Woods leads the way as Raiders set sights on playoffs
Waynesburg Central coach Aaron Giorgi talks with his players after practice.
Waynesburg Central junior Breydon Woods takes off his helmet during a break in practice. Woods rushed for 1,366 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2021.
Aaron Giorgi returns for his second season as head coach at Waynesburg Central.
Waynesburg Central assistant coach Derek Bochna starts a drill during a Raiders practice.
Waynesburg Central coach Aaron Giorgi works with one of the Raiders' centers during practice.
Waynesburg Central executes a running play during practice.
The outlook for the Waynesburg Central High School football team has not been this bright in quite some time.
Chatter about the Raiders is positive. The feeling is the sun is ready to shine on Waynesburg football.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very optimistic,鈥� said second-year Raiders鈥� coach Aaron Giorgi. 鈥淲e have 35 kids and a solid nine (returning) starters and a couple more with some starting experience.
鈥淭he one thing we have been big on is learning how to win and to compete 48 minutes. We ended up short on that in some games last year. What we started to see was our kids caring. As the season went on many of them became upset with the team蘑菇视频 results and their individual results. They know for us to achieve, they all must do better more consistently.鈥�
The Raiders remain in the Class AA Century Conference, which has some new teams as part of the WPIAL蘑菇视频 two-year realignment cycle.
Charleroi, McGuffey, Washington and Waynesburg are the holdovers. The newcomers are Brentwood, Keystone Oaks and 2021 WPIAL Class AA runner-up Sto-Rox.
Clearly, the Vikings, Highlanders and Little Prexies are the favorites. Giorgi thinks the Raiders can compete with anyone in the conference and they are playoff contenders.
He expects Brentwood and Keystone Oaks 鈥� down from Class AAA 鈥� and an unknown Charleroi team which has a new head coach are going to present weekly challenges.
It蘑菇视频 OK with Giorgi, who thinks Waynesburg is capable of being up to all challenges.
鈥淭he playoffs are 100 percent the goal,鈥� Giorgi said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just say the words. It must be an expectation.鈥�
The postseason can be realistic, in part because of Waynesburg junior running back Breydon Woods, who rushed for 1,366 yards on 207 carries and scored 11 touchdowns; and sophomore quarterback Jacob Stephenson, who threw for 816 yards and eight TD passes in 2021. Stephenson also rushed for three TDs.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 nice to know that (Breydon) can provide such consistent production in the backfield,鈥� Giorgi said. 鈥淗e is one special individual. I鈥檝e never coached a better back. He蘑菇视频 a quiet leader. He shows up every day. He蘑菇视频 humble. He lifts and has humility.
鈥淛acob蘑菇视频 a year older and has some experience now. We鈥檙e going to use Woods to help our passing game. A lot of teams focus on him, so we are working to be a better play-action passing team, a better RPO team. We had to evolve our RPO game to make us and Jacob more successful. He has a year in the system. He can be an impactful player.鈥�
Waynesburg蘑菇视频 recent history has been marked with tough times. Things have not gone well.
The Raiders broke a 24-game conference game losing streak in 2021 when they beat Frazier, 27-7, Oct. 1. They went a little more than four years without winning a conference game. In all, Waynesburg has lost 45 of its last 48 conference games and 53 of 60.
The aim is to put that misery in the rear-view mirror.
The defense must do its part as well.
鈥淲e must play downhill more, attack and get off the field,鈥� Giorgi said. 鈥淲e need quick, secure tackling and not allow big plays.鈥�
Other top players for Waynesburg are senior defensive end Kaden Russell; junior linebacker Colby Pauley; senior two-way lineman Nick Burris; junior receiver Devon Cowell; junior linebacker-running back Daniel Huffman and junior receiver Trenton Zupper.
Waynesburg opens the season at home Friday, Aug. 26 against Class A Carmichaels. A year ago, the Riders lost a shootout to the Mikes, 54-33.
The Raiders then meet Jefferson-Morgan and California in non-conference play as well. Waynesburg opens at home against Keystone Oaks. The Golden Eagles were 6-6 last season and played in the Class AAA Northwest 6 Conference, finishing third to PIAA champion Central Valley and second-place Avonworth.
Keystone Oaks won its first-round playoff game, a 34-0 victory over South Allegheny, before losing to North Catholic, 48-41 in the quarterfinals.
鈥淭heir quarterback (senior Nick Buckley) extends plays,鈥� Giorgi said. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 a concern. They made the playoffs and won a game and lost a tough one. Keystone will be a tough out.鈥�
The Raiders then play at McGuffey and then host defending Century Conference champion Washington.
Waynesburg蘑菇视频 last four games include on the road at Brentwood, a non-conference game at Uniontown, home against Sto-Rox and at Charleroi to end the regular season.