Points champ: J-M’s Dehoet was county’s leading scorer in football
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Deakyn Dehoet broke the usual mold this season when it comes to Greene County football.
The county鈥檚 leading scorer is almost always a running back or mobile quarterback but the sophomore wide receiver laid claim to the top spot in points for the 2023 season.
Dehoet scored 15 touchdowns, most on receptions, and converted a county-best seven 2-point conversions to give him 104 points. Dehoet proved to be dangerous as a kick returner as well, bringing back three kickoffs for touchdowns, going 85 yards twice and 79 yards.
Dehoet finished six points ahead of West Greene senior running back Billy Whitlatch who tied with Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Breydon Woods for the county lead in touchdowns with 16. Whitlatch also ran in a 2-point conversion to give him 98 points.
The player Whitlatch picked up the slack for was Pioneers senior Colin Brady who piled up 15 TDs and a trio of 2-point conversions for 96 points. Brady put up his total despite missing several games due to injury.
Raiders senior Woods also scored 96 points to tie Brady for third place.
Senior Johnny Lampe, a dual-threat as a runner and receiver, gave the Pioneers three of the county鈥檚 top five scorers with 13 touchdowns and four 2-point conversions for 86 points.
The Rockets claimed the next two spots with senior running back Collin Bisceglia and junior quarterback Houston Guesman both scoring 84 points with 12 touchdowns and six 2-point conversions.
Rounding out the top 10 were Mapletown senior running back Evan Griffin (12 TDs, two 2-point conversions, 76 points), Waynesburg junior quarterback Jake Stephenson (10 TDs, 60 points) and Carmichaels junior quarterback AJ Donaldson (seven TDs, one 2-point conversion, 44 points).
The county鈥檚 leading scorer among kickers was Raiders junior Dalton Taylor who made 28 extra points and a 22-yard field goal for 31 points. West Greene junior Patrick Durbin was second in kicking points with 28 PATs and also scored a pair of touchdowns to put him in 11th place overall with 40 points.
The area鈥檚 top five in touchdowns were Whitlatch and Woods with 16, Dehoet and Brady with 15 and Lampe with 13.
The area鈥檚 top five in 2-point conversions were Dehoet with seven, Bisceglia and Guesman with six, Lampe with four and Brady, J-M sophomore John Woodward and Mapletown senior AJ Vanata each with three.
West Greene鈥檚 defense recorded the lone safety on the year.
Dehoet鈥檚 three TDs on kickoff returns led the county with Carmichaels senior Billy White bringing back two of 84 and 85 yards. Whitlatch had the longest kickoff return for a score, going 98 yards. Also returning kickoffs for TDs were Brady (84 yards) and Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Jaymison Robinson (75 yards).
Other returns for touchdowns by county players were by Carmichaels sophomore Gage Kundly (20 yards with a blocked punt), Waynesburg senior Chase Fox (68 yards with an interception) and Griffin (23 yards with a fumble).
West Greene finished with the county鈥檚 best overall record (8-3) and conference record (6-1, second place in the Class A Tri-County South) and was the top scoring team at 35.2 ppg, ahead of the Rockets who averaged 30.6.
Waynesburg sported the top defense, allowing 18.8 ppg.
The Raiders, Pioneers and Rockets each qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.