Westmoreland County college football notes: Hempfield grad Justin Sliwoski trades in cleats for scrubs

With the transfer portal calling his name again, Justin Sliwoski had to reluctantly plug up his ears.

He decided it was time to put everything into his career.

No, not his football career. The former standout quarterback at Hempfield and St. Francis (Pa.) is hanging up his cleats and stepping away from the gridiron as he looks to make his mark in the medical field.

The decision was not an easy one for Sliwoski, who has a fifth (covid) year of eligibility remaining. There were circumstances — several of them — and his final choice was not made flippantly.

The lure of playing at a higher level intrigued him, but he pulled back and thought big picture.

“It’s been a fun journey, and football is a big part of my life, but there was a real-life decision I had to make,” Sliwoski said. “It would have been too much. The options I had were not conducive to my career path.”

Because Sliwoski is studying in his clinical year of medical school at St. Francis, in his final year to become a physician assistant, he is not able to play football as per school policy.

It’s the same as an athlete who pursues a master’s degree at a four-year program that does not offer post-grad sports.

Sliwoski is currently on nine, five-week rotations working hands-on in his field, helping at doctor’s offices, observing and participating in surgeries and doing other things related to his major.

He was helping with an ACL procedure earlier in the summer when he found out N.C. State offered him a full scholarship. The portal was doing its thing.

“I wanted to see what might happen,” he said. “With the portal, you’re able to keep the door open. It was crazy to get offers like I did.

“But I exhausted every option and couldn’t make it work. Trust me when I tell you, I fought.”

The Citadel also offered, and a number of D-I schools showed interest, such as Memphis, Murray State, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern and others.

N.C. State and The Citadel, though, do not offer physician assistant programs.

At this juncture, changing majors or trying to re-enroll at St. Francis later were not realistic plans.

“That’s just it. That was the difficult part,” he said. “There was a time in July when I was like, ‘Hey, I’m playing football this year.’ I was going to do it. It was just too hard.”

Sliwoski won’t play a down this season, but he still has plenty of stories to tell about what might have been.

“I feel like I can look back and be satisfied with all I did,” said Sliwoski, who had one of the top five efficiency ratings in the FCS in 2021. “It’s been a great experience.”

Sliwoski, who is entering his sixth year of college, began his football career as a walk-on at Pitt before transferring to St. Francis. He became a starter after his sophomore year and threw for 1,253 yards and 12 touchdowns. He started six of nine games.

A summer that included an unforgettable experience at the Manning Passing Academy, where he received instruction from Peyton and Eli Manning, seemed to be the perfect lead-in to his redshirt junior season.

But last season, his playing time dwindled as he bounced in and out of the lineup alongside fellow quarterback Cole Doyle, a talented signal caller in his own right and someone who made the preseason Walter Payton Award watch list.

Doyle and Sliwoski both played in 11 games. Doyle was 141 of 216 for 1,931 yards and 21 touchdowns with a passer rating of 169.68. Sliwoski completed 72 of 120 passes for 1,029 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. His completion percentage and rating were 60% and 151.78.

Yacamelli moves to RB

Former Penn-Trafford star Cade Yacamelli, the face of the Warriors’ 2021 WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A football championship runs, spent last season redshirting at Wisconsin.

So that made him a redshirt defensive back.

But don’t peg him as a safety just yet. Yacamelli is heading into training camp in a new but old position. A dream one, at that.

He is moving to running back.

After some impressive spring workouts, the shifty, rocket-legged Yacamelli (6-foot, 213 pounds) is competing to be the No. 3 running back on the preseason depth chart.

Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane said nobody should be surprised if Yacamelli shifted from the defensive backfield to the offensive one.

“You never know with him,” Ruane said. “Why couldn’t he play running back for them?”

Yacamelli was open to play either spot, but he went to Madison with plans to be a safety.

“When they first told me I was moving to running back, my first thought was, ‘Ah, I did all of this work at safety. I feel like I got a lot better,’ ” Yacamelli told Badger247. “But in a way, I was happy. Deep down, I felt like that’s where my heart was at. When I was given the opportunity, I was very excited about it. I am at RBU.”

Yacamelli broke a long run and delivered a memorable hit on special teams during spring ball.

The former Tribune-Review Westmoreland Player of the Year rushed for 1,866 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior and also led the Warriors with 21 receptions for 351 yards and five scores.

Penn-Trafford won its final 11 games to finish 13-2.

“I think he’s a natural at the running back position,” Badgers first-year running backs coach Devon Spalding said to BadgerExtra.com. “I think he plays fast. He has a lot of speed. He shows really good versatility, catches the football well. I’m excited to be able to work with him and continue to watch him grow at the position.”

Technically, Yacamelli shifted from safety to running back last year before Wisconsin played Illinois in coach Paul Chryst’s last game before the former Pitt top man was fired.

Luke Fickell replaced Chryst, and Yacamelli weathered the change, choosing to hang around to his dream school and not test the waters of the transfer portal.

Wisconsin was, after all, his only Power 5 offer.

If Yacamelli doesn’t break through this season, perhaps he will next.

Here’s something interesting to watch: The two men ahead of him on the depth chart likely won’t be with the program next season. Junior Braelon Allen is expected to declare for the NFL Draft, and Chez Mellusi, a grad student, will have completed his time with the Badgers.