Class 5A was thought to be possibly the strongest classification in WPIAL football this season, at least in terms of depth of quality teams and talented players.
The excellence of 5A is shown on the Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State team that was released Friday. The team has 51 players, and about 20% are from the WPIAL.
Peters Township, the WPIAL runner-up, has three all-state selections while WPIAL champ Pine-Richland and Bethel Park had two. Overall, the WPIAL has 11 players on the 5A team.
The three Peters Township players selected are junior quarterback Nolan DiLucia, senior linebacker Mickey Vaccarello and junior linebacker Reston Lehman. DiLucia completed 157 of 242 passes this season for 2,349 yards and ran for 506. In two seasons, he has thrown for 5,480 yards in two seasons.
Vaccarello has signed with Stanford and had 22 tackles for loss this year. In two seasons, he had 21 sacks and 51 tackles for loss. Teammate Lehman has a number of major-college scholarship offers, including ones from Pitt, Penn State and Indiana.
The two Pine-Richland players who made all-state are junior defensive back Jay Timmons and kicker Grant Argiro. Argiro tied a state record with five field goals in one game this season, set a record with 19 kicking points in a contest and made a 54-yarder.
Four of the WPIAL players who made the 5A team are two-time selections. They are Vaccarello, DiLucia, Woodland Hills junior receiver Scoop Smith and Bethel Park senior defensive lineman Clancy Orie. Smith is a big-play master. He scored 15 touchdowns this season and the average length of those scores was a whopping 48.4 yards.
Orie is a Naval Academy recruit. The other Bethel Park player picked to the team is running back JaVaughn Moore, who ran for 2,084 yards this season.
Other WPIAL players selected were Upper St. Clair offensive lineman Nate Stohl (Princeton recruit), Latrobe defensive back John Wetzel (Marshall) and Penn Hills linebacker Naytel Mitchell.
Here is the complete Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State Team:
Player of the Year: Stone Saunders, Bishop McDevitt
Coach of the Year: Jeff Weachter, Bishop McDevitt
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Semaj Beals, Roman Catholic – 6-1, 180 junior
Stone Saunders, Bishop McDevitt – 6-2, 215 senior
Trey Wingard, DuBois – 6-2, 210 junior
Nolan DiLucia, Peters Township – 6-2, 192 junior
Eli Reider, Mechanicsburg – 6-3, 185 senior
Running Back
JaVaughn Moore, Bethel Park – 5-11, 185 senior
Jayden Zandier, Exeter Township – 6-2, 185 senior
Nazir Jones-Davis, Bishop McDevitt – 6-0, 180 junior
Chase Hatten, West Chester Rustin – 5-11, 190 senior
Cameron Small, Muhlenberg – 5-9, 182 junior
Clayton Nieves, New Oxford – 5-9, 160 senior
Wide Receiver
Rayshawn Scott, Roman Catholic – 5-10, 175 senior
Josh Smith, Mechanicsburg – 6-1, 175 senior
Dominic Diaz-Ellis, Bishop McDevitt – 6-0, 175 senior
Xzavier Pusateri, East Stroudsburg South – 6-2, 185 senior
Jontai Quick, Bishop McDevitt – 5-9, 150 sophomore
Tight End
Aidan Wescott, Wissahickon – 6-2, 195 senior
Offensive Line
Nate Stohl, Upper St. Clair – 6-3, 270 senior
Logan Wegman, Exeter Township – 6-5, 275 senior
JJ Torres, Bishop McDevitt – 6-5, 297 senior
Tyler Duell, West Chester East – 6-6, 290 junior
Wyatt Maines, Hollidaysburg – 6-5, 262 senior
Athlete
Charles Capers Jr., East Stroudsburg South – 5-10, 180 senior
Scoop Smith, Woodland Hills – 5-6, 150 junior
DEFENSE
Defensive Line
Lucas Lawler, Bishop McDevitt – 6-3, 235 senior
Justin Corson, Conestoga Valley – 6-4, 215 senior
Clancy Orie, Bethel Park – 6-3, 255 senior
Mykell Ford, Roman Catholic – 6-0, 240 senior
Collin Stare, Mechanicsburg – 6-2, 225 junior
Linebacker
Mickey Vaccarello, Peters Township – 6-3, 210 senior
Maurice Barnes, Bishop McDevitt – 6-2, 215 junior
William Felder, Roman Catholic – 6-1, 205 senior
Nate Romano, Springfield-Delco – 6-2, 220 senior
Naytel Mitchell, Penn Hills – 5-10, 190 senior
Reston Lehman, Peters Township – 6-4, 230 junior
Defensive Back
Jay Timmons, Pine-Richland – 5-11, 175 junior
John Wetzel, Latrobe – 6-0, 185 senior
Christian Palmer, Roman Catholic – 5-10, 180 senior
Isaiah Sensenig, Conestoga Valley – 6-1, 170 senior
Athlete
Daron Harris, Chester – 6-0, 180 junior
Specialist
Grant Argiro, Pine-Richland – 6-2, 195 senior
First Published: December 27, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
