Schools
Seneca Valley Turns Lights on New Season
The Raiders take on the Norwin Knights tonight in the football season opener.
After a year’s absence from the WPIAL Class AAAA football playoffs, will attempt to get back in the race this season.
The Raiders open a new season against Norwin in a non-conference matchup at 7:30 tonight at Nextier Stadium.
Head coach Don Holl enters his third season on the Seneca Valley sidelines.
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Holl, a former Erie Cathedral Prep coach and a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, led the Raiders to a 5-5-0 record and earned a trip to the playoffs in his first season at Seneca Valley in 2009. The Raiders lost to Central Catholic in the first round of the playoffs, but overall it was a big step in the right direction.
Last season was a different story. It will be remembered as the year when the Raiders’ colors – black and blue – took on a whole new meaning. A series of injuries to key players resulted in a 3-6 overall mark, and the Raiders’ 1-5 Quad North Conference record left them out of playoff action.
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However, Seneca Valley started last season with a dominating 40-24 victory over Norwin.
Seneca Valley will be led into a new season by quarterback Jordan Brown, a 6-foot-2, 160-pound junior who started five games last year. Brown gained valuable experience in close losses to Shaler and Pine-Richland, and those tough lessons could pay dividends this season.
Brown has multiple options when dishing the ball off, including senior wide receiver Oliver Philogene, senior running back Troy Witt, and speedy junior runner Forrest Barnes.
Norwin finished 5-5 last season, including an impressive 4-0 mark in away games. Knights former quarterback Tim Petro (89-of-159 passing, 1,316 yards, 14 TDs) has graduated.
The Knights will be led this season by 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior quarterback Tommy Quealy. Quealy is also a factor in the secondary, where he made 20 tackles last season.
Norwin also must replace last year’s leading rusher, K’hari Singleton, who ran for 933 yards.
After tonight’s opener, Seneca Valley travels to Fox Chapel next Friday night for another non-conference game.
The Raiders get back on the buses for a trip to Erie McDowell on Sept. 16 for their Quad North Conference opener.
