Central Catholic’s Bradley Gompers is one of the most all-around complete and physically imposing players in the entire WPIAL.
The senior stands at 6-foot-5, weighs 215 pounds and asserts his dominance on both sides of the ball. He can fly around the defensive side at linebacker, laying pad-crunching hits; while at tight end, he is a matchup nightmare and a big-play threat.
There’s a reason he is committed to Duke University. The three-star talent can go toe-to-toe with any top-tier talent from around the country and that’s exactly what he did when national power St. Frances — a team that boasts four and five-star level players — came into Pittsburgh over the weekend to battle the Vikings at the Wolvarena in Turtle Creek.
Gompers recorded an impressive stat line against the Panthers totaling 16 tackles and hauling in four receptions that went for 98 yards (24.5 yards per catch) in the loss. While the stats speak for themself, he also displayed why he is a major-college recruit with the impact he brings to the game from sound tackling to a trustee receiving option for the Vikings.
“He’s a Power Five football player and he played like one,” Central Catholic head coach Ryan Lehmeier said following the game. “Bradley showed up on offense and defense and made some splash plays for us. That big catch at the end of the game for a big guy like that to keep his balance, it shows you how athletic he is. We’re really looking forward to Bradley being a big staple in what we do on both sides of the ball.”
As expected, Gompers had his fingerprints all over the game against St. Frances, especially on defense where he laid some hard-hitting tackles.
“That’s just the way I’ve been taught, and the way I’ve always tried to play. Football is a tough sport, it’s an aggressive sport and you can’t play it soft, so I try to hit as hard as possible.
The adrenaline was flowing even more when Gompers heard players from St. Frances jawing away.
“Before the game, they were definitely talking up a storm and talking smack on us and that was a little added motivation. It being a national game that was some extra motivation for me to go out there and give it my all.”
Gompers’ physical style of play is something he is trying to infuse into his Central Catholic team as a senior leader.
“We’re trying to be a physical team and we’re not afraid of anybody. St. Frances is a national team, but we weren’t going to back down. We gave it our all. I thought we played really hard and that’s what we’re going to do this year. I’m going to hold all my teammates to that standard of being fast, being physical and not letting up ever.”
Saturday’s experience was invaluable to both Gompers, who will see competition like that all the time at the next level, and his team for this season.
“It not only makes me better, but I think it makes my teammates better going up against competition like that. We’re not going to see that type of competition in the WPIAL anywhere, so if we can play and fight against kid like those, we can do numbers on teams in the WPIAL.”
The Week Zero matchup also allowed Gompers to get some important game action with senior quarterback Jy’Aire Walls, who is stepping into the starting role this season.
On Walls’ first throw of the game, he targeted Gompers for a 39-yard completion. The two would connect later on a 54-yard catch and run deep into St. Frances’ territory. Walls would complete 7 of 13 passes on the day for 181 yards and a touchdown to Xxavier Thomas, along with 45 rushing yards.
“I’ve been so impressed with Jy’Aire so far whether it’s been camp, practice and [against St. Frances],” Gompers said. “He’s been phenomenal as a pocket passer and even a runner. I think he did great and as best he could given the circumstances. He didn’t have much time and he was pressured a lot, but I thought he stood in there and made the throws he needed to make and ran the ball really hard as well. I can’t be more proud of him as my quarterback and I think he’s going to do great things for us this year.”
As Central Catholic chases down a Class 6A WPIAL title, Gompers will be an all-around instrumental part of that run during his senior season.
not a Pitt player…nobody cares
Was wondering the same thing; good luck kid but don’t really care