Anthony Omogrosso's father, Tony, played at Beaver Falls High School in the late 1970s as a standout wide receiver who would earn a scholarship to play at the University of Cincinnati.

"We've talked about it before," the younger Omogrosso said. "He always says, 'Once a Tiger, always a Tiger.'"

If that's true, Omogrosso will forever be a Tiger -- but only starting from this past summer on.

He never was truly a Tiger before that, but now he is a key cog in what is arguably one of the best Beaver Falls teams since his father's playing days.

A transfer from Blackhawk, Omogrosso joined a Beaver Falls team that was coming off an appearance in the WPIAL Class AA championship game and had an established and popular player at quarterback. So Omogrosso, a junior, had more to do than simply assimilate socially into a new school and onto a new football team. He had to win a starting job, and earn the respect of his new teammates.

Omogrosso found that the Tigers were more than willing to accept him as their starting quarterback. The transition has gone smoothly enough and the results have been nothing short of perfect. Beaver Falls is one of only seven undefeated teams in the WPIAL as the semifinals approach. The reasons for the Tigers' success are many and the play of their quarterback certainly is among them.

"I came down for summer workouts, and they were great to me," Omogrosso said. "The coaches, the players, everything, they treated me so well. It was different, but I adjusted quickly and I got into things, and things went really smooth.

"I knew a couple of the players, three or four, but now I know everyone and we're real close ... like family. Like coach [Ryan] Matsook says, the whole team, we're like an extended family. We're just united, and we're playing together really well."

The No. 1 seed Tigers (11-0) will play No. 4 Jeannette (10-1) at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Pine-Richland, and Omogrosso will be at quarterback. Tony Carter, last season's starter at that position, starts in the secondary after Matsook and his staff decided during preseason camp Carter and Omogrosso would best help the team as one-way starters.

"Anthony's been comfortable from day one," Matsook said. "His father works in the district and has been around a lot and always has accentuated the history and tradition of Beaver Falls. That's helped Anthony, and with Blackhawk and Beaver Falls being so close together, he's shared a lot of the same friends and stuff like that, so it's been a pretty smooth transition as far as that goes.

"We felt Anthony gave us the best chance to win at quarterback, and that's not taking anything away from Tony Carter. We still have the utmost of confidence in him. We just had some holes to fill on defense, and Tony's been the best thing for the defense, too, for the team. It's worked out so far."

Omogrosso adapted to the offense rapidly and said he is comfortable with it now. He has completed 44 of 74 passes (59 percent) for 1,070 yards and 11 touchdowns compared to only four interceptions this season.

Perhaps the on-field play has helped in Omogrosso becoming a leader. Only a junior and in his first season on the team, one might not think he would have much cachet with his new teammates. After all, the Tigers boasted talented and established seniors such as Todd Thomas, Kendall Dreher, Ron Boxen and Carter.

Quarterback, however, has long been a position that demands respect and almost requires a personality of a leader.

"It's fun to see how the kids respond to Anthony," Matsook said. "He has worked very hard as far as making sure the kids know where they're going, stuff like that.

"He's a true leader with a lot of ability other than his passing arm. Now he's our quarterback, and we're going to go as far as he takes us."The game

• What: Jeannette (9-1) vs. Beaver Falls (11-0).

• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

• Where: Pine-Richland High School stadium.

• The skinny: This is a rematch of last year's WPIAL Class AA final which Jeannette won, 61-12.