Having already battled back from his own case of acute myocarditis to return to the field last season, Hempfield quarterback Dom Detruf is no stranger to overcoming adversity.
Still, few could have envisioned the Spartans’ senior signal-caller putting together such an inspirational performance in a 28-23 season-opening home win against North Hills last Friday — few outside of his own locker room, that is.
“Nobody was surprised,” said third-year Hempfield coach Nick Keefer. “Everyone on our sideline knew we were going to find a way to figure it out and win. Even when the adversity happened, with the pick-six and then they kicked the field goal [to take the lead]. … Everybody believed.
“It’s just what [Detruf] does. We really are lucky to have him as part of our program and lucky that he’s our guy.”
Taking the field for the first time since the death of his father, T.J., Detruf switched from jersey No. 11 to the same No. 18 his father wore as a standout quarterback at Jeannette and Bethany College. Playing with an extremely heavy heart less than a month after his father’s tragic death at age 41, Detruf put the Class 6A No. 3 Spartans on his back and carried them to victory, passing for 206 yards and three touchdowns while adding 56 yards on the ground.
Talk about playing with a poise beyond his years.
“When you face a program like North Hills, we knew that was going to be a tough opening game,” Keefer said. “They were 12-1 against us all time. We hadn’t had a win against them since 1991. … That’s our expectation now.”
As a junior, Detruf missed the team’s season-opening 22-0 loss against North Hills while recovering from his rare heart condition, then he went on to pass for 1,703 yards and 14 TDs, guiding Hempfield to four wins in its final nine games while narrowly missing out on a postseason berth. Now, with the entire Hempfield community and surrounding towns in Westmoreland County rallying behind him to offer their support, Detruf appears ready to embrace the spotlight while attempting to lead the Spartans where they have never gone before — the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs.
“We definitely aren’t the same team without him,” Keefer said. “Even though we didn’t finish it off last year and take that giant leap of going into the [Class] 6A playoffs, it was a pretty big leap for us. … Maybe we weren’t ready last year. But it’s important to them, and they’re doing everything in their power to make sure that they take that next step, and I’m excited to watch them do it.”
Of course, football is the ultimate team sport, and Detruf isn’t doing it alone. Senior running back Aidan Stinebiser also had himself a game to remember in the Week 0 win, rushing for 130 yards while scoring a pair of TDs against the Indians. Believe it or not, Stinebiser lost his father just a few months prior to the start of last season, so if anybody knows the immense pain Detruf is feeling and how to deal with the heartache, it’s him.
And together, with both players playing for something much bigger than themselves and each of their teammates doing everything in their power to uplift them, this could have the makings of one very special season in Hempfield.
“These 17-year-old boys, they’re better men than I am. They have ice in their veins,” Keefer said. “It’s definitely helping [Detruf] through the hardest time in his life, but he wouldn’t miss it, because he knows his dad wouldn’t want him to miss anything. Everything he’s doing, he’s doing for him.
“Both of them, after the game, they came up and were talking to me, and I know their dads were up there having a beer and smiling and talking about what their boys just did.”
Washington mourning sudden death of assistant coach during Week 0 win
Another team struck by the loss of a beloved coach and staple of the community, Washington and its fan base are still dealing with the immediate aftermath of assistant coach Ron Todd’s death during last week’s season-opening 28-7 win against rival McGuffey.
What should have been a night for celebration for the Little Prexies instead turned into tragedy, as Todd collapsed in the stands during Friday’s game and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. According to his obituary, Todd suffered a fatal heart issue around 9:45 p.m., then was taken by ambulance to UPMC Washington, where he was pronounced dead at 10:23 p.m. He was 50 years old.
A special education teacher at Washington Middle School who was also the head coach of the middle school football team, Todd spent many years as a varsity assistant for the Little Prexies, helping the school capture a pair of WPIAL Class 2A titles along with its first and only PIAA championship in 2001. Todd’s funeral service is set to take place at 11 a.m. Thursday at the William G. Neal Funeral Home in Washington, Pa.
Bethel Park turns heads with explosive offensive showing in season opener
After leading all of Class 5A with an average of 40.6 ppg on its way to a 10-win season and WPIAL semifinal appearance in 2024, many expected Bethel Park’s offense to lose a bit of firepower this fall. After all, the Black Hawks are playing without standout quarterback Tanner Pfeuffer, who graduated along with each of his top playmakers in wideouts Jack Bruckner, Mitch Paschl and Ryan Petras and PUP all-star running back JaVaughn Moore.
Turns out, when it comes to this Bethel Park team under coach Phil Peckich, it might be best to expect the unexpected.
The Black Hawks served notice to the rest of the Class 5A field that they remain a force to be reckoned with, racking up a school-record 660 yards of total offense in a 43-26 season-opening win against Seneca Valley on Friday. Led by senior quarterback Evan Devine, who completed 15 of 28 passes for 359 yards and two TDs in his first career start, Bethel Park took a 29-6 lead into the fourth quarter before cruising the rest of the way. Senior tailback David Dennison also had a game to remember, rushing for 238 yards and four scores.
Devine led all WPIAL quarterbacks in passing yardage in Week 0, while Dennison ranks No. 2 in rushing yardage behind McKeesport star Kemon Spell. Junior wide receiver Santino Nowozeniuk also caught five passes for 160 yards and a TD, while fellow junior wideout Will Sabatos tallied seven receptions for 127 yards in the win.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
