Ex-Southmoreland QB fighting to play at Seton LaSalle, says bullying necessitated school transfer

Anthony Smith should be getting ready for the first football games of his sophomore season.

Instead, the record-breaking quarterback is in court, fighting for the opportunity to play football after the PIAA denied an appeal last week, leaving him ineligible for the season that starts in two weeks.

“I’m optimistic that a Westmoreland County judge is going to look at this with a little more attention than perhaps the sports regulating bodies did,” said attorney Steve Toprani.

He plans to seek an emergency preliminary injunction Tuesday at the Westmoreland County courthouse that would allow Smith to play this year.

Smith’s season has been in jeopardy since the WPIAL on July 21 ruled he was ineligible to play football for a year, finding his transfer from Southmoreland to Seton LaSalle was motivated at least in part by athletics. The decision was appealed and the PIAA upheld it Friday.

A petition filed Sunday by parents Ron and Heather Smith of Scottdale claims their 15-year-old son has been subject to cyber bullying on social media by a Tarrs man for months, which led them to seek a transfer for safety reasons. Testimony presented Friday during the appeal, and at July’s hearing, outlined the concerns, according to Toprani and a letter from the WPIAL to Seton LaSalle.

In the petition, the Smiths claim the WPIAL and PIAA discriminated against Anthony Smith by ruling him ineligible after hearing from Southmoreland officials, who believed the transfer was motivated by athletics. The family says that finding was based on rumors and unsubstantiated claims, according to the filing.

Under PIAA rules, transfers cannot be “motivated in some material way by an athletic purpose.”

Southmoreland is a public school district in rural Westmoreland County with about 550 students in grades 9-12. Seton LaSalle is a private parochial high school in Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny County, with about 400 students, and has been has been ranked among the top 50 Catholic high schools in the U.S.

The cyber bullying by the Tarrs man began in March 2024 when Smith was in eighth grade, the petition states. The online harassment has escalated since then, Toprani said, with 500 or more cryptic posts on X directed at the high schooler.

“Just really creepy behavior,” he said.

The posts don’t identify members of the Smith family by name, but rather use code words or phrases to refer to them, said Ron Smith. There are sometimes as many as four to five a day.

The Tarrs man was involved in a confrontation with the family at a Southmoreland football game Nov. 1, during Smith’s freshman season, according to the filing and a November 2024 letter obtained by the Trib. Ron Smith said Monday that the man started yelling from the stands at his son, who called his mother at halftime.

That incident was the third time the Tarrs man violated the spectator code of conduct and his behavior during at least one 2023 Southmoreland game resulted in his ejection, the letter said. No charges or citations have been filed against him and the family said they haven’t been successful in getting help from Southmoreland officials or authorities.

The situation led to Smith sitting out the spring baseball season over safety concerns, Toprani said.

Throughout the eligibility ordeal, the high schooler has been under a mountain of pressure, and not the kind that comes from the opposing team’s defense. His continued eligibility could hurt a prospective career and impact his academics and college placement, according to the petition.

He’s already gotten three Division I college offers. Smith emerged last season as one of the WPIAL’s top young quarterbacks when he passed for more than 2,000 yards and broke a Southmoreland school record. He threw 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 11 games while completing 53% of his passes (129 of 244).

“Refusing to grant the injunction will cause more harm to Anthony Smith than granting it will to WPIAL/PIAA,” Toprani wrote in the petition. “There is no risk to WPIAL/PIAA in allowing Smith to play football.”

Week Zero games start Aug. 22. Seton LaSalle is set to play North Catholic.

Smith is allowed to practice with his new team, but not play in a scrimmage or game, said his father, who was picking him up from practice Monday afternoon. The ineligibility situation has had a negative impact on all of the Smiths.

“Our whole family, it consumes our life,” Ron Smith said.

In addition to the WPIAL and PIAA, their respective executive directors, Scott Seltzer and Robert Lombardi, were named as defendants. Seltzer declined to comment. Solicitors for WPIAL and PIAA did not respond to messages. Neither did Lombardi.