Wyoming Area’s Dominic DeLuca named a Penn State captain for 2023 at Blue-White Game

STATE COLLEGE — Dominic DeLuca was one of the stars of the 2022 Blue-White Game. A year later, he found himself in the spotlight without even playing.

The former Wyoming Area star continued his remarkable rise at Penn State on Saturday as coach James Franklin announced that DeLuca will serve as a team captain for the 2023 season. DeLuca dealt with an injury through the spring and spent Saturday’s 10-0 victory by the Blue squad on the sideline, but his role is set to grow this fall.

DeLuca (special teams) joins a top NFL prospect in tackle Olu Fashanu (offense) and a fifth-year senior in safety Keaton Ellis (defense) as the core leadership group for the year, with the possibility of more captains being added during training camp.

“It gives us a really good understanding of who the team sees as leaders right now, going into the summer and leaning on them,” Franklin said.

Consider that DeLuca arrived in Happy Valley in January 2021 as a walk-on coming off of major knee surgery. He was almost immediately asked to move from safety to linebacker because of depth issues.

Just two years later, he’s already on scholarship and one of the most respected members of a roster that will likely be ranked in the preseason top 10.

“Ever since I’ve seen Dom when I came to the program, he’s always been the example of how you do everything right,” said budding star Abdul Carter, a fellow linebacker. “Whether that’s special teams, whether that’s on defense, even off the field — he just does everything right.”

Heading into the season, much of the attention is on the quarterback room, where either Drew Allar or Beau Pribula will take over, and how that new starter meshes with a relatively inexperienced group of receivers.

But one of Franklin’s biggest concerns is team leadership and replacing a large group of veterans that led the Lions to an 11-2 record and a Rose Bowl victory last season.

“We had veteran, strong leaders that had been around forever, guys that had been multiple-year captains,” Franklin said. “So it’s going to be different than it was last year. Instead of there being four to six really strong voices in the locker room, there may be 12 to 16 that aren’t as strong as those four to six but still have that same impact, kind of spread out.”

A large part of that responsibility now falls on DeLuca, who is heading into his redshirt sophomore season in college after leading Wyoming Area to a 2019 PIAA championship despite playing on a torn ACL in the state title game.

DeLuca served as a game captain multiple times in 2022 for his standout play on kickoff and punt coverage, highlighted by a blocked punt in the White Out win over Minnesota. And it all started with a Blue-White Game performance last April that included an interception during the live scrimmage, another pick during seven-on-seven work and a sack.

This year’s edition was also controlled by the defense, as the pass rush led by Dani Dennis-Sutton (two sacks) had both Allar and Pribula under duress for much of the afternoon.

“I thought Dani was unblockable out there,” Franklin said. “He’s going to have a big year for us. I couldn’t be more excited about him.”

The lone touchdown came in the first quarter when Allar stepped up in the pocket, came off his primary read and hit a wide-open Omari Evans, who then crashed his way into the end zone for a 28-yard score.

Allar went 19-for-30 for 202 yards and no turnovers. And he’s well aware of the work that he is expected to put in on his own between now and the start of training camp in August.

“I think (the chemistry with the receivers) is good right now,” Allar said. “But as coach Franklin said, it’s gonna be a huge summer for us. We’re gonna take a lot of pride working out, getting our timing down and our chemistry down. Because we can really take this passing game as far as we want to go.

“It’s definitely going to take a lot of work. But I know everybody is willing to put in that work.”

KeAndre Lambert-Smith is by far the most experienced returning target. He and Harrison Wallace have been the top options during the spring with the coaches looking for more to step up.

Franklin was particularly pleased with Saturday’s performances by second-year wideouts Evans (five catches, 80 yards) and Kaden Saunders (4 catches, 57 yards). The Lions are also set to bring in a potential difference-maker via the transfer portal in Dante Cephas, who is finishing up academic work at Kent State this semester.

“We need six (wide receivers) that we feel like we can win the Big Ten with,” Franklin said. “And I think we have six guys on our current roster that can do it. But they gotta step up.

“So we can’t throw enough (during the summer). Whether it’s on air, whether it’s seven-on-seven against the defense that they’re doing on their own, they can’t throw enough to build that consistency and that chemistry.”

INFIRMARY REPORT

Among those stuck watching on Saturday were top tight ends Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, defensive tackles Hakeem Beamon and Coziah Izzard, linebacker Tyler Elsdon and safety Jaylen Reed.

The good news, Franklin said, is that none of their injuries are considered to be serious.

“We anticipate all those guys being back,” Franklin said. “Just some bumps and bruises and things like that. We expect all those guys to be back and ready to go. They just weren’t ready to go this spring.”

Though DeLuca was a spectator, fellow Wyoming Area alum Blaise Sokach-Minnick got some work as a long snapper for the White squad.

AWARD SEASON

Penn State handed out its spring awards during the game, led by linebacker Curtis Jacobs and running back Nick Singleton, who won the Jim O’Hora and Red Worrell awards as the spring’s top defensive and offensive players, respectively.

Fashanu and Ellis shared the Frank Patrick Total Commitment Award and the Coaches Special Teams award went to new starting long snapper Tyler Duzansky.