallatin
Connor Hebda, Uniontown
Linkon Keller, Connellsville
Ethan Kennedy, Albert Gallatin
Adin Keyes, California
Bronx Jamison, Albert Gallatin
Cam Jenko, Belle Vernon
Caden Matthews, Connellsville
Jackson Mickens, Southmoreland
Jayden Mickens, Connellsville
Tyler Morrison, Frazier
Chace Petrosky, Belle Vernon
Jack Ricciuti, Waynesburg Central
Payton Schaum, Mount Pleasant
Brady Secrest, Frazier
Exzavier Vargas, Brownsville
Curtis Wade, Belle Vernon
John Woodward, Jefferson-Morgan
Colin Whyte, West Greene
THIRD TEAM
CJ Colgan, Roman Smith of Albert Gallatin; Jude Minniti, David Bergstedt of Belle Vernon; Blake Stopko of Beth-Center; Anthony Ricco, Silas Patterson of Brownsville; Logan Hartley, Brayden Crockett, Colton Lowden, Alan Dennis of California; Will Murray, Job Smith, Stephen Lewis of Carmichaels; Christian Thomas, Cooper Lembo, Ryan Brown of Connellsville; Jordan Mandich, Lincoln Dye, Ethan Tabaj of Frazier; Eli Hill, Levi Heath, Jeremiah Robertson of Jefferson-Morgan; Nick Crouch, Noah Lion, Scott McClay, Marion Jones of Laurel Highlands; Ashton Walker, Kaeden Lotspeich of Mapletown; Stephen Predajna, Dane Firmstone of Mount Pleasant; Makel Darnell, Kaden Shannon, Ty Whoric, Jake Hull of Southmoreland; Kyler Tibbe of Uniontown; Jeffrey Blair, Caden Fowler of Waynesburg Central; Joel Rizor, Brice Smith of West Greene.
Honorable Mention
Michael Moore, Clayton Bolinger of Albert Gallatin; Preston Rathway of Belle Vernon; Homer Headlee, Teagan Veatch of Beth-Center; Kaden Wimmer, Maxime Dieudonne of Brownsville; Eli Carpenter, Chase Shemansky, Brandon Meier of California; Elan Caldwell of Carmichaels; Mike Work, Ethan Foley, Chance Detone, Josh Long of Connellsville; Dylan Krukowsky, Brant Rice, Gus Lion of Frazier; Landon Heath, Triton Farabee of Jefferson-Morgan; Josh Reed, Gio Guerriere, Jonah Coleman, Gabe Centofanti of Laurel Highlands; Carson Vanata, Mapletown; Rage Suchar of Mount Pleasant; Marcus Evans, Cam Dugan of Uniontown; Zach Jiblits, Ross Tennant of Waynesburg Central; Matthew Wassil of West Greene.