Seton LaSalle's First WPIAL Title in 21 Seasons Serves as Poetic Justice
PITTSBURGH — It is almost poetic justice that Seton LaSalle won its first WPIAL title since 2004.
After falling short in last year’s final, the Rebels faced a unique situation prior to the start of this season as they lost seven presumed starters just before the end of summer.
Instead of having a roster full of juniors and seniors, Seton LaSalle head coach Tim Sortino was forced to start a handful of sophomores this season after an exodus of his roster which led to a dud in the Rebels’ first game of the season.
“It was hard because of the timing of it,” Storino said. “We went to Toledo with a full roster with different kids for 7-on-7. We went 5-1 and came home, went to the beach on the fourth of July then I came back and we lost seven kids. It wasn’t just Khalil Taylor. It was six starters plus Taylor and Anthony Smith. That is seven starters.”
In total, Seton LaSalle lost guys such as four-star recruit Khalil Taylor to Pine-Richland, Tre Littlejohn to Penn Hills and presumed starting quarterback Anthony Smith to Fairmont (WV) among many others.
“So, the North Catholic game, we didnt know who we would play at quarterback, what plays to call, what our personnel was,” Storino continued. “The only thing that we knew is that we had confidence in our offensive line and our defense.”
With a setback like that, coupled with the team’s performance, a 47-14 loss, in the first game of the season, most teams would fold and just go through the motions over the course of the season.
The leaders in the Seton LaSalle locker room, including the hero of the Class-2A championship Will Martin, did not let that happen because they knew the type of team that they could become if they just came together.
“In our locker room, it was never to prove everyone wrong, it was to prove ourselves right,” Martin said. “We knew what we had and we knew where we could go.”
Following the blowout defeat to start the season, the team came together and rallied off 13-straight wins including Saturday’s 21-14 win over Steel Valley in the 2025 WPIAL Class-2A Championship.
The tenure of Storino weirdly mirrored the championship victory. The Rebels found themselves down-and-out of the game after going down 14-0 just minutes into the second half. They received a huge boost on a turnover and ran away with the momentum and eventually then game from that point on.
When Storino accepted to job at Seton LaSalle four years ago, they were a program on the down-and-out.
The team went 0-10 in his first season before striking gold in Khalil Taylor which brought excitement back to the program. After making it to the championship game a season ago, his team that was counted out before this season even started ended up as the champions of Class-2A.
Even before winning the championship, Storino helped restore a winning culture at the school and brought the program back to the point where it is going to continue to grow, not only in the size of the coaching staff and roster, but in terms of facilities, respect and much more.
“The foundation is here,” Storino said. “We’ve got a great alumni base that are really supportive. We raised $40,000 in alumni donations to remodel the locker room in the last two years. … Just the support from the school, it’s Rebel pride and it is nice to bring that back and keep it going.”
Not only is the program on the up-and-up in regard to the future outlook, the Rebels’ season is not over yet as they continue their historic campaign into the PIAA state playoffs next weekend.
