Louis B. Ruediger | Tribune-Review
Jeannette quarterback Brad Birch passed for more than 1,600 yards and 30 touchdowns as a freshman.
Oregon assistant football coach Joe Moorhead called Team 412 Elite coach Will Reynolds on Wednesday, and Reynolds turned it into a conference call.
He called Jeannette freshman quarterback Brad Birch on another cellphone and let him hear the good news from Moorhead, a Central Catholic grad and former Penn State offensive coordinator.
With Moorhead as its conduit, Oregon offered Birch a scholarship. Just like that, the wheels were set in motion.
A long and competitive recruiting sweepstakes could be ahead as schools look to land the budding quarterback. The first offer usually leads to many more.
Jeff Helsel | Mon Valley Independent
Belle Vernon’s Dane Anden runs against Laurel Highlands on Oct. 2, 2020, at Laurel Highlands.
Dane Anden could hardly believe the news.
“When I told him, he was ecstatic,” Belle Vernon football coach Matt Humbert said. “He was really excited.”
The news was that Pitt has more than the rumored lukewarm interest in the Leopards senior running back, who was a key cog in last year’s run to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals.
The Panthers saw fit to offer Anden a preferred walk-on deal to join the program in the fall and make a run at a scholarship. The 6-foot, 175-pound Anden was slowed some by a foot injury late in the year, but he was productive alongside a number of other weapons in the BVA backfield, including quarterback Devin Whitlock.