PITTSBURGH — The Westinghouse Bulldogs know how dangerous it is to look past an opponent. The Bulldogs crushed Taylor Allderdice 41-12 during the 2021 regular season before being stonewalled 14-0 by Dice in the City League Championship.
Westinghouse’s players and coaches find themselves in a similar situation a year later, undefeated heading into a playoff rematch with Perry. Senior linebacker Roderick Jeter said that last year’s disappointment helped him grow as an athlete.
“It changes everything. We’ve gotta stay humble. Last year we [were] too lazy, lackadaisical,” Jeter said. “This year we’ve gotta capitalize me as a leader… [I’ve gotta] keep them on their toes.”
Jeter said that his mentality has trickled down to the rest of the team.
“[We’re] straight dogs. We all want it. We all have one goal and that’s the state championship,” Jeter said. “We stay selfless, we stay hungry, we stay humble.”
The 6-foot, 195-pound linebacker, who also plays some safety, running back and wide receiver, has offers from Akron and Saint Francis. He said he’s talked with Brashear’s three-star receiver Kameron Cheatom, who committed to Akron in July, but wouldn’t reveal much about his recruiting process.
“I tried to focus on the game … so I didn’t really talk to him as much, but I definitely had a couple words with him,” Jeter said. “We used to play on the same Evolve team, so we’re kind of tight.”
Westinghouse will play Perry at Cupples Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m. in one City League semifinal. The other semifinal game will be played on Thursday at 7 p.m. between Allderdice and University Prep. Those two teams met in the regular season finale on Friday, with Allderdice winning 21-20 to claim the No. 2 seed in the city playoffs. Westinghouse finished first, University Prep is third and Perry is fourth.
