When you are a WPIAL football player who is headed to Pitt, often, the focus is on you.

That is where Thomas Jefferson senior Dom DeCicco is right now.

DeCicco has given a verbal commitment to coach Dave Wannstedt's program and the ongoing renewal of Panthers football.

That said, DeCicco, 6 feet 3, 205 pounds, knows that the focus is on him this season when he lines up at quarterback, returns kicks, plays a little receiver and also defensive back for the Jaguars.

"You kind of feel like you have to show what you can do all the time," DeCicco said. "You know that there are a lot of local Pitt fans interested in what you are doing and how you are playing. I think it is a little bit of you having to show those Pitt fans that you deserved the scholarship that coach Wannstedt gave you."

In the first four games, DeCicco has given Pitt fans a preview as to what he may do down the road and, at the same time, has shown the Thomas Jefferson fans what it is like to be a premier player in the WPIAL.

He's scored six touchdowns in the first four games -- all wins -- as he's rushed for 221 yards on 17 carries and thrown for 340 yards and seven touchdowns on 18-for-30 passing. DeCicco has also been lights out on Thomas Jefferson's special teams as one of the top return men in the WPIAL.

The long and short of it is this: The Jaguars are 4-0 and ranked No. 1 by the Post-Gazette in both the WPIAL Class AAA rankings and the PIAA rankings largely because of DeCicco.

He's been the most vital cog for a team that, through four weeks, has posted three shutouts and outscored the opposition, 188-14.

"I'm just comfortable this year," DeCicco said. "I just go out there and try to make something happen this year. It has just been where we have had a good team effort, but there is a part of me that knows that I have to make a play a lot of times. My focus has been on that."

DeCicco said he knows how much the fans appreciate his and the team's efforts.

"It is awesome, being in this atmosphere," DeCicco said. "To a lot of people around here, TJ football means a whole lot.

"It is really big and the following is one of the best in the WPIAL. With the whole community being involved, it pushes you to want to do well even more."

Tomorrow, the Jaguars will host Keystone Oaks (3-1, 2-0) in a pivotal Big Seven Conference clash. But the game will be more than an opportunity for Thomas Jefferson to up its conference record to 3-0 -- it will be a chance for DeCicco to match his skills against fellow Pitt lineman recruits Myles Caragein and Chris Jacobson.

It is an opportunity DeCicco relishes.

"I know those guys from going down to Pitt games and seeing them," DeCicco said. "It will definitely be fun to play against them and people will get to see all of us Pitt recruits out on the same field."