The Shaler Area football season came to an end with a tough loss to Pine Richland in the second round of the WPIAL playoffs, but there were many exciting things that happened for the Titans this year including clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 2019.
The Titans were led by senior quarterback Aaron Aversa whose playmaking ability was key in Titan victories this season. He had nine passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns.
The Titans struggled at the quarterback position in the previous seasons so head coach Mr. Jim Ryan knew he needed to get that fixed and he believed in Aversa.
“I had 100% confidence in Aaron, that he was going to lead this team to where it needed to be. He is just a resilient guy. He’s selfless, and he is everything you would want out of a starting quarterback. He never made it about himself; It was always about the team. We knew that he was going to be the guy to take charge,” Coach Ryan said.
The season began with a three-game losing streak with losses Butler, South Fayette and a finally Hampton, which kicked a game-winning field goal with six seconds left.
In those early games it was the Titans rushing game that led the offense with running backs Issac McKay and Avery Kinter. But those two also made huge plays for the Titans defense when it mattered the most with Kinter having a fumble recovery and McKay having multiple big stops on defense on fourth down.
Shaler Area would get its first win of the season in week 4 against the Plum Mustangs 27-20. It was the special teams who came up big with multiple fumble recoveries on punts, and a broken play when punter Zac Erehnberger bobbled a snap but then threw a pass for a first down.
“When that play was happening, my gut reaction was he should have just fallen in it, and would have taken it where it was. But then looking at it in hindsight, it was one of the most dynamic plays of the year. I don’t think it would have determined the outcome of the game, but it sure made it easier to put that game away,” Coach Ryan said.
After the big first win the team would drop its next three games against Woodland Hills, Penn Hills and Central Catholic to 1-6 on the season.
Despite only having one win, the Titans knew there was still hope for a playoff bid. The team would head into the final stretch of games against North Hills, Fox Chapel, and Pine Richland with confidence and hope.
“We never looked at record as a determining factor. It was just one week after the next. There was never a negative feeling in any of our practices. We just went into every week preparing as best as we could, determined to win, and believing in one another,” Coach Ryan said.
The Titans started that final three game stretch at North Hills, a team they had not beaten since 2011. There was urgency for both teams to get the win as both teams still had hopes of making the playoffs.
The passing game was clicking for the Titans to start the game with Logan Messina, Johnny Sabon and Zach London getting multiple catches early. The Titans headed into halftime up 14-7. Late in the 4th quarter, Shaler Area led the game by three and on a big 3rd down Aversa connected with junior Luke Glaser to put the game on ice.
“There was a sense of confidence going through my head. Our defense was playing great up to that point, so I knew to back them up, I had to put it away with a conversion. I put the ball out to Luke and he did the rest,” Aversa said.
Shaler then headed into the Fox Chapel game with a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win against the Foxes and a Penn Hills win vs North Hills. Shaler did its part with a huge game on the ground from Issac McKay who had multiple rushing touchdowns.
The defense made a lot of stops and shut down Fox Chapel’s offense. The Titans ended up beating them 35-14 to get to 3-1 in conference play, but Penn Hills did not beat North Hills which meant Shaler Area needed to beat Pine Richland or Plum to beat Penn Hills to get in the playoffs.
After a quick start against Pine Richland the Titans fell flat in the second half and lost the game 49-17. After the game the team watched as Plum beat Penn Hills on the final play of the game to get the Titans in the playoffs.
The team jumped up and down celebrating the playoff berth. There were tons of emotions, but most from Coach Ryan and the seniors.
“With it being senior night, even though we lost to Pine Richland, it felt like we left the field as if we won on Friday. It was an amazing feeling and a great memory for those guys to have that experience with each other, watching the finishing minutes of that game,” Coach Ryan said.
The Titans first home playoff game since 2009 would be against the Kiski Area Cavaliers on Halloween.
Shaler may have played its best game of the year against the Cavaliers. In front of a packed Titan Stadium, the offense clicked and defense made a lot of huge plays that helped the Titans roll past the Cavaliers 28-8.
McKay, who ran all over the the Kiski defense and Brayden Witkowski, who came up with a big interception in the red zone, both were key pieces in the victory.
“It’s the greatest honor I’ve had so far in my life to put our team in the history books here at Shaler and I’m just forever grateful for my teammates and coaches,” Aversa said.
Shaler would then travel to take on Pine Richland in the second round of the playoffs where it was never close and the titans season would come to a close with a loss to Pine Richland.
When looking back at this up-and-down season, Coach Ryan described this team in one word: determined.
