There were a lot of new and exciting changes surrounding the Kiski Prep football team in 2025.
After coming off their first winning season in three years, posting a 6-3 record in 2024, the Cougars brought in a new coach with new schemes, saw an influx of transfers from the WPIAL, out of state and internationally and were slated to kick off their season playing a game overseas.
None of that fazed the players and coaches, and the Cougars went on to enjoy their second consecutive winning season at 7-2.
“We built upon what we accomplished last season,” said junior Levi Porter. “We instilled more character and a team environment. We really looked out for each other.”
“When I came in, I didn’t know much about their past seasons,” said freshman Ryan Chambers. “But I asked around and I wanted to help the team to be better than last year and to continue to build on that success.”
Kiski Prep opened the season against the Ireland Under-19 junior national team in the Global Ireland Football Tournament at Energia Park in the Donnybrook suburb of Dublin. The team also engaged in a tour and took in a college football game as well.
“It was an overall great experience for the team,” said Porter. “That long trip also brought us together.”
The game was a rousing success for the Cougars, who rolled to a 59-0 victory. It also gave some of the international players a chance to play in front of friends and family.
“It was great. Not every high school is afforded the opportunity to go that far to play a football game,” said junior Resendo Holdrege, who is from France. “It was a blessing for Kiski to orchestrate a contest for us over there, and it allowed my parents, who didn’t have to travel far, to come and see me play.”
After the opening week win, Kiski faced adversity and suffered its only two losses of the season in back-to-back home games against The Hill School (16-14) and Saint James School (10-7).
“The biggest thing we talked about as a staff in each of those games was about us beating ourselves,” said coach Aaron Smetanka. “There were some plays that anybody watching the film would say, ‘Man, I wish we had those few plays back’ or ‘Wish we would have made that play there to turn the game around in our favor and into possible wins.’”
But Smetanka’s players regrouped, beginning in the film room, where they learned from their mistakes.
Smetanka thought they did very well this season, handling that early adversity coupled with a change at the quarterback position and the implementation of a new system.
“It was all brand new for the guys, and I thought they did a good job picking things up from a scheme perspective,” said Smetanka. “We were constantly adding a new thing on offense and a tweak on defense from week to week depending on who we were facing.
“The guys did a real good job in handling all that from a mental capacity and being committed to the film room as much as they were committed to practices and games.”
The Cougars rattled off six victories in a row to close out the season, with a trio of huge wins along the way.
First, they went into Philadelphia and beat Inter-AC Prep power William Penn Charter, 22-13, the first time that Kiski Prep has ever beaten Penn Charter.
“Our guys began to build off that momentum and really started to see the fruition of their hard work,” said Smetanka.
Two weeks later, the Cougars traveled to Virgina and defeated defending state champion Blue Ridge, 47-3.
The last huge win came in the final game of the season, homecoming weekend at Kiski Prep, where the Cougars beat Linsly School for the second straight year.
It was a back-and-forth affair with Kiski Prep holding on to a slim lead after scoring with under seven minutes to play. Linsly didn’t go quietly, driving down to the Cougars 5-yard line with a second left looking to pull out a victory.
A pass breakup by Holdrege and Elan McCrorey sealed the 21-17 victory.
“Our guys, from what they dealt with in adversity through the ups and downs in the course of the game and throughout the prior weeks, didn’t get rattled and understood that if we continued to work, put things together and take the game one drive, one play at a time, those things will start paying off for us,” said Smetanka.
The catalyst for the Cougars was a stout and suffocating defense that forced turnovers, kept opponent drives short and gave the offense stellar field position.
The unit allowed 80 points on the year, averaging 8.8 points a game, and no opponent scored more than 17 points in any game.
“We made it tough on teams when we got in the backfield and made some tackles for loss or some short yardage stops and forcing them into passing downs and situations and our guys did a real good job of applying pressure to the quarterback,” Smetanka said.
The defense was filled with exceptional athletes who won plenty of battles along the line of scrimmage, played physical, maintained a consistent style of play and forced turnovers on the back end.
Now that the season is over, the Cougars are losing a good number of those athletes to graduation.
Defensive end Max McMillan left Kiski Prep mid-January to begin classes at Division-I FCS Long Island.
McMillan’s fellow havoc-creator along the defensive line, Hunter Richardson, committed to Shippensburg of the PSAC at the end of January.
Elijah White has an opportunity with Division-I FCS New Haven as a cornerback.
Mac Armstrong, who was the Cougars’ quarterback, committed to Division III Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
“Mac’s got a very high football IQ, was very smart in the pocket and understanding where he needed to go with the football and not forcing throws on his end,” said Smetanka. “He also did a real good job of keeping himself healthy throughout the season.”
Jeremy Bjick, a defensive end from Germany; Noa Seyi Onobiono, who hails from France; Sergio Dubois, a receiver from Mexico City; Adrian Alvarez and Lewin Tauberschmidt all have interest or the opportunity to play for Division III schools.
With the landscape of college football recruiting being what it is, with the transfer portal and NIL deals, colleges are looking to go after athletes with experience before dipping into the high school ranks to hand out scholarships.
“One person from an FCS school told our guys they weren’t so heavy on grabbing from the portal, but, yes, they are looking to see what’s in there,” said Smetanka. “After the portal, they’re looking at the prep schools and then the high schools.”
With colleges looking first at the prep schools, it stands to reason that attending an institution such as Kiski Prep affords a student a slight leg up in terms of playing in the college ranks.
“A lot of guys looking into the transfer portal don’t want to deal with the hassle of a first-year guy coming in,” said Smetanka. “They may not want a young guy making that transition that doesn’t know maybe how to do their own laundry or have someone wake them up at home in the morning.
“Our guys learn it here, go through that process, have matured and understand what it takes to live on a campus, push yourself to maintain your grades on your own. That makes a huge difference, puts our guys ahead of the game.”
Kiski Prep’s athletes need to not only excel on the field but in the classroom. Many of the football players are getting looks from very prestigious colleges and are grabbing academic rather than athletic scholarships.
Porter, a standout running back and linebacker who was the team’s MVP this season, has an offer from Eastern Michigan, had Central Michigan come to Kiski Prep to visit with him and has interest from schools like Delaware and Liberty.
“I’m not worried about the transfer portal. I’m just worried about what’s the best fit for me and where I think I’d fit the best and what I like about a school,” said Porter. “I’m looking at it from a more of an academic aspect.”
Another player who will return next year for the Cougars receiving interest is Holdrege. He has caught the attention of Ivy League and Patriot League schools solely on his academic prowess.
“It definitely affects high school sports in general, but I don’t think it affected me personally,” said Holdrege. “I don’t think my recruiting strategy has changed all that much.”
Holdrege received an offer from Columbia last summer and one from the University of Pennsylvania over Thanksgiving.
Having that many students getting a lot of college interest and finding solid places to further their education has helped Kiski Prep get ahead of the game in terms of interest level for next year.
They have a larger number of players returning next year than in the past and are looking to grow their freshmen and sophomore classes moving forward.
One of those students is freshman Ryan Chambers, who was a force on the defensive line for the Cougars and also does well in the classroom. He chose Kiski Prep for the academic side of things.
“My parents always wanted me to stay on top of school. So, when I came to visit, I really liked it and made the decision to come here,” said Chambers. “Seeing guys like Levi and Resendo get the offers they are makes me want to push myself to earn those types of offers for myself.”
“It helps to have back-to-back winning seasons,” said Smetanka. “When they see kids going on to colleges after doing well at Kiski, they can say, ‘I want to be a part of that, go on to play collegiately or have more schools look at me’. That gives the kids more options to find the best fit for them.”