Fox Chapel Football sees opportunity in the final weeks of the season

From:

Josh Rizzo

Saturday, October 12, 2024 | 11:01 a.m

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Fox Chapel coach Dave Leasure compared the Foxes’ football schedule to a mountain. There were a few games for Fox Chapel to prepare for promotion, followed by an arduous road to the top, playing against some of the best teams in Class 5A.

The Foxes are hoping the final three weeks of the season will bring some relief to the program as the team begins to decline towards the end.

“It started with a few games where we had a chance, then we played really elite competition for four weeks,” Leasure said. “Then we’ll come down the other side to take advantage of more opportunities.”

Fox Chapel will close out the season with games against Plum, Shaler and East Allegheny. The Foxes, who are 1-5 this season and 0-3 in the Northeast Conference, will have several key players back from injuries that will help them down the home stretch.

Max Melochi, Lincoln Burgess, Anthony Forquet and Blake Kuhn will all be back in the lineup.

While Fox Chapel already ended a long losing streak earlier this season by defeating Baldwin, Leasure would like to see a few more wins.

“We feel like we still have a chance to improve on that,” Leasure said. “We are fortunate to be able to get some guys back from injury. Last year we limped to the finish line. We could be in a position where we’re at full strength without one or two kids.”

Fox Chapel opened conference play with the top three teams in the conference: Penn Hills, North Hills and Pine-Richland. All were decisive losses.

The Foxes then played a non-conference game against Franklin Regional, a Big East playoff contender.

“There were more positives in this game than the previous three,” Leasure said. “Even though the result was one-sided, we did things offensively that gave us confidence.”

Leasure said he was proud of how all the kids stayed with the program this season.

“It means a lot,” Leisure said. “It is difficult for children to get excited about football. It’s even harder for a child to get involved in a program that doesn’t produce much profit. This senior group is pretty incredible. It really makes me feel good that they have more moments at the end of the year. They worked really hard. We do everything we can to make them successful and they give us everything they have.”

Tags: Fox Chapel