For the past decade-plus, the King family has revolved around farming — and Mars football. That will end after this season when senior linebacker Paul King graduates, but for now, longtime Planets coach Scott Heinauer is enjoying the last of seven brothers to play for him.
“Every one of those kids that has been through our program have been all great kids,” Heinauer said. “They all listen, they all do exactly what we tell them to do, and they all started — not because that’s their name.”
To be fair, it does make for a great story — just like so much else about the Kings. Their lives running Freedom Farms in Valencia were the subject of “Farm Kings,” a reality show on Great American Country Network that ran four seasons. But that’s nothing compared to the long-running saga of Kings on the gridiron, a story that has now stretched nearly 20 seasons.
Brothers Joe, Tim, Pete, Dan, Sam and John preceded Paul, starting with Joe in 1998, and it’s not lost on the Planets’ current King the era concludes with him.
“Every time I’m on the football field, I just feel like I have to give my best because of that,” said Paul, who also plays tight end. “It’s just crazy being the end of a legacy like that.”
Much like his brothers, it has never been about the numbers for Paul. Heinauer will be the first to say his offense doesn’t throw much to tight ends, and this year not much at all with one of the WPIAL’s top running backs in Isaiah Johnson pacing the Planets (5-1) on their four-game winning streak. But Paul likes to block and considers himself a hard-nosed linebacker who inherits some of his football traits from the stoic nature of farm life — albeit one that was televised for part of his adolescence.
“It kind of felt unreal,” he said of being on the show. “People would call me a TV star, but it’s just something that came upon one day, and now it’s gone, which is no big deal at all.”
King is actually one of 10, with an older sister, one older brother who didn’t play football because he was “more of a bookworm” and youngest sibling Ben, who has Down syndrome. While Paul is on the field upholding family tradition, Ben is in the Mars student section cheering on his brother.
“Oh yeah, all my friends are always telling me that,” Paul said. “He’s the No. 1 fan out there.”
Hempfield
It was all good just a month ago for the Spartans. They were 3-0, 2-0 in the Class 6A Southeastern Conference and fresh off a win against Mt. Lebanon. Since then, they’ve done an unfortunate 180. Hempfield has lost three in a row, including two in conference play. There’s not much shame in getting waxed by Central Catholic, as the Spartans did a few weeks ago, but a 38-35 loss to Peters Township was an unexpected setback, and now they’re coming off a 48-13 drubbing at Bethel Park. The good news is their hot start means they still control their destiny, and if they can win out in conference against Altoona and Norwin, Hempfield will reach the playoffs for the second year in a row under coach Rich Bowen.
Overlooked, underrated
Shawn Halligan, Bethel Park. The Black Hawks’ senior kicker has been reliable for coach Jeff Metheny. Halligan has booted three field goals and made 18 of 19 extra-point attempts with his only miss coming after a bad snap. The offense has kept him busy, averaging 31.8 points the past four games, and Halligan has been up to the task.
Name of the week
Kam Kruze, West Allegheny. The Indians are 5-0 and in good shape under center with senior Nick Ross, so they haven’t had to use Kruze control this season. But Kruze, a reserve freshman quarterback, has seen action in two games and completed 1 of 2 passes for 7 yards and a touchdown for the No. 2 team in Class 5A.
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: October 7, 2016, 4:00 a.m.