Ligonier Valley alum Aaron Tutino makes most of move to offense at St. Francis (Pa.)

It took a former Westmoreland County star and one of Pennsylvania’s top all-time high school receivers more than four years to find the end zone recently in a college football game.

Aaron Tutino was hoping it wouldn’t take nearly as long to do it again.

Tutino caught 61 touchdown passes at Ligonier Valley from 2015-18, but he didn’t score again until his redshirt junior year at St. Francis (Pa.).

“Time froze when I caught the ball. I couldn’t hear anything,” Tutino said of his 17-yard reception from Cole Doyle that tied the score late in the fourth quarter of a last-second, 37-34 loss to Sacred Heart on Sept. 23 in St. Francis’ home opener.

Despite the Red Flash going on to lose to the Pioneers in their first Northeast Conference game of the season on Sam Renzi’s 40-yard field goal as time expired, Tutino remained in a euphoric state.

“It was incredible,” he said of the exhilaration he felt, even in the aftermath of such a tough setback at DeGol Field in Loretto.

Upon learning of that breakthrough play by one of his former disciples, Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel clapped with glee.

“Aaron is one of my oldest son Zach’s best friends,” he said. “They were in school together all along, and I had a chance to watch them in youth football all the way through high school. We knew how special Aaron was.”

Tutino, who began as a defensive back at St. Francis before moving to wide receiver this season, departed Ligonier Valley in 2018-19 as the PIAA leader in career touchdown receptions.

He ranks second behind Ohio State star Julian Fleming, who amassed a total of 77 while playing at District 3’s Southern Columbia, the six-time defending PIAA Class 2A champion.

“Just to be mentioned with a player of his caliber is something to be proud of,” Tutino said.

For several years alongside Fleming, as among the top playmakers in Pennsylvania high school football, Tutino dazzled onlookers nearly all the way to the PIAA semifinals in 2016 during a spectacular four-year run at then-District 6 power Ligonier Valley.

Fleming, then a freshman, and his Tigers ousted Tutino, then a sophomore, and his Rams that year in the Class 2A semifinals 31-27.

A year later, Tutino helped Ligonier Valley to another PIAA quarterfinals appearance, where the Rams dropped a 23-20 decision to Dunmore. He finished his high school career in 2018 with more than 4,000 receiving yards, including 1,300 as a senior, when he scored 21 touchdowns.

Then, in 2019, when Tutino arrived at St. Francis for his first college training camp, he was disappointed to learn that Red Flash coach Chris Villarrial had plans for the 5-foot-11, 155-pound native of the tiny southeastern Westmoreland County community of Kreger to be groomed as a safety.

“I was recruited as an athlete, and I was expecting to play receiver,” Tutino recalled, even remembering his place on the two-deep roster. “On the first day of camp, I had a defensive jersey in my locker.”

While Tutino didn’t want to immediately embrace his role at St. Francis, an FCS program, he wasn’t about to leave the Cambria County-based school.

Instead, he battled through it while appearing in three games during his first three seasons. He made his college debut as a freshman in the next-to-last game, a 42-6 victory over Wagner.

A canceled year during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 only served as an obstacle for Tutino, who played in one game in 2021 before a shoulder injury in 2022 kept him out of the lineup altogether.

Before the start of this season, however, Tutino’s incessance finally got to Villarrial and convinced the former NFL All-Pro lineman that he’d be more useful on offense.

“I’ve just been really working hard,” Tutino said. “The most important thing is to keep a good state of mind. I was missing the offensive side of the ball. I just really begged for a chance to play on offense. I came back this spring with a different mindset. I was set on being a receiver again.”

And now, Tutino says he’s “finally getting back to my old self.”

Through the season’s first five weeks, he logged five receptions for 59 yards, including a career-long of 22, and returned three punts, including one of 22 yards.

“Aaron is a great kid with toughness and work ethic that’s noticeable,” said Villarrial, a former three-time Division II All-American at IUP, who’s in his 14th season as coach at St. Francis after spending 11 years in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills.

“Aaron has continued to develop a role on the offense and special teams as we move through the season,” Villarrial said. “We’re excited about his progression and his future with our program.”

Tutino understandably sees the present as a more exciting time. Beitel views it as the norm for a player who has won wherever he’s been.

“He did what he did from youth ball all the way up through high school,” Beitel said. “There’s no reason that can’t continue. As soon as he got the ball in his hands, he had the mentality he was going to score. A lot of kids in his position would’ve transferred. A lot of kids would’ve come and gone, yet he’s withstanding. I’m really proud of him.”

With Tutino and massive offensive lineman Wylie Spiker, another future St. Francis recruit, in the lineup at Ligonier Valley, the Rams enjoyed immense success under Beitel while competing as a member of District 6 (they rejoined the WPIAL in 2020 after a 50-year absence). The pair are among six former Ligonier Valley players at FBS or FCS schools.

Spiker, a 6-3, 325-pound junior, had started in 17 consecutive games for St. Francis dating to the start of the 2022 season.

And while Spiker is a fixture in the trenches for the Red Flash, the pressure to impress remains for a player who received few Division I offers.

“When I get in there,” Tutino said, “I know I’ve got to produce. I’ve got to go as hard as I can. I’m a big believer in ‘If I can, I will.’ ”