Elizabeth Forward football enjoying one of its best seasons to date

ELIZABETH, Pennsylvania – With just one week left to play in the regular season, Elizabeth Forward has an unblemished record and could be on pace to take home its first WPIAL or PIAA football title in school history.

The Warriors are just one of six remaining undefeated teams in the WPIAL and they have hardly had any trouble competing with their opponents.

“I believe what helped us get to this point in our season is how devoted our team has been since the end of last season,” junior defensive end/tight end Charlie Meehleib said. “After losing to Central Valley last year in the WPIAL Semifinals, everyone bought in and knew it was time to step up. The chemistry between everyone on the team is impeccable.

“Not only has everyone on the team been playing together since we were young, but we have done so much team bonding over the past year to build trust and brotherhood.”

The team has had no struggles scoring points up to this point as they have scored an average of 44.9 points per game and their lowest winning margin against any opponent 21 points when the Warriors defeated Shady Side Academy 42-21 on September 16.

The relationship between quarterback Zion White and wide receiver Zach Boyd has played a huge factor on how productive the offense has been.

This season, White has completed 63 of 106 passes for 1,521 yards and has thrown 33 touchdowns. Boyd has caught almost half of White’s completions (30) for a total of 988 yards while also scoring 18 touchdowns and is averaging 32.9 yards per catch.

“The connection between us goes back to my sophomore year, when Zion first started,” Boyd said. “He knows how I run my routes and puts the ball right where it needs to be, and I just go make the play.”

Boyd, who holds an offer from Marist College, has a goal of playing college football and wants to have the best senior year he can. So it’s important to play well and have a good connection with White in order to have likable statistics.

“This year is very important to me. This is the best team we have had in a while so we really can’t take anything for granted,” Boyd said. “As seniors, we have been working extremely hard the last couple of years to get a team like this. We are very experienced and ready for a great playoff run.”

For White, it’s not a surprise that he has had an effective senior campaign. He has been the starting quarterback for the team since his sophomore year in 2020 and he even helped lead the Warriors to the WPIAL 3A Football title game during that season. So, the expectations are high for how he finishes his high school career and he is doing everything that he can to lead the team.

“As the senior leader and captain, I’m keeping my guys up no matter what happens during any game,” White said. “As long as I keep in my head, ‘next play mentality’ we will all have that mentality.” From previous years, we have made simple adjustments that we messed up but now this year, it’s all coming together.”

Besides the duo of White and Boyd, the running game for the Warriors has been solid with the 1-2-3 punch of seniors Jordan Wilmore, Johnny DiNapoli and Diego Magwood. All three have rushed for over 370 yards this season, scoring a combined 21 touchdowns.

“It’s really a good thing to be in a trio with my teammates because when I’m in and I need a break, they come in and run hard like me and vice versa,” Wilmore said. “We have that connection. We are always locked in before every game.”

DiNapoli began his high school career as the starting quarterback for East Allegheny as a freshman and a sophomore. But when DiNapoli transferred to Elizabeth Forward after his sophomore year, the team had already found its starter in White, meaning DiNapoli had to figure out another way to contribute to the team, so he decided to be a running back.

“At tailback, I feel like my cuts improved the most,” DiNapoli said. “Being a bigger running back, you have to be more decisive with your cuts so I put a lot of work into that over the summer.”

The defense has definitely done its part as well for the Warriors, only allowing 10.3 points per game and recording two shutouts on the season.

“We watch a lot of film and just focus on the person we are going against to look at their technique and figure out the weaknesses to their game,” Wilmore said.

This year’s Elizabeth Forward team wants to go down in school history as the first team to ever win a championship, and they seem to be in the right hands of head coach Mike Collodi, who has had a record of 53-23 with five consecutive playoff appearances since being appointed in January 2015.

“Coach Collodi is a true head football coach,” Meehlieb said. “He always shows how much he cares for us, and he treats us like one of his kids. He coaches us hard on the field and in the film room. He lets us know how it is, and how it is important to believe in the guy next to you. All of our coaches are amazing and play a major factor to everyone on and off the field. Our coaching staff are all people we could go to for help if need be.”

The Warriors will face its biggest test at home on Friday night when they host 5-star recruit Quinton Martin and the Belle Vernon Leopards. The winner of the game will win the Interstate Conference.

“I’m very excited for the game,” White said. “It’s a big game with a conference championship on the line. The atmosphere is going to be crazy, and I can’t wait. It’s going to take everyone to do everything right and to be locked in every play.”