Saturday, October 6, 2007

Friday night thoughts, Week 6

Burgettstown outplayed Steel Valley during the first half of Friday night's Century Conference game, which was won by the Ironmen, 39-7. The Blue Devils, however, made too many mistakes to win.

Quarterback Brenden Bongiorni can play football at the next level. He displays a strong arm and a nice touch, particularly on deep throws. Burgettstown receivers dropped two long passes that should have been touchdowns. If those were caught, the outcome may have changed.

Blue Devils linebacker Dan Conley is a stud. He dominated the first half. If I'm a Cal U coach, I'm after this kid big time.

Ringgold will finish second in the Keystone Conference and host a playoff game. Mark it down.

Chartiers Valley is the second best team in Class AAA. I'm choosing to ignore the Colts' second-week loss to undefeated Montour. CV vs. TJ is the Class AAA Game of the Year.

Trinity should finish third in the Big Seven. Could the Hillers be headed to Ringgold for a first-round playoff game?

When's the last time Wash High won a game on a last-second field goal? (Staff writer Jim Montecalvo claims he did it at least six times during his Prexies' career.) Honestly, I have no idea. Kudos to E.J. Powell on his 25-yarder with four seconds left to give Washington a 16-14 win at Brentwood. It may have been non-conference but it's Washington's biggest win since shutting out Aliquippa in the first round of the 2005 WPIAL Class AA playoffs.

Was Bentworth inspired by me picking Avella? Wow, 67 points. Didn't see that coming.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure but I think:

The last time WHS won on a late or game-ending field goal was 1993(Jason Bainer) in overtime at Mt. Lebanon Stadium to defeat West Allegheny, 17-14, in the WPIAL semifinals. A week later, the Prexies won their first WPIAL title in 67 years, 12-7, over Riverside.

Anonymous said...

Do you still think Mapletown is a playoff lock?

Anonymous said...

As Mike stated a couple of weeks ago, C-H's Brad Banas is a "tough hombre." The kid is a real strong defensive player. He's better suited to play RB than QB. I'm real impressed.

Monessen's backup running back, David Jeffries, is as good as Cordaro Jackson, the starter. Jeffries is a sophomore.

If things stay as thought, Monessen could be headed for a semifinals showdown with its friends from Serra Catholic. These old basketball rivals might just light up the scoreboard if they meet in the WPIAL post-season. That would be a "must-see" game.

For now, the leading candidates for Coach of the Year in your coverage area, include (in no specific order) -- Matt Taylor (Burgettstown), Joe Rossi (South Fayette), Andy Pacak (Monessen) --with Jeff Petrucci (Ringgold) charging hard.

Trinity will give TJ a huge scare Thursday. Just a hunch!

Washington is one victory away from 600. Monessen is six away from 600. The Greyhounds need to go undefeated and reach the WPIAL championship game to reach the milestone in 2007.

CV won't have a chance to make the finals without its top rusher, who was injured Friday.

What is the matter with Beth-Center? The Bulldogs poo-pooed the loss of defensive coordinator Dennis Garrett -- now at Jeff-Morgan -- but it might just be more significant of a loss than anyone at B-C cared to consider.

mike_kovak said...

Thanks for the responses everyone. And, no, Mapletown is no longer a playoff lock. Did any notice after I said that, I picked the Mikes to beat the Maples. Yeah, my brain is a weird one.

It would be nice to see Monessen reach the semifinals, and I believe they have a great chance to get there.

I want to see what happens when Serra is finally challenged. It happened twice last year and they lost both games.

I agree with the Coach of the Year candidates. For now, Matt Taylor gets my vote (and yes, I have a vote).

Burgettstown may have been blown out Friday night but if the Blue Devils made two goalline catches, the outcome is significantly different. And I'm very glad I got the chance to see Dan Conley play. He may not be as big as the Trinity linebackers, but Conley would start for every team I've watched play this year. That includes Trinity and C-M.

I did a story during the preseason on B-C tradition where I touched on Garrett's departure. In my mind, he is the best defensive coordinator around and a guy who should be a head coach. Not to mention, he's one heckuva nice guy.

And, yes, Santino Coury's injury greatly affects Char Valley's chances in the WPIAL playoffs. That's too bad as the Colts are the best team I've seen this year.

Anonymous said...

David Jeffries is a pure all around athlete who deserve's more than 3 carries a game sophomore are not...you should see him on the basketball court poetry in motion