Normally, Friday night thoughts begins with an observation. This week starts with a question.
Who will coach Trinity during next Friday's game at Belle Vernon?
Head coach Ed Dalton was ejected during the first half of Friday's shutout loss to Chartiers Valley following his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. According to rule, anyone ejected from a game must sit out the following week.
* How good is Clairton?
Spoke with a writer who covered the game and he said Fort Cherry played pretty well considering the competition. Clairton won, 55-7.
Clairton is very good and the Bears will take over the top spot in the Observer-Reporter WPIAL Class A rankings.
** The Varsity Letters came away impressed with the overall effort of Beth-Center.
The Bulldogs, baring a major slip, put a stranglehold on the Tri-County South Conference with their 35-13 victory over Monessen.
Sophomore Jeff Tarley and Joshua Lockett, a transfer from T.C. Williams High School of Remember the Titans fame, combine for a dynamic, durable backfield.
Still, the straw that stirs Beth-Center's drink is senior quarterback Dom Moore, who follow the coaches' game plan to near perfection. Moore is one of the toughest players the Varsity Letters has seen this year.
*** Big wins for a couple big-name schools.
Canon-McMillan, which couldn't score at Butler, puts up 28 on stingy Upper St. Clair. Big, big win for the Big Macs and it rekindles conference championship possibilities.
Peters Township also scored with a 9-6 win over Baldwin. If the Indians can beat a winless Mt. Lebanon, they'll make the playoffs in their first year back in Quad-A.
Wash High might not make the playoffs but picking up its first win has to be a sigh of relief for the Prexies.
McGuffey should be able to finish fourth in the Interstate Conference after whipping South Allegheny.
**** Ringgold quarterback Shane Mountain threw for 340 yards in the Rams' comeback victory over Elizabeth Forward.
At 4-1, Ringgold looks more like a playoff team every week. If the Rams can beat Trinity, they could finish third in the Big Seven Conference.
***** Chartiers-Houston certainly made a statement by winning big at Frazier in a game the Varsity Letters figured to be much closer.
At 3-0, 5-0, C-H is off to its best start in years.
Up next? Clairton.
****** Finally, it's good to see Carmichaels senior Joby Lapkowicz return from a broken ankle suffered while sliding awkwardly into home plate during the Mikes win over Serra Catholic in the PIAA Class A baseball semifinals.
Lapkowicz is one of the better multi-sport athletes around and I'm sure Mikes fans were happy to see him throw for 281 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Jefferson-Morgan.
23 comments:
well we might as well crown clairton state champs now, geez 55-7. I'm a believer for sure now! What i was impressed with most though was Canon-McMillan's big win over USC. This win showed the team and coaches character hanging in there and getting a crucial win towards winning the conference. In past years CM has been the team always coming up short (CM vs McKeesport last year), but this years team has proved it can win the tough ones. I think this team is isn't as talented as the 05 team with doug rheam and company, but i think they will manage to fight their way through the playoffs if they can continue to play defense and put points on the board.
Was Joe Tuscano drunk when he wrote his article? Wow, so Sean Lee was CM's kicker years ago? And USC had all the moment? And 3 drops cost Roach at lead another 50 yards? Cmon Joe, you're better than that. Thank God for Kovak.
I feel C-M made a major step toward securing a home playoff game in the first round.
Ringgold beat EF despite turning the ball over 4 or 5 times, missing two extra points, and missing a chip shot field goal. The week before, Ringgold was putting it to TJ before TJ's depth started to prevail. Ringgold plays Chartiers Valley this coming week, and I would not be suprised if Ringgold beat them. I could see RHS hosting a playoff game this year.
Clairton is #1 in the WPIAL class A for sure...however there are two teams east of State College that are looming large for the PIAA single A state title...the Steelton-Highspire Rollers and the Southern Columbia Tigers. Southern Columbia is a force every single year in the state and the Rollers return almost their entire team from last years team that won the state title over Serra.
Clairton is going to be a tough out in the WPIAL playoffs. I'm interested to see how Char-Houston plays against the bears. The other teams to watch out for in single A are Beth Center, Avonworth and, of course, Rochester. Those 4 teams should be the final 4 for the Class A title. I truly believe though that all roads are pointing towards another rematch of Clairton/Rochester...this time for the title at Heinz.
If you are reading this, make an effort to get to Houston Friday night and check out the bucs and bears...Clairton has a truly special team this year and are a fun team to watch...their speed is absolutely amazing. If it wasnt for a lack of depth (because Clairton is the 8th smallest school in the WPIAL) they could hang with some AAA teams.
Hope to see a good turn out in Houston on Friday night...
Great Win for CM. I think this team will suprise all of us this season. i think JD should focus more on his school work down there in Ohio but he is always right in what he says
my grades are fine thank you.
Hey anonymous, when exactly was Ringgold "putting it" to TJ? In fairness, the Rams actually look pretty good this year and coach Petrucci is doing an awesome job - but they lost to TJ by 34 points. The half time score doesn't mean anything - I was there. TJ was flat, made a few adjustments at the half - then blew Ringgold out of the water. Ringgold wasn't tired, most of TJ's starters play both ways too; the game really turned after halftime - when BOTH teams should have been fresh anyway. Remember - if Wehner had been a little more accurate with a few of his passes in the first half, the Rams would have been down by a lot more than just 6 at the half. Wow - what does it say about TJ when people are kind of excited about losing to them by ONLY 34 points?!?
What happened to TJ in that season-opening game? Did they win? Never did see a score.
I'm sure you know what happened in TJ's season opener. Any other team in the Big 7 would have lost by double or triple. You have to give it up for TJ, whether you like them or not. Remember they are kids working hard, too.
Listen, talk about the Jaguars all you want but NO TEAM in the WPIAL has been more consistent year in year out than Thomas Jefferson...this just simply sounds like a little bit of jealousy coming out...
The Tarblooders of Cleveland Glenville (TJ's opening game) boasts 9 D-1 starters, are coached by Ted Ginn Sr, and are probably the 2nd best team in the entire state of Ohio next to St. Xavier out of Cincinnati, who is one of the top teams in the country in high school football. To be honest, I'm surprised TJ had that game as close as they did...there isnt another team in PA that could even come close to Glenville.
I'm not sure, i think Gateway could stay fairly close...
tough to say vctmbrian, i think they would have been able to keep it as close as TJ...maybe a little closer...but that team out of Glenville is ridiculously good. Glenville backed off a little towards the end.
You might be right, Gateway is good...they still wouldnt have beat them i dont believe.
anonymous...
TJ was the better team. I will not dispute that. TJ did not come out flat: we game planned all week and were ready. We were hitting you guys in the face, and you were not used to it. All of the big plays were broken plays. If we did not shank the punt we would have led at half time, and the game would have been totally different. However, I want no bad blood, and best of luck the rest of the season.
ya ringgold did hold tj to 23 yards rushing in the first half before depth takes over.. and ringgold also missed a field goal which would have extended the lead they already had but it just shows how depth makes a huge difference.. and Gateway would own glenville, i mean, gateways only ranked like #3 in the entire USA
my friend...google "Glenville Tarblooders" and look at that team. I'm just like everyone else, I like to think that all of our local teams are the best teams in the country when it comes to high school football...and for the most part, select teams around here can compete with just about anyone, especially Gateway...but "own" Glenville? You obviously dont have much knowledge of high school ball outside of the WPIAL. I'll admit, Gateway could probably keep it closer than i initially thought, however they would not "own" Glenville. And, for the record, Gateway is #6 in the country according to rivals.com with Glenville coming in at #25...however neither team is ranked in the top 25 according to maxpreps.com. Not that it matters because these rankings are nothing more than cosmetics...they just give people like us something to talk about...you'll never know who is actually better, they're never going to play one another.
The Monessen powers that be should really look into pulling a Lane Kiffin on head coach Andy Pacak.
Here is the story on TJ's opening game...when the WPIAL realigned, Belle Vernon became part of the Big 7 Conference which meant they could no longer open the season with TJ, and TJ had to find a new opening week opponent. Of the area teams who had an opening as well and could have played TJ to start the season - none of them would agree to play TJ. It was mostly AAA teams, but there were a few AAAA teams who turned Cherp down as well. So TJ was left without an opening week game. Long story short, the people in West Virginia needed a WPIAL team and Cherp agreed to it. Glenville is actually in the top 20 or 30 HS football teams in the entire country - and TJ still played them pretty close for a half until their size and speed became too much. Glenville, by the way is able to "hand-pick" their team each year from within the Greater Cleveland city limits - in some ways they are like Perry of our City League. They had somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 or 8 legitimate division one players on their roster. The lightest guy on their offensive line was around 280, and maybe only 2 or 3 of their kids even played both ways. TJ actually did a great job against a team that had a huge man-power advantage over them. Don't worry, TJ will be heard from in the playoffs, and I bet Ringgold will get another shot at them - but be careful what you wish for. By the way...in my opinion, national rankings for HS football are kind of a joke - but Glenville is the real deal. Gateway or maybe Central Catholic could have probably faired better against them than TJ did; but at least Cherp wasn't afraid to schedule the game in the first place.
It is my belief that Glenville would be PIAA Class AAAA champs if they were in the state.
Right now, Ohio high school football is a little better than PA high school football.
TJ was the better team. I will not dispute that. TJ did not come out flat: we game planned all week and were ready. We were hitting you guys in the face, and you were not used to it. All of the big plays were broken plays. If we did not shank the punt we would have led at half time, and the game would have been totally different. However, I want no bad blood, and best of luck the rest of the season.
.......yes, you gameplanned all week and did a fairly good job in the first half until the second half showed just how good petrucci is...he sure made a lot of adjustments
actually, my high school football is very high thanks.. maybe "own" wasnt the right word, but i think there are better teams out there than glenville, such as lakeland florida, who put up 21 first quarter points against pittsburgh central catholic within the 6 minute mark of the first quarter if i remember right
I agree the second half adjustments were not there for Ringgold vs. TJ.
I've always wanted to see a PA State Champ vs Ohio State Champ game. Obviously this will never happen though for a plethora of reasons but it would be neat to see how they matched up against each other. Sure the Big 33 is played but IMO that has become hs football's Pro Bowl and kinda useless. A great honor to be in, but useless.
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