Ligonier Valley grad Alex Torrance caps playing career at Waynesburg

Like many players on a football field, Alex Torrance gets very little mention. It doesn’t bother him, though. As a longtime offensive lineman in high school and college, Torrance is used to it.

Really, if you attended one of his games and you didn’t know him, he probably would blend into the woodwork.

“The way it was best explained to me is that offensive linemen are a lot like an air conditioning unit,” Torrance said. “You only notice when it doesn’t work.”

A Ligonier Valley graduate who was a sophomore on the Rams’ PIAA Class 2A semifinalist team in 2016, Torrance is just one of hundreds of guys who’ve performed similar thankless tasks on the gridiron at various colleges around the region.

In unceremonious fashion, the 6-foot, 275-pound graduate student Saturday played his final game at Waynesburg, a member of the Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

“I tried not to think about it, but the closer and closer it got, I realized my body was telling me it was time,” Torrance said.

Quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers. These are the guys who get their names called. Time and again, they have the football in their hands. And on defense, you’re always prone to make a tackle, which gets you mentioned more times than not on the loud speaker.

But those offensive linemen, guys like Torrance? When do you hear the public address announcer say, “Block by Alex Torrance?” When?

Um, never?

Arguably, the only time an offensive lineman might hear his name called is when he recovers a fumble.

“Playing down there in the trenches, it’s definitely taught me that you have to be obsessed with what you’re doing, even to be just good enough,” Torrance said. “As an offensive lineman, there’s so many little things going on that if you’re not obsessed, you’re never going to get the outcome you want.”

Joining Torrance on the Waynesburg roster as an offensive lineman from Westmoreland County was sophomore Jacob Briskey, from Latrobe.

In their regular-season finale against W&J, they likely saw some familiar faces on the Presidents’ side. Two offensive linemen from the county included sophomore Ryan Eutsey (Mt. Pleasant) and freshman AJ Clemens (Norwin).

Other offensive lineman from the county’s high schools playing at PAC member schools include:

• Bethany (W.Va.): Freshman Elijah Morgan-Washington (Greensburg Salem).

• Case Western Reserve: Sophomore Garrett Moorhead (Penn-Trafford) and freshman Nick Petrucci (Franklin Regional).

• Grove City: Sophomore Luke Jollie (Jeannette).

• Saint Vincent: Seniors Christian Ciecierski (Franklin Regional) and Connor Petrunak (Greensburg Central Catholic) and freshmen Dean Crissman (Greensburg Central Catholic) and Daniel Calabrace (Latrobe).

• Westminster: Junior Dylan Llewellyn (Franklin Regional) and freshmen Braden Mika (Kiski Area) and Jack Crider (Kiski Area).

Torrance’s brothers, running back Ryan and offensive lineman Adam, also played football at Ligonier Valley. Ryan Torrance went on to play running back at W&J, graduating in 2014.

Alex Torrance has spent his entire time in organized football playing as an offensive lineman.

It’s a thankless job to the casual observer. But, it’s been a blessing, he said, to fill a role of helping with dirty work, grinding and general unsung duties.

“I think that my brothers having played in high school ahead of me helped me to get into playing the game,” Alex Torrance said.

Torrance officially graduated from Waynesburg in 2022 and played this season while working toward a master’s degree in accounting, where he already is gaining experience while working at a local accounting office.

At Ligonier Valley, Torrance earned an associate degree from Westmoreland Community College as part of its high school program.

“Playing football,” he said, “has kept me disciplined and helped me stay locked in.”