Woodland Hills (Pa.) star to continue football career at Pitt

Mt. Lebo’s Cwalina going to Virginia, Bethel Park’s Kwiatkowski to West Virgina; Gateway loses star defensive back to ACL tear.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Chris Rossetti
By
Jul 31, 2010, 9:46am
Woodland Hills (Pittsburgh, Pa.) star Lafayette Pitts headlines another round of soon-to-be-Western Pennsylvania high school seniors to make a college choice when he made a verbal commitment to Pitt last week.

Pitts, on of 26 Pennsylvania football players to commit, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Pitt’s location played a big role in his decision.

“Staying close to home and my family was the most important thing,” Pitts told the Post-Gazette. “And they’re good people (at Pitt). I felt very comfortable with everybody there.”

The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder is a star on both sides of the ball for the defending WPIAL Class AAAA champion Wolverines but will most likely end up at defensive back when he goes to college.

“They (Pitt) want me to play corner and some special teams,” Pitts told the Post-Gazette. “But coach (Frank) Cignetti (the Panthers’ offensive coordinator) was my recruiting coach, and he likes me at receiver. So, I don’t know for sure. I think they wanted me as a big cornerback, so I think that’s where they’ll put me. But you never know.”

Over the year, Woodland Hills has produced many outstanding football players including Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor of the New York Jets, wide receiver Steve Breaston of the Arizona Cardinals, safety Ryan Mundy of the Pittsburgh Steelers, fullback Lousaka Polite of the Miami Dolphins and cornerback Shawntae Spencer of the Sand Francisco 49ers.

Pitts and Woodland Hills, which went 12-2 last year, start their season Sept. 4 when they host Manatee High School from Bradenton, Fla.

2. No. 7 PA Prospect Cwalina going to Virginia; Bethel Park’s Kwiatkowski to WVU: In additional recruiting news from the last week, Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh, Pa.) offensive tackle Tim Cwalina has made a verbal commitment to Virginia. Cwalina is 6-7, 296 pounds and chose the Cavaliers over a pair of Big East teams Pitt and Louisville, Wisconsin from the Big 10 and Boston College of the ACC among others. Also, Bethel Park (Bethel Park, Pa.) safety Nick Kwiatkoskii made a verbal commitment to West Virginia choosing the Mountaineers over Boston College and Bowling Green.

3. Star Gateway DB will miss season with torn ACL: Gateway (Monroeville, Pa.) defensive back Dondi Kirby, considered a four-star recruit by some, will miss his senior season after tearing his ACL during a camp at the University of Michigan in late June. Kirby had surgery to repair the torn ACL in his left knee June 26 according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 
 
4. Durden eligible to play for Montour: The WPIAL ruled this week that junior running back Julian Durden will be eligible to play for Montour (McKees Rocks, Pa.) this year after transferring from North Catholic. Durden ran for 954 yards and 15 touchdowns last season while helping North Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to a 9-3 record and the WPIAL Class A semifinals. Durden could take over as the Spartans starter, as last year’s starter Philip Peckich, who ran for over 1,000 yards, has graduated.

5. PIAA moving baseball, softball championship games to Penn State: The PIAA has decided to move its baseball and softball championship games to the campus of Penn State University in State College. The baseball championship games will be played at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park next door to Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. Medlar Field is also home to Penn State baseball and the New York-Penn League’s State College Spikes Short-Season Class A baseball team. Meanwhile, the softball championships will be played at the brand new Nittany Lion Softball Park, which Penn State began building in May. The baseball championships had been at Altoona’s Blair County Ballpark, the home of the Class AA Altoona Curve, since 2005, while the football championships have been played at Shippensburg University’s Robb Field every year since 1995 and for all but three seasons in the last 30. The baseball and softball championships become the fourth and fifth championships played at Penn State. Penn State also hosts boys’ and girls’ basketball and boys’ volleyball.

6. Williams new boys’ basketball coach at Aliquippa: Aliquippa has hired a former college head coach, Robert “Bobby” Williams, has its new boys’ basketball coach replacing Marvin Emerson. Williams was the head coach at NCAA Division III Mount Aloysius from 2001-03 and was also an NCAA Division I assistant coach at St. Francis (Pa.), Lafayette, Lehigh, Cornell and North Carolina-Greensboro.  

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