“Let’s keep this thing rolling and make a run into the playoffs brothers!” senior captain Reese Mueseler says to the Latrobe football team after beating the Plum Mustangs and the Albert Gallatin Colonials the past two weeks.

    This years’ Wildcat football team is the first team from Latrobe to make the playoffs since 2009. They are apart of the 5A Big East Conference. It has been a been accomplishment for this group of seniors. Their freshman year they had a tragic record of 0-9. Sophomore year the record improved a little bit to 1-9. They developed a ton and took a huge step their junior year to a record of 4-6.

     “The seniors that just graduated have lit the torch and we’ve kept the fire burning. It’s an awesome feeling to be the first team in almost 10 years to make the playoffs and be the team to turn this program around,” said senior captain Caleb Domenick.

    Jason Armstrong who is now a multipurpose back on offense for the Mercyhurst Lakers. Zach Yesho who was going to be a left tackle at Seton Hill suddenly decided  to fulfill his job career instead. Preston Boerio who was an all-conference running back didn’t decide to take the football route in college, instead he is pursuing a degree from the University of Florida.

    Head Coach Jason Marucco addresses the team in the huddle after the big win of 49-0 vs visiting Albert Gallatin. “Let all the people know that Latrobe football is back and we’re here to stay,”. said Marucco.

     This is Marucco’s first time coaching the Wildcats to the postseason. Offensive coordinator and assistant coach Pat Murray gave some words during the film session on Saturday morning. “This last game is crucial and is a must win. We need to get another W and show the playoff committee that we’ve earned a good seed with how the season has gone. Let’s get another consecutive win and keep it going into the playoffs,” said Murray.   

    The whole team is ecstatic and ready to play at Highlands High School for the last game of the regular season before moving on to the playoffs too. The talk going on in the locker room is focusing on Highlands and improving the record but also in the back of the players minds, getting ready to be able to play in the playoffs and upset any team that they will get paired with.

      The coaching staff added a new presence with Coach Bo Ruffner. He doesn’t expect anything less than playoffs. He came from from Mount Pleasant where he led the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in nine years.  Making playoffs is a part of his standard.

     On that note, the football team will make a run to a WPIAL Championship.