7 area players named to Pennsylvania Football Writers' Class 1A, 3A all-state teams

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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Seven area players were selected to the Pennsylvania Football Writers’ Class 1A and 3A all-state teams.

Two members of the Meyersdale Area team that led the Red Raiders to a District 5 title for the first time in nearly two decades and a Northern Cambria linebacker with eye-popping stats highlighted the 1A squad Tuesday morning.

Meyersdale senior Lance Jones was named as a defensive athlete and senior Trey Bolyard earned a spot on the defensive line. Northern Cambria junior linebacker Zak Kirsch was the third representative on the team.

Three players from the PIAA semifinalist Penn Cambria team earned spots on the 3A squad along with Forest Hills senior defensive athlete Xander Richardson. Penn Cambria junior linebacker Corbin Vinglish, senior offensive athlete Brady Jones and senior defensive athlete Blake Lilly were selected.

The 5-11 and 196-pound Brady Jones was a three-year starting quarterback who completed 139 of 242 passes for 2,137 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He rushed for 580 yards and nine touchdowns. Jones also kicked 33 extra points and had two conversion runs among his 91 points scored. He threw at least one touchdown pass in 13 of 15 games as the Panthers went 44-9 with four District 6 title game appearances and a 26-4 mark the past two seasons.

Jones totaled 5,394 passing and 1,424 rushing yards, and accounted for 59 passing and 20 rushing touchdowns over his career.

“We knew what we had coming back with him,” Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said.

“It’s nice to have that luxury to return as a three-year starter.

“He played in a lot of big football games at the quarterback position, which is key. He just had a great year throwing the football, running the football. He didn’t play a lot of defense in his career, but we knew going into this year we were going to need him on defense.

“We got him on the field defensively, did some nice things for us. Just leading the offense and being comfortable, getting the ball to the guys. We didn’t rely on one guy offensively. Brady was good with getting the ball to different people at different times. All of our receivers had career years this year. That all goes back to the quarterback leading us there.

“He’s a great kid and he had a great career for us.”

Vinglish, at 5-11 and 210 pounds, made 155 tackles, including 77 solo stops, for the 12-3 Panthers. Vinglish was named as this year’s Tribune-Democrat Player of the Year. He carried 238 times for 1,540 yards and 19 touchdowns for the District 6 repeat champions and PIAA semifinalists. Vinglish scored 22 touchdowns and 132 points.

In five postseason games, he rushed for 550 yards (110 per game) and made 56 tackles (11.2 per contest).

“I’ve spoken highly about him all year long and what he means to our football team,” Grassi said. “He’s the heart and soul of our team. Defensively, he’s a guy that he puts all the time in. He watches film. He gets to where he needs to be, gets everybody lined up on defense. He just plays old-school football. He’s downhill.

“He gets after people. He had a ton of tackles this year because he’s just an intelligent kid. He does everything he has to do to be that way. I’m so happy for him as well to be at that level and have another year left with him is awesome. We’re looking forward to having him back. He’s just a great football player.”

Lilly, at 5-10 and 160 pounds, was a dynamic threat on offense, defense and special teams. He intercepted six passes and totaled 75 returning yards, including a pick-six. Lilly racked up 10 passes defensed and recovered two fumbles.

He caught 66 passes for 1,012 yards and 12 touchdowns. Lilly totaled 18 touchdowns and 112 points and scored touchdowns five different ways – rushing (two), receiving (12), interception return (one), punt return (two) and kickoff return (one).

He returned 18 kickoffs for 499 yards, 27.7 on average. Lilly returned 13 punts for 366 yards, 28.2 on average.

“Coming into this season this year, he was a guy that was kind of under the radar a little bit from last year because having Gavin Harrold and all of those guys,” Grassi said. “We knew coming into the season what he was capable of. Obviously, he had a heck of a year in all three phases of the game for us. He excelled in the secondary and had over 1,000 yards receiving. He was a terror on special teams. Teams kicked away from him, that’s how lethal he was for the majority of the time.

“When they did kick to him, he made big plays back there.

“He’s a great athlete.”

The 5-11 and 187-pound Richardson amassed 80 tackles on defense. He rushed (1,080 yards, 16 touchdowns) and passed (1,196 yards, nine touchdowns) for more than 1,000 yards in 2025. He produced a six-touchdown performance against McCort- Carroll in a game that produced 120 combined points. Richardson rushed for 219 yards (8.1 a carry) and five touchdowns, and passed for 125 yards and a score in a 73-47 setback. He caught nine passes for 107 yards and a score. Richardson produced 2,383 total yards, and scored 16 TDs and 90 points.

“Xander had a great senior year,” Forest Hills coach Justin Myers said. “He was a leader on the field, off the field for all of these guys. They looked up to Xander and everything he did. His impact on offense was great. His impact for us on defense was even better because whenever he was out on the field, he was making plays. He really carried our defense. Xander was the middle linebacker.

“He called our defense. He knew the calls. He knew what we were looking for out there.

“He was a coach on the field for us. We could trust him to do everything on the field that we wanted to. What we talked about all week, Xander knew it better than we did.”

Lance Jones – at 6-foot-3 and 178 pounds – picked off six passes and made 38 tackles in 2025 as the Red Raiders won their first District 5 crown since 2006. As a quarterback, Jones completed 97 of 151 passes for 1,551 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He rushed for 376 yards and six touchdowns and produced 1,921 total yards of offense.

“Lance, a four-year starter on defense and a three-year starter on offense, was able to provide serving as a ‘coach on the field’ for us throughout his high school football career,” Meyersdale coach Ryan Donaldson said. “His leadership, intelligence and skill set to play both sides of the ball at a high level is very deserving of this recognition and accomplishment.”

In his only season of varsity football, the 5-10, 177-pound Bolyard totaled 11.5 sacks and 24 tackles for loss for a loss of yardage for the 11-2 Red Raiders. He made 75 tackles, with 37 solo stops. Bolyard recovered six fumbles and caused three of them. He racked up 11 tackles and four sacks at Windber in Week 4.

“Trey was outstanding at defensive end all season with incredible speed, athleticism and strength,” Donaldson said.

“For never playing high school football before, he bought in to the coaching early on. With that, his ability on the defensive side of the ball allowed his game to take off.”

Kirsch, at 6-1 and 195 pounds, was a headache for opposing offenses to contend with as he compiled 183 tackles, including 79 solo stops and 14.5 tackles for loss of yardage.

He intercepted two passes and posted four games with 20-plus tackles, including 27 against rival Cambria Heights and 26 against Penns Manor.

Kirsch recorded 23 stops in a District 6 playoff loss at Juniata Valley. On offense, he carried the ball 44 times for 375 yards and five touchdowns, and caught 15 passes for 292 yards and three scores. Kirsch produced 688 total yards of offense.

The 2A, 4A and 6A teams will be released Wednesday.

Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.

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