Football

Two Tigers will stay together

By Scott Franco

sfranco@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Since eighth grade, Hollidaysburg Area High School teammates Wyatt Maines and Hunter Albright have been playing football side-by-side on the playing field ... literally.

You see, one's a tackle and one's a guard on an offensive line that recently helped the Golden Tigers finish the 2024 season at 13-1.

Did they get along? Did they enjoy each other's company? Well, they must have because on Thursday afternoon in the lobby outside the senior high gymnasium, both players signed their letters-of-intent to play at Saint Francis University this fall. They are part of a 13-player class that was announced on Thursday by the university.

"We actually got offered at the exact same time," said Albright, who's listed at 6-foot-5, 313-pounds. "All three years of varsity, we have been playing next to each other. We played next to each other in junior high. We have that chemistry and that connection from that."

Both players emphasized that they loved that they could play for an FCS school (Division I-AA) and still be close to home.

"I've been going to camps there since I was a kid," said Maines, who measures out at 6-foot-5, 276 pounds. "It's close to home. My sister (Brooke) goes there. The coaches believe in me, and I believe in them."

Red Flash offensive line coach Cullen Casey is one of the reasons why both players are headed up the mountain to Loretto.

"When they started to recruit our class, they came at Hunter and I pretty early," Maines said.

"Coach Casey has been a part of the recruiting process the whole way and he is my favorite coach," added Albright.

The lobby was crowded with the duo's teammates from this past season, as well as members of the coaching staff, school administrators as well as family and friends.

"We get a chance to see them play, 20 minutes up the road," said a smiling Golden Tigers coach Homer DeLattre. "That is special for them, for our program and for our kids. We haven't had a player up there for a couple of years."

Rodney Chism, an assistant coach at Hollidaysburg who works with the linemen, believes the Red Flash, who went 4-7 this past season but lost three games by one score each, are getting more than just talented football players.

"I think they saw in both Wyatt and Hunter what we saw here in them, a good work ethic, level-headed young men, coachable young men who work hard, who keep grinding," he said.

Both received several Division I offers but only as walk-ons from the likes of Penn State, Virginia Tech and James Madison. Both players said getting a chance to play right away was a big factor in their decision, as well as the scholarship offers.

"For me and my family and my situation, I wouldn't be going to college if I didn't have this opportunity from Saint Francis," Albright said.

"If I can go to school for free and get on the field early, I am going to do that," added Maines.

Both players have been told they will get their chance on the offensive line. Maines played tackle while Albright, who missed a good part of his senior season with a foot injury, can play center, guard or tackle.

"In Wyatt, they are getting a big, athletic, very aggressive player with a great football mentality," DeLattre said. "With Hunter, they are getting a really strong, interior guy who can get them some push. When you are an offensive lineman, you need that push sometimes. He is body developed and a ready player."

Maines plans to major in business while Albright will major in exercise physiology.