In the spring of 2015, Tom Loughran put in a call to longtime friend, fellow coach, and former high school teaching colleague Bob Sporio, and asked him a big favor. He wanted histrusted cohort by his side as he took over the head coaching position for the Fox Chapel Area High School football team.
Even though Coach Sporio was aware of the Foxes’ many struggles over the years, it didn’t deter him and he didn’t hesitate to give him an answer: “I never turn down a challenge,” he told Coach Loughran.
Soon, many others joined Coach Loughran including current coaches John Alerich, Shane Billings, Connor Dixon, Shane Michael, John Moritz, and Reggie Wells. Like most people, they are drawn to Couch Loughran’s charismatic, yet subdued personality, and the dedication he has to the sport. Even with 35 years of coaching behind him, he still goes to coaching clinics, watches voluminous amounts of film, and his enthusiasm has never waivered from the time he was a young assistant in 1975.
“Tom is a very knowledgeable coach because he’s been on both sides of the ball, and a smart guy too – he went to Carnegie Mellon University and majored in math,” says Coach Sporio. “He’s good enough to have been a college coach, but he’s family-oriented and didn’t want to spend that much time away from home.”
It’s not hard to put the pieces together to realize it was the Loughran touch, and that of his hand-picked staff, that led to what may be the biggest turnaround this year in WPIAL football. But it was the players themselves who never gave up and trusted the coaches’ decisions, even at times when they might have been difficult to accept.
Coach Sporio adds, “I don’t think we’ve had anyone who’s had a swollen head and thought they were better than they were, and that’s refreshing,” says the assistant coach. “You’d be surprised at how often that happens, but we found the players from Fox Chapel want to improve. All along we’ve said ‘if they want to get better, we’ll certainly make them better.’”
“It feels good to win as we did this season, but the fact that our kids got better and developed as the season went on is what makes us happy as coaches,” says Coach Loughran. “One of the things we liked most was how the seniors stepped up and set the tone for the rest of the team. Their attitude was ‘if we want to control our own destiny, we need to take care of business on the field.’”
By the time the Foxes hit their stride and won five consecutive games to close out the season, the statistics reflected what the coaches had promised and what the players believed they could achieve.
As senior Jack Brown put it, “We always knew what we were capable of, it was just a matter of doing it.”
The Numbers Say It All
Keith Shields, the Foxes’ football statistician, whom Athletic Director Michael O’Brien calls “the best in the WPIAL,” has meticulously tracked every play, every player, and every game for the past six years. The numbers from this season are striking as compared to those from years before.
- Junior Micah Morris carried the ball for 1,294 yards, making him one of the WPIAL’s top 10 running backs and a top scorer with 13 touchdowns. At the end of the regular season, he was the second leading rusher in WPIAL Class 5A. There has not been a 1,000+-yard rusher at Fox Chapel Area High School in at least 13 years, probably more, but substantial records only go back to 2004.
- Junior quarterback Nick Gizzo had 14 touchdowns and also finished as one of the WPIAL top scorers in the WPIAL and Class 5A. He had a total of 1,210 offensive yards, 887 of them rushing.
- The team scored 51 points in one game, had five consecutive wins, and finished 5-5 – the best record in at least two decades.
- The mercy rule was enacted in favor of Fox Chapel Area during three games. This has never occurred in at least two decades. The mercy rule actually keeps the clock running in the second half when a team is winning a contest by a minimum of 35 points. The only time it stops is during a called timeout, if a player is injured, or if the quarter ends.
- In the second half of the season, the Foxes had 1,849 rushing yards versus 425 for the opposition.
- Total offense in the five consecutive wins at the end of the season was 2,104 yards versus 1,204 for opponents.
- In the first five games, the team was giving up an average of 38.2 points a game, but in the last five games, the defense had stymied the opposition to just 13.4 points per game.
A Total Team Effort
While Micah and Nick got the most press, it was the offensive line that carved out the paths for them to plow through. Junior Riley Michael’s strength and agility at center worked to the team’s advantage, and he surrounded by a terrific line made up of seniors Jack Feczko, Ron Tran, Houruiyang Zong, and junior Jesse Cohen. Senior Jack Brown dominated at tightend, and fellow seniors Gary Davis and Conner Romango, and sophomore Cole Waxter did a nice job at wide receiver.
The defensive unit progressed throughout the year and by the time the field lights were shut off for the final time this season, they had become very stingy about points allowed. Jack Brown had the most tackles with 61, followed by fellow senior Sincere Plummer (50), and juniors Luke Brown (50), and Brayden Thomas (47). Also impressive on defense were seniors Gary Davis (39) and Conner Romango (36), and junior Jacob Wecht (34). Jack Brown and his brother, Luke, tied for the most sacks.
Last year, only two Foxes were named all-conference, but this season, it was a completely different story with 10 players receiving recognition. Riley Michael and Micah Morris were named first team all-conference and Jack Brown, Jack Feczko, and Alec Patsko, a senior, were voted second team all-conference. Jesse Cohen, Gary Davis, Nick Gizzo, Conner Romango, and senior punter Jerett Zaleski were honorable mention.
While the Foxes will lose quite a few seniors, Coach Loughran isn’t one to despair. “Replenishing each year is just part of the game,” he says with the confidence and wisdom of someone who has been in the same position many times before.