Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A month into ...

We're four games into the 2010 WPIAL football season. That's ample time to make some observations.

1. Several candidates are emerging as Player of the Year possibilities.

Beth-Center's Jeff Tarley may have been the frontrunner before a knee injury and teammate Sal Faieta is off to a fantastic start. Trinity's Kyle McWreath, the Ringgold duo of Derrick Fiore and Quad Law, along with South Fayette seniors Christian Brumbaugh and Nolan Spicer are at or near the top of the list along with Peters Township junior Andrew Erenberg.

Who are your POY candidates?

2. Making the semifinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs is a destination landing.

Clairton and Rochester are the class of Class A and it looks like Sto-Rox is close behind. Does that mean everyone else is playing to get to the semifinals?

It's going to take something special to beat the Bears or the Rams - penalities, turnovers, injuries. If a Beth-Center or Monessen reached the semis, that signifies a highly successful season considering the talent at the top.

3. A kicker might be at the head of the class.

It's impossible to determine which seniors will make significant impacts at the collegiate level but one guess is Trinity's Mike Cleveland ... as a kicker.

Cleveland has the most powerful leg I've seen on a high school kicker since Ringgold's Todd James, and he served as kicker and punter at West Virginia. Cleveland's skills are still raw but with college coaching, he has the leg to kick at the Division I level.

4. The WPIAL lacks depth when it comes to quality teams and top-flight talent.

5. The top local games remaining on the schedule are Beth-Center at Monessen, Keystone Oaks at South Fayette and Franklin Regional at Ringgold. Beth-Center, Monessen, South Fayette and Ringgold all have opportunities for unbeaten regular seasons and high seeds in the WPIAL playoffs.

6. There's a lot of discussion from Class A followers on the board. Just wondering if they think the bottom four teams in the Tri-County South Conference are better than the bottom four in the Black Hills Conference. I say they are.

7. Trinity's Pat Frey is the top freshman I've seen. Frey runs hard, breaks tackles and can make defenders miss.

8. Success at the lower levels guarantees nothing at the varsity level. I can't recall how many times I've heard a story of Player X dominating in junior high only to see that same player hit the varsity squad at 5-8 and 142 pounds with no desire to hit the weight room.

9. What is more surprising - Ringgold at 4-0 or Charleroi at 0-4? I go with the latter. The Cougars looked like a playoff team to me coming into season.

10. I can't remember a season with more one-sided outcomes and the season is only one month old.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

So the question is are these teams:

Serra
Avella
Bentworth
Carlynton

Better or worse than:

Jefferson Morgan
West Greene
Carmichaels
Mapletown

This is a tough question to answer. I think Avella and Mapletown have to be the two worst followed by West Greene and Bentworth. Avella and Bentworth may be interchangeable. Carlynton and Carmichaels might be about even with a slight advantage maybe to the mighty mikes. That leaves Serra and Jefferson Morgan and this year...I think Jefferson Morgan is better. As much as I didnt think it, after you analyze it, yeah I think the bottom 4 of the TCS are better than the bottom 4 of the Black Hills, albeit not by much.

Anonymous said...

You need to get out to see CM's Alec Schram (rb/wr/db). He may be one of the quickest, most explosive players I've seen this season on both sides of the football. They don't throw too much so he is being used as a running back this year and has shown great versatility.......several big plays against Quad A opposition.

Joey Niklas said...

I'd say that Bentworth and Mapletown are the worst. Avella has at least played competitive. Carlynton played competitive against Sto Rox and Fort Cherry as well. I actually wouldn't be surprised one bit if Carlynton or Avella sneak into the playoffs. I might even say that Serra is better than Carmichaels but that really may be the only toss up of the group.

Anonymous said...

I really cant believe that this is even an issue.In your zeal to pump up Beth Center you actually bring up a point of who's worst teams are best.I think that the TCS will have 2 teams in the playoffs that wouldnt make it in the blackhills,I think thats more significant.

Anonymous said...

I think the WPIAL should take the four worst in the TCS and the four worst in the Black Hills and put them into one Conference. This way they could play a competitive game each week and the upper echelon teams would be in a much tougher conference.Thus allowing them to play more competitive games and maybe be ready to challenge Clairton or Rochester. Some of these teams get nothing good out of a 75-6 Victory.

Anonymous said...

You could probably say the same thing about the Black Hills teams in the Tri-County South. Two would make the playoffs, so that's a wash. Are the third and fourth teams in the Black Hills better than B-C or Monessen? No.

And don't sleep on Frazier. They're not bad.

I'll agree that the bottom of the Black Hills is probably better than the bottom of the Tri-County, but they should be. They're bigger schools.

R. Keith Taylor said...

Ringgold at 4-0 is not a suprise. I was telling people during the off season Ringgold would be legit.

Clairton Alum said...

If there is a tape out there of last years Avella win over Fort Cherry I would really like to see it. Someone, somewhere had to have taped that game. Ill pay for it.

Ostara said...

Keith, Ringgold is 4-0. Legit all depends on what someone's aspirations for them are though. Since they are AAA, they have some SERIOUS competition ahead that awaits should they play TJ, Montour, etc...

R. Keith Taylor said...

I do not beleive TJ is elite this year. Montour is the team to beat, but aside from them, it is anyone's ball game...

Anonymous said...

MSA picked Ringgold to finish 6th in the Keystone. MSA is a bunch of scrubs