Quaker Valley football finished 4-6 record in coach Tom Eshenbaugh’s first year.
The Quakers competed in a meat-grinder of a conference as five Western Hills teams — No. 1 seed Avonworth, No. 3 Central Valley, No. 5 North Catholic, No. 9 Beaver and No. 10 Hopewell — all qualified for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.
“I really commend the staff for the success we had this year,” Eshenbaugh said. “Jack, Garrett and Scott coordinated great game plans week in and week out. Paul, Smith and Adam all contributed as assistants, as well. Paul led our ‘Boys to Men’ mentoring program, Adam performed as our strength and conditioning and mental toughness coach, and Smith, a 2019 alumnus, was our offensive assistant and a great mentor to the boys.
“Even when our backs were up against a wall with roster constraints, those guys kept moving forward when most might have thrown in the towel.”
Scott Lazarus and Jack Martha are the Quakers’ offensive and defensive coordinators. Garrett Kesselring is the special teams coordinator. QV’s other assistants consist of Paul Mulbah (WR/DB), Smith Johnson (RB/OLB) and Adam Cross (RB/ILB).
Panthers fall in WPIAL final
Sewickley Academy’s girls soccer team played in two close games against Springdale and Bentworth in the WPIAL Class A semifinal and final rounds.
The Panthers edged Springdale, 2-1, Oct. 28 in the semifinals before losing a gut-wrenching 1-0 decision to Bentworth in the championship game Oct. 30 at Highmark Stadium.
Bentworth improved to 19-1-1; Sewickley dropped to 18-2.
“Bentworth has had a really good season,” said Emma Eannarino, a junior forward for the Panthers. “The Springdale game was a really good example of how we can play hard and come out with the win even in close games.”
The Sewickley Academy girls soccer team rolled to a perfect 12-0 record in Section 3-A play this season and won 16 games in a row prior to the WPIAL finals at Highmark Stadium.
The Panthers won 18 of 20 games against WPIAL teams, outscoring opponents 83-13 in the regular season and 94-15 overall before the start of the PIAA playoffs.
QV reaches PIAA playoffs
The Quaker Valley girls soccer team met little resistance on its way to the Section 3-2A title this season. The Quakers won the crown with a 9-0-1 record with the only blemish being an overtime tie to runner-up Central Valley.
QV outscored teams 40-2 in section play, and 69-8 against WPIAL opponents.
The Quakers took a 15-3-1 record into the PIAA playoffs with 14 shutouts in 19 games.
Soccer plaudits
Among the athletes that were lauded as “top players” in this year’s WPIAL Class 2A soccer playoffs were Quaker Valley’s Tanner Schultz (Sr., D), Ari Bosh (Sr., MF) and Annabel Miko (Jr., MF/ATT).
Sewickley Academy’s Luca Peluso (Sr., F), Finn Wentz (Sr., MF) and Eannarino (Jr., F) also were cited in Class A, as was Eden Christian Academy’s Allie Emswiler (Jr., D).
Did you know?
Did you know that Quaker Valley has compiled a 30-5 record in girls tennis over the past two years?
The Quakers finished 14-2 overall this season after going 16-3 in 2024.
• Did you also know that Quaker Valley is a 30-time section champion in boys soccer?