McKeesport eager to get over the Aliquippa hump this year
McKEESPORT, Pa. (KDKA) -- With training camps in full swing all across the WPIAL, McKeesport's team is full of hungry players who are eager to get over the Aliquippa hump this year.
After a week of heat acclimation workouts, teams began their training camps Monday with full contact practices.
"You get tired of all the t-shirts and shorts and all the running around," said McKeesport head coach Matt Miller. "It's finally good to have actual football going on."
"This is the day we've been waiting for," said running back Anthony Boyd. "A lot of contact. Hitting. Full speed. Sweat. Blood. That's what I like to see. It feels good to be out here."
McKeesport is a true perennial power in the WPIAL, despite not having the advantages other schools have with some training facilities and equipment.
"As you can see where we're at, it doesn't look too pretty," Boyd said. "It gets really tough out here. Hard ground. You just gotta be from McKeesport to understand."
"The toughness," said running back and defensive back Kemon Spell. "We grew up in the trenches, you know. All we wanted to do was play football and make it out."
McKeesport's main competition in Class 4A is Aliquippa, who recently won a lawsuit against the PIAA that will allow the school to stay in 4A, in McKeesport's classification.
"It's none of my business," Miller said. Aliquippa's an hour away from here. I'd be lying if I said I didn't see on the news and stuff, but I didn't really follow it too closely.
"Honestly, I wanted them to stay," Boyd said. "I don't want them to go up. I need my revenge."
That revenge factor focuses on the fact that Aliquippa has ended McKeesport's season the past three years, including last year in the 4A title game at Acrisure Stadium.
"Ever since we lost, I've been working out ever since," said wide receiver Anthony Cromerdie. "That's gonna haunt me forever. I have nightmares about it. I just wish we could have won. This year, we're coming different."
"We can't go back to the past," Spell said. "We lost. We didn't keep our foot on the gas. That does motivate me a lot. We're gonna come back this year and we're gonna see if they're ready. I know me and my guys are ready to come back and win it all."
McKeesport's season will get underway next Friday when they square off with Lake High School from Uniontown, Ohio at Woodland Hills' Wolvarena.