Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Stopper In The Middle

Andrew Pascuzzi is built like a wrestler. senior is 5-foot-9, 170 pounds and leather-tough. Despite being told he isn't "big enough," he leads the Colonials with 34 tackles in seven games.

Plymouth Whitemarsh is 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the Suburban One League, with Upper Merion coming up on Saturday. Then, the Colonials host Norristown on Friday, November 4, which closes Plymouth Whitemarsh’s regular season.

A big reason why the Colonials are among the top teams in PIAA District 1 Class AAAA this season is the play of Pascuzzi, a team captain.

“People always say that I’m tiny, and I can say that I do play with a little something to prove,” Pascuzzi said. “I like being challenged. Last game, Cheltenham had a pretty decent sized kid at running back, but no matter what, I was going to hit him as hard as I could. It’s the way I play, I hit them as hard as I could, and I get back up and hit them again.”

This season has gone a little better than what Pascuzzi expected. He’s watched the Colonials program bounce from going winless team his freshman year, to 3-8 as a sophomore and 6-5 last year. Now PW is 6-1, and seems guaranteed a top seed in the District 1 playoffs.

Just don’t tell Pascuzzi that. He still has more hitting to do.

“The next two games I’m pretty confident about, and we have to keep the attitude that we’re not better than anyone; it’s always about working hard,” Pascuzzi said. “I’ll just keep playing hard.”