Following several years of close calls and near misses, many believed Elizabeth Forward’s championship window may have closed last fall.
After all, do-it-all playmaker Charlie Nigut and dominant interior lineman Chris Climes were both lost to graduation, as were leading receivers A.J. Grese and Connor Stokes. Sure, everybody knew senior quarterback Ryan Messina would be returning for the Warriors, but who would help keep him upright? And would he have enough weapons around him to keep Elizabeth Forward in the championship chase?
Consider those questions emphatically answered.
“There’s no doubt we had to replace some great players,” said Warriors coach John DeMarco. “It’s not just that they were great players, but they were anchors to EF football. Charlie was a four-year starter. Chris was a three-year starter. Some other guys were longtime starters. … But we’ve got a lot of underclassmen who have stepped up. Some were surprises, some not surprises.
“But of course having Ryan Messina — he is the leader of our football team, there’s no doubt about that.”
Through the first seven games of the 2025 season, a 23-20 loss on the road against Class 5A foe South Fayette is the only thing standing between Class 3A No. 3 Elizabeth Forward and a perfect start to the season. The Warriors have been increasingly dominant as the year has gone on, averaging 44.1 ppg while giving up an average of just 11.7 points per contest — including three consecutive wins by 40-plus points heading into Friday’s game at Yough.
“They expect to win. It doesn’t matter who they play against. They’re not afraid of anybody,” DeMarco said. “They have a lot of confidence when they step on the field to play, and it showed against South Fayette. We had a bad first six minutes, but we had plenty of chances to win that game. It was a great football game.”
A three-year starter who surpassed 5,000 yards passing for his career in last week’s 56-7 rout against Derry, Messina (6-4, 225) is on the short list of the top quarterbacks in the WPIAL. For the season, Messina has completed 94 of 135 passes for 1,407 yards and 15 TDs, raising his career totals to 5,151 yards and 51 TD passes.
Also equally effective with his legs, Messina leads the team with 452 yards rushing to go with seven TDs on the ground, making him one of the few QBs in WPIAL history to pass for more than 5,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000.
It’s anybody’s guess, then, why Messina has yet to find a home at the next level.
“He knows that this is his team,” DeMarco said. “He’s worked extremely hard to get to where he is right now. He’s living in the moment. There’s no doubt the team rallies around Ryan, for sure.”
Although quarterback is the most valuable position in the sport, Messina certainly wouldn’t be able to do it alone. Luckily for him, Elizabeth Forward has one of the deepest receiving corps in the entire WPIAL for Messina to spread the ball around to.
It all starts with senior Landon Honick, a speedy big-play threat who transferred in from Greensburg Central Catholic before the season. Honick leads the team with 27 receptions for 391 yards and six TDs, but the Warriors have a stable of reliable receivers capable of making a major impact on any given night, including Aaron Ulmer, Logan Rider and Anthony St. Angelo.
“[Honick] doesn’t really play any other sports. He’s a football guy,” DeMarco said. “The thing about those guys is, everybody runs their routes hard, because everybody knows if they get open, Ryan is getting them the ball.”
While senior tight end Brendan Stroschein (6-4, 220) has 10 catches for 178 yards and a pair of TDs on offense, he might do his best work as the captain of Elizabeth Forward’s defense. The stout middle linebacker makes sure the team is lined up properly before each play, then he is often the one who takes care of business after the ball is snapped.
“He’s the Ryan Messina of our defense,” DeMarco said. “He’s a three-year starter. He’s a big kid and a physical kid. He’s super intelligent and pretty much runs our whole defense.”
Now in his third year as head coach, DeMarco has had the Warriors in this position before, making back-to-back trips to the WPIAL semifinals. The only thing they have yet to do is go all the way to the championship game and bring home the gold.
Better late than never, right?
“We’re working for it. Fell short last year,” Messina said. “I’m so proud of my guys. They stepped up when no one believed in them other than the guys at EF. That just shows the culture that coach [DeMarco] has built here. … There’s no rebuild here. It’s all a reload.”
Petrosky breaks Belle Vernon rushing record
There have been no shortage of sensational tailbacks to run the ball for Belle Vernon over the years to say the least — perhaps the name Quinton Martin might ring a bell? — but none of them have ever done what Chace Petrosky did for the Leopards last Friday night.
In a gut-wrenching 36-35 defeat against Chartiers Valley, Petrosky rushed for a school-record 309 yards and four TDs, breaking the single-game school record of 303 yards set back in 2000 by Nick Kalcevic. Making his record-setting performance even more shocking, Petrosky had rushed for only 378 yards in his career going into Friday’s game, taking the opposing defense and all of the fans in the stands completely by surprise.
Heck, even his own parents might not have seen this one coming.
For the season, Petrosky is now up to 513 yards rushing, but Belle Vernon (1-5, 0-2) is in need of a major turnaround in order to keep its playoff hopes alive — but don’t count the Leopards out just yet. Having already faced one of the toughest schedules around, they will close out the season by facing Laurel Highlands on the road before hosting Ringgold and Trinity. If they can find a way to win all three, they might just have a chance.
Artman putting up lofty numbers for Kiski Area
He might still be flying under the radar a bit, but if he keeps up his current level of play, it won’t be much longer before Landyn Artman becomes a household name.
A sophomore quarterback at Kiski Area (3-4, 2-2), Artman threw five touchdown passes in a game for the second time this season last Friday — and this time it came in a victorious effort for the Cavaliers in a 34-13 win over visiting Latrobe. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 267 yards on the night, raising his season totals to 766 yards passing and 11 TDs with just two interceptions.
Artman also fired five touchdown passes in a 34-31 defeat for Kiski Area against Gateway on Sept. 12.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
