Seneca Valley’s eighth grade football team finishes undefeated season
For over three decades, students in the Seneca Valley School District have known Eric Semega as one of their math teachers. Others know Semega as the longtime manager of the Seneca Valley High School baseball team.
But during this football season, Semega doubled — or tripled — as head coach for the team at Ryan Gloyer Middle School.
“I have always loved all sports, so when I got hired at Seneca Valley, I wanted to get involved with as many sports as possible as a coach,” Semega said.
Ryan Gloyer Middle School’s football is divided into two teams, a “Black” team for all 8th-graders, and a mixed “Blue” team with both 7th and 8th-graders. Semega’s team, the Black, finished undefeated with a 6-0-1 record in 2025.
“I wouldn’t say there was a secret to our success,” Semega said. “I feel like our team was in it for each other and picked up teammates at all times. They had great communication. We had great team speed. We had players create a lot out of nothing...because of their IQ and speed.”
Most impressive of the six wins, according to Semega, was their dominating win over Woodland Hills.
“They scored 36 points in the first quarter, with 1:15 still left in the quarter,” Semega said. “Our defense created four of those touchdowns.”
Even the one blemish on the black team’s record was a moral victory of sorts, a tie against North Allegheny, according to assistant coach Tim O’Shea.
“We tied North Allegheny in a deluge of rain that limited our ability to throw,” O’Shea said.
It remains to be seen whether or not the 8th-graders will proceed to the next level and make an impact on the Raiders’ high school team, which finished with a 4-6 record in 2025.
“It’s hard to say how many of the 42 players that played this year will stick with football,” Semega said. “What I do know is, there are a lot of difference-makers on this team who are able to do the same at the next level in the years to come.”
