Wyoming Area alum Dominic DeLuca makes impact at Blue-White Game as defense prevails

STATE COLLEGE — A state title wasn’t on the line this time. It wasn’t even a full-blown scrimmage for Penn State.

Not that any of that changed how Dominic DeLuca was going to play.

The former Wyoming Area star and state MVP was going to put the same sort of effort into Saturday’s Blue-White Game — which was essentially a practice session this year — as he did into the Warriors’ historic comeback to win the PIAA Class 3A championship back in December 2019.

Back then DeLuca was playing quarterback and safety. He was at linebacker Saturday, closing out spring ball at Beaver Stadium with one interception during live play, another pick during a seven-on-seven drill and a sack for good measure.

Penn State used an offense vs. defense scoring system for the day, and DeLuca accounted for five points in the defense’s four-point victory, 17-13, over the offense.

DeLuca, a redshirt freshman who joined the team as a preferred walk-on in January 2021, wasn’t available for interviews after the day. But he had teammates who were plenty eager to talk him up.

“I’ve been trying to tell y’all about DeLuca,” starting linebacker Curtis Jacobs said with a laugh. “He’s one guy who had a great spring. I feel like if he keeps his momentum up, he’s gonna be a guy y’all gonna be seeing on Saturdays.”

Not bad for a guy who had to effectively start his football career over. That state title win came at the cost of a torn ACL during the game, leading to a year off to rehab during the pandemic.

DeLuca originally arrived in Happy Valley as a safety but was quickly moved up to linebacker last year to help with depth. He appeared in three games for the Nittany Lions on special teams and was recognized at the end of the season by the coaches, who named him co-development squad defensive player of the year.

On Saturday he got plenty of reps — with some coming lined up next to another former Wyoming Valley Conference standout in Robbie Dwyer (Wyoming Valley West/Wyoming Seminary) — and always seemed to be around the ball. DeLuca even drew a flag on the offense when a running back ran a pick on him.

“He’s a gritty guy,” said Jacobs, who also played safety in high school. “He came in when (we were playing the same linebacker position), and he was always asking me questions. Just having that conversation and talking with him made me better.

“So that’s why I really respect him as a person, because he’s just so hungry. He’s not stuck in the walk-on phase where it’s, ‘I’m not gonna play.’ He’s hungry. He’s ready to take somebody’s spot. I just love that hunger and passion he plays with.”

The defense was credited with two points for DeLuca’s sack and three for the interception that came in 11-on-11 play. With a number of offensive linemen banged up, Lions coach James Franklin elected not to have a traditional scrimmage between a Blue squad and a White squad.

“We managed a challenging situation with our offensive line based on numbers,” Franklin said. “I know today wasn’t exactly what the fans or the media wanted, but it was the best thing to do for our program and still maximize the opportunity that we had.”

Franklin added that he prefers having the Blue-White Game actually play out like a real game with two full squads and traditional scoring, a format that he hopes to get back to next spring.

As it was, it was the first time since 2019 that Penn State had a spring event open to fans. The pandemic wiped out all of spring practice in 2020, and the Lions didn’t have a formal Blue-White Game last year.

This time the stadium was open to everyone, and Penn State announced a generous estimate of 62,000 fans in attendance.

It was the first public peek at the 2022 squad with Franklin, who said the Lions will head into training camp in the summer with position battles still to settle on the offensive line, at middle linebacker and at punter.

Sixth-year quarterback Sean Clifford threw the only touchdown during live play, connecting with Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley on a 13-yard swing pass.

Franklin said Clifford had his “best spring” since joining the team.

That includes not just his statistics but his work with a trio of young quarterbacks in redshirt freshman Christian Veilleux and true freshmen Drew Allar and Beau Pribula.

“It’s feedback and I think it’s also how his teammates responded,” Franklin sad. “It’s also how he was with the young quarterbacks. I thought he was tremendous. And then what’s great is you hear that from the young quarterbacks (and also their parents), they talk about their sons talking about how great Sean was with them all spring.”

Clifford had a different offensive coordinator in each of his previous three seasons, so finally getting some stability there and working with Mike Yurcich for a second straight year was a plus.

“I feel so confident. It was my best spring,” Clifford said. “I’m not going to harp on myself that long, but I feel great. My mind is clear, I’m having a blast. This is a great team and a really great group of people. I think we’re talented. I think they’re always listening to the leaders – there’s no fight back, there’s no egos in the room or throughout the whole team. It’s fun to lead this team.”

The offense’s other points on Saturday came courtesy of a 47-yard field goal from Sander Sahaydak and a 43-yarder from Jake Pinegar.