Since 2000, South Allegheny has made the playoffs in football only once — a 7-3 season in 2012 that ended in a 40-7 loss to Jeannette in the first round of the postseason.
After a disappointing 0-2 start to the 2020 season, it appeared the Gladiators’ chances of ending that streak in the pandemic-shortened season seemed as good as gone. Then again, South Allegheny has Antonio Epps on its team. He knows a thing or two about ending playoff droughts.
“I remember being a little kid in the youth program — I watched the teams, and some teams didn’t make it, but the one year they went 7-3 [in 2012] and they made it that year, and everyone was excited because it doesn’t happen too much here,” Epps said. “I wanted to be able to be part of the senior class who can lead this team to a playoff berth, and I still want to be able to do that.”
Epps is a dynamic scorer on the basketball court who averaged 16.6 points per game as a junior who, along with his younger brother Bryce, helped the Gladiators to their best season in school history. South Allegheny finished 12-0 in section play and 24-3 overall while advancing to the WPIAL semifinals as well as the state tournament for the first time.
For as good as Epps is on the hardwood, though, the football field is where his future lies.
As a junior, Epps rushed for 1,307 yards and caught 17 passes for 376 yards with 13 total touchdowns. College scholarship offers started flowing in after the season, including from Football Bowl Subdivision schools such as Duquesne, Richmond and Sacred Heart, with most schools recruiting him as a defensive back.
But for all the success he had last year, he has taken his game to a new level as a senior. Through the first four games in 2020, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound running back has carried the ball 64 times for 676 yards and 10 touchdowns, also adding a pair of punt-return touchdowns in Friday’s 63-16 win against Brownsville.
Gladiators first-year coach Frank Cortazzo has known about Epps’ talents since he was 5 or 6 years old, back when he was running wild in the South Allegheny flag football leagues he used to run. He said he knew all along that he would be the Gladiators’ next great running back just based on his athletic gifts alone.
Still, he emphasized that Epps wouldn’t be where he is today if he didn’t have the work ethic to go along with his natural abilities.
“He was always a gifted athlete,” Cortazzo said. “But it’s that extra work that he puts in that just takes him to the next level. … You might be just as athletic as this kid next to you, but his attitude, his behavior, his work ethic, his charisma — that has to put him over the edge.”
After their 0-2 start, the Gladiators were in need of a miracle to even think about cracking the eight-team playoff bracket in Class 2A, and they still have a long way to go to get there. But over the past two weeks, they’ve at least given themselves a chance, knocking off conference opponents Yough and Brownsville by a combined score of 104-23 in back-to-back blowouts.
Now the real test lies ahead in the form of No. 2 Elizabeth Forward and its vaunted defense, which will host South Allegheny in a rivalry matchup Friday night. The Warriors rank No. 1 in the WPIAL in scoring defense with only six points allowed in three games so far.
Players from both teams know each other well and have grown up playing with or against each other, and Elizabeth Forward has traditionally gotten the better of the rivalry. With this being one of the Warriors’ best teams in school history, they’ll be heavy favorites at home on Friday night.
Still, the Gladiators know what a win would do for their playoff hopes, and as long as Epps is on their team, he gives them a chance to win every time they step on the field.
“I know a lot of people say big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, and I’m looking forward to this game and being able to show what I can do against maybe the top defense in the WPIAL,” Epps said.
With a playoff berth still within reach but far from guaranteed, Epps has at least three games left to put the finishing touches on an under-the-radar yet remarkable career. He came into the season with 2,399 rushing yards in two years as the starting tailback, and he’s already up to 3,075 career yards after four games. Epps needs 298 yards over the final three games to break John Pons’ school record of 3,372 yards, set in 1998.
The way he’s playing right now, it wouldn’t be surprising if he secures the record with a game to spare — even with Elizabeth Forward standing in the way.
“I talk to John [Pons], and he’s known and has met Antonio and he knows what character Antonio possesses,” Cortazzo said. “And I know John has said before, if anyone is going to break the record, he’s glad to see that Antonio is on the way to do that.”
Once the season is complete, it will be time for Epps to make his college decision and begin preparing to play football at the next level — but that doesn’t mean his basketball career is over just yet.
“Definitely a lot of unfinished business,” Epps said. “Coming off the loss we took last year, coming one win away from the WPIAL championship when no one expected us to be there, we definitely want to come back with a vengeance this year and make even more noise.”
Steve Rotstein: srotstein@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SteveRotstein.
First Published: October 8, 2020, 10:30 a.m.
