There's a three-pack of excellent games involving local teams.
South Fayette (3-0, 3-0) at Sto-Rox (3-0, 3-0)
These Century Conference rivals are two of the top teams in Class AA and each features one of the WPIAL's better quarterbacks.
Sto-Rox has Penn State recruit Paul Jones, who returned last week from an ankle injury to throw for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those went to Pitt recruit Andrew Carswell.
The Lions counter with junior Christian Brumbaugh, who passed for three scores in last week's win over Keystone Oaks. Tailback Jeff Davis has rushed for over 100 yards in all three games and has scored nine touchdowns.
Fort Cherry (1-0, 3-0) at Serra Catholic (1-0, 3-0)
A key early season contest in the Class A Black Hills Conference will likely come down to how well Fort Cherry, playing its first road game, handles senior quarterback Ron Heatherington.
A first year starter at quarterback, Heatherington is an absolute menace. He's passed for 308 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 367 yards and another five scores. He's coming off a huge performance at Burgettstown.
Sophomore Tanner Garry is the Rangers' first-year quarterback and he's played well to date, throwing for 318 yards and four touchdowns. For Fort Cherry to beat Serra, which it did a year ago, establishing Gary Kiefer (306 yards, 7 TD) is essential.
Jefferson-Morgan (1-0, 3-0) at Beth-Center (1-0, 2-1)
Looking for an intense rivalry? This is it. These neighboring schools districts always play a tight game, no matter the disparity between the teams.
And this year, there's little disparity to find as both look like early contenders in the Class A Tri-County South Conference.
The Rockets opened with three easy victories and got the offense rolling in each. They're the highest scoring team in WPIAL Class A with 123 points as Hans Lubich, Ryan Knight, Derek Haiden and quarterback Brandon Kozich are all enjoying fine seasons.
The Bulldogs are still searching for an identity on offense having scored just one offensive touchdown during a win last week over Carmichaels. As always, Beth-Center plays some of the toughest defense in the classification. The Bulldogs have allowed 19 points and no more than seven in any game.
7 comments:
While the consensus on the local message boards seem to be with Beth-Center, I am leading towards Jefferson-Morgan.
How much longer does Haiden last in Greene County? Or maybe he heads to Waynesburg in a couple of years.
as i sit here and watch Central pound USC a question keeps flashing in my mind. How stupid are the rankings? Not just in high school but in college also. Ok, Central has a bad week and now all of the sudden they arent one of the best teams in Quad A in the WPIAL? Same with Clairton? Aliquippa? These teams lose 1 game and then all of the sudden we are supposed to believe that there are 5 or 6 teams better than them? Does anyone think that Central is no better than the 6th best team in Quad A? Does anyone really believe that Clairton is going to lose another game this year? Farrell lost 2 games to start last season and were 45 seconds from going to hershey. the quips lost a few early and they too were seconds away from hershey. All of these rankings are a joke. At least highschool isnt decided by who is ranked higher to determine a champion, but even still...
Since high school rankings mean nothing other than to spark debate and conversation, it is amusing to read them and wonder where the decisions come from...For example, Bell Vernon was ranked #5 in AAA going into last week's game vs Char Valley and all they did was beat the tar out of two teams (Southmoreland and Laurel Highlands) by a combined score of 94-17 and it can easily be argued that those two schools are the worst two football teams in AAA. The Big 7 preseason voting between the coaches had BVA as 7th - so they win two games in blowout fashion against horrible competition and they crack the top 5...Ringgold put up 59 pts against Southmoreland last week and all it means is that Ringgold took care of business against a weak team..By the way, that Southmoreland team would have trouble beating most JV teams....There is little to no athleticism at all on that team..No size.....Yet beating that team put BVA in the rankings..
Clairton 53
Bentworth 0
Really not much to say, a boring game.
What I really want to talk about is Fort Cherry. Hats off to the Rangers for beating Serra. I was checking scores all night and when i saw Serra take an early 21-7 lead i figured the game was over. I almost spit my coffee out this morning when i checked the scores. Ill be honest, I didnt give FC a second thought this season. I really thought they were young, a tad over-rated...maybe not so much. This really sets up a BIG match-up next week in McDonald between the bears and rangers. I cant wait...
Clairton alum- I agree it should be a sweet game this week and hopefully not as one-sided as last year. A lot of those seniors last year laid down and played timid, hence the beating. Clairton is also a tough place to play on the road, when you're used to driving down the road to podunk Avella, Char Houston, Btown, and Bentworth.
I look for another high-scoring, similar game to the FC-Serra game. I was at the FC game and many thought it was going to be a rout, but FC made some nice adjustments, and really harassed Heatherington in the 2nd half. Clairton might still have a little too much speed for FC, but those kids showed some real resiliency and toughness last night, and I think got a real confidence boost from that win, especially all those first-year starters.
Lookin' forward to a great game that should determine the conference champ.
I agree...I think this week determines the conference champ in the Black Hills.
Im glad you mentioned about Clairton being a tough place to play. Everyone has their favorite fields in the WPIAL...The Wolverina, Jefferson Morgan, Fort Cherry, etc...but Ill be honest (and, in all honesty, partial), for me...Clairton is one of the toughest places to play...the band marching up the hill before the game, the bears coming out of the tunnel to the fight song (sometimes to smoke effects) before the game, the music blaring in pre-game warm ups, the crowd...its an intimidating place to come into...I know I grew up there and it holds a special place for me but still, its tough...
This is going to be a long week...i cant wait for Friday night...
FC guy...maybe we should meet up at the game and share some insight :-)
Stop by the home side/press box and wave... I'll be running the scoreboard... hopefully busy punching in +6 on the home side!!
FC guy
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