Saturday, October 13, 2007

Friday night thoughts

The last time a local team beat a WPIAL power the way McGuffey beat Greensburg Central Catholic last night happened when Trinity stunned Penn Hills in the opening round of the 2005 Class AAAA playoffs.

McGuffey's win certainly bolsters the Highlanders playoff hopes. The Garnder Points earned by beating GCC definitely helps. It could also hurt Wash High's chances. Washington had early-season losses to Jeannette, GCC and East Allegheny and that gives McG the Gardner Points advantage. The season ending game between McGuffey and Washington could be for third place and it's a tribute to both that they've put themselves back in the playoff hunt.

Every time I see Wash High's Ramonte Barfield play football, he makes at least two big plays. He made three Friday night against Yough.

Burgettstown pretty much wrapped up one of three playoff spots in the Century Conference with last night's win over Brentwood. Matt Taylor gets my vote for coach of the year.

This might sound strange but the Chartiers-Houston defense deserves recognition for its recent performances against Serra Catholic and Monessen. The Bucs held Serra, the state's second highest scoring team, to 33 points Friday. The week before, they held a powerful Monessen offense to 15 points in an overtime loss.

The winner of the upcoming Beth-Center at Fort Cherry game could end up with a home playoff game.

If Canon-McMillan can manuever itself into the postseason, I still believe the Big Macs will be a very difficult matchup.

If the season ended this weekend, I'd probably name Trinity's Mike Yancich as the O-R Player of the Year. California's Donte Valentino, Trinity's Andrew Sweat, Burgettstown's Dan Conley and C-M's Mike Hull also deserve consideration.

3 comments:

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Anonymous said...

What about Washington's 7-0 win over Aliquippa in the 2005 playoffs?

mike_kovak said...

Washington's 7-0 win over Aliquippa can be considered an upset, but it's not on the same level as Trinity's win over Penn Hills.

Here's why:

1. Washington's defense was absolutely dominant toward the end of 2005. Shutouts were common for that group.

2. Aliquippa was seeded No. 3 simply because it was Aliquippa. The Quips were big-time overrated that year. No playmakers. No quarterback. Should have never been seeded that high.

3. The MAC has been down for a couple years now.

4. Washington had the better coaching. I remember. I covered the game, which I picked Washington to win. The guy on the other sideline get a ton of credit and I never understood why.