Windber's Charney signs to play football at California (Pa.)
Feb. 3—WINDBER — At first glance, Windber Area High School senior Keith Charney looked like a natural on the gridiron this past season.
Competing in football for the first time in four years, Charney made up for lost time as he quickly became an impact player for the 11-1 Ramblers, who won WestPAC and Appalachian Bowl titles. Charney's natural ability and relative newness to the sport caught the attention of football coaches.
On Wednesday, he signed a National Letter of Intent to join the football program at California University of Pennsylvania.
"A little bit of a surprise, but I put a lot of hard work into my craft," Charney said when asked if signing to play college football after one year on the high school gridiron was a shock.
"I'm excited to show what I got at the next level."
Charney, recruited as a safety, chose the Vulcans after receiving interest from Indiana (Pa.), Shippensburg and St. Francis.
In 2021, California went 9-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) under coach Gary Dunn.
"Just the atmosphere when I was up there on my visit. The coaches were very great people," Charney said of his visit to California.
Charney will major in computer engineering. He was a quick study in 2021.
"I tried to be like a sponge and just soaked up as much as I could through practices and camp and apply it to the regular season," Charney said.
Despite not playing since he was in eighth grade, Charney scored 11 touchdowns in five different ways and picked off four passes on defense in 2021.
He earned spots on The Tribune-Democrat's all-area first team and Pennsylvania Football News Coaches Select All-State Class 2A second team.
"I just think he's probably the most gifted athlete we've had in our school in a decade," Windber coach Matt Grohal said. "It was just like riding a bike for him. He played a little bit in junior high and was probably the best kid on the field. Once he got to summer ball, he just took off with it. I think coming from a basketball family, I don't think anybody thought he would be playing college football.
Charney added another element to a Ramblers squad that returned 21 starters from a 2020 playoff squad. Windber won its first 10 games and earned both WestPAC and Appalachian Bowl crowns before falling to Westinghouse in the District 5-8 Class 2A title game.
"He's just so talented," Grohal said. "His recruiting just blew up in the last few weeks. He had a lot of offers on the table."
On the same token, only playing one season of high school football made Charney more of a hot commodity on the recruiting circuit.
"With all of the college coaches that I spoke to, that was a point of emphasis that his better days are ahead with better coaching, better weight lifting program and better everything," Grohal said.
"He's got the frame to put on 15 or 20 pounds of muscle. The sky's the limit. The way he was able to dominate this year for us was a credit to his upside and his future being really bright."
The fluid 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete compiled 1,220 all-purpose yards, including 491 receiving yards on 30 catches. He also added yardage on punt (255), kickoff (251) and interception (127) returns. Charney also has competed in basketball, golf and track and field at Windber.
Charney will join a California program that includes local graduates Will Spochart (Berlin Brothersvalley), Jacob Ardary (Bishop McCort Catholic), Jackson Daugherty (Ligonier Valley) and the Chestnut Ridge trio of Ian Anderson, Noah Dillow and Logan Pfister.
Charney is the son of Kevin and Anne Charney, of Windber.
Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.
