Thursday, October 28, 2010

Games of the Week, Week 9

Conference titles are up for grabs throughout the WPIAL. OK, throughout most of the WPIAL. In these parts, titles are locked up and only Peters Township and Carmichaels are playing for playoff spots.

It takes a little luster off the final week of the regular season but there are a couple key games worth examining.

Chartiers-Houston at Fort Cherry
Chartiers-Houston hasn't been 7-1 since 2000, and that's the last time the Bucs won a playoff game. That year, C-H knocked off Clairton, 14-7, in the first round at home before taking eventual state champion Rochester to the limit in a 7-3 loss. With a win, C-H clinches second place in the Black Hills conference and a home playoff game.

Fort Cherry, already assured a playoff berth, can clinch second place with a win of five points or more. A loss makes the Rangers the fourth-place team in the conference and a possible candidate to play Avonworth or Rochester in the first round. The Rangers lost to the Rams in Week 2.

There's talents players for both teams but one facet that has not been discussed and could factor into the final score is Fort Cherry's pass defense. The Rangers have been probe to big passing plays throughout the year. Chartiers-Houston prefers to run but, given the matchup, receiver D.J. Denny could be a focal point of the game plan.

Peters Township at Canon-McMillan
Should Peters Township beat Canon-McMillan by nine points or more, the Indians erase a couple shaky weeks and qualify for the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs for the first time. Peters Township hasn't been in the playoffs since 2003, the longest streak of any school in Washington County except Avella.

Canon-McMillan would relish ruining PT's season. To do so, the Big Macs are going to need some big plays from the run game and the defense must be better at stopping the run. Andrew Erenberg could be in line for a big game.

Jefferson-Morgan at Beth-Center
The game has no impact on the Tri-County South Standings. Beth-Center locked up second place and a home game last week. Jefferson-Morgan is out of the postseason picture. These two rivals, however, are intertwined. Not only are they neighboring districts, they run similar systems on both sides of the football. Why? Because head coaches Jan Haiden and Ed Woods both played at Beth-Center and were tutored by legendary coaches Bill Connors and Don Bartolomucci.

How close are Woods and Haiden? When Woods fell off the roof of his house Saturday and sustained broken ribs, he called Haiden to come help him. Scott Faieta and Royce Sofran will assume extra coaching duties in Woods' absence.

11 comments:

Joey Niklas said...

What a game in McDonald. I'm glad FC's defense showed up midway through the 3rd.

my 1A Playoff Projections... I'm sure the bracket won't look like this but here is min anyways...

1 Clairton 16 Carmichaels
8 Fort Cherry 9 Bishop Canevin

4 Springdale 13 W. Beaver
5 Monessen 12 Char Houston


2 Rochy 15 California
7 Beth Center 10 Cornell

3 Avonworth 14 Brentwood
6 Sto Rox 11 N. Catholic

Anonymous said...

Wonder how close Haiden and Woods are today ,if I read it right ,Beth Center passed with 2 min. left in the game with their starters in and then went for 2 to make it 41-14 does'nt seem to neighborly to me

mike_kovak said...

Woods wasn't at the game anon.

mike_kovak said...

Joey, I think you're right on with the 1-16, 8-9 games.

I'll be making my bracket picks for all classes in the O-R.

Anonymous said...

regardless of who coached I don't think Coach Haiden is too pleased with his buddy's school

Anonymous said...

and why is that a surprise anon? Beth Center has been running up the score all year long on teams WITH coach woods on the sidelines...what makes you think they wouldnt do it without him?

Anonymous said...

Just cant figure out what they were trying to prove , 2 minutes left in the game and you leave the starters in, with the game in hand then throw a pass and then go for the 2 point conversion against Jeff morgan who has been struggling mightly this year.Was there bad blood during the game that we don't know about ,were they padding the score to get a higher seed or what .It does'nt matter ,it's bull to pull that on high school kids.

Joey Niklas said...

I can't speak for Beth Center's coaching staff. But my only guess is Beth Center may be padding the scoring stats to get a higher playoff seed. A 6th seed is much better than possibly ending up 7th or 8th and playing Clairton or Rochester the 2nd week of the playoffs. Ain't saying its right or wrong. Just trying to offer some thought that could be in their heads.

Sarcastic Sword said...

Running up the score to maybe improve seeding is classless. Dont lose to Monessen in a game in which the Greyhounds were plugging in RB's on the OL - take care of business yourself.


But it doesnt surprise me - Beth Center has a lousy reputation for class and sportsmanship going back to my experiences with midget football.

mike_kovak said...

I wasn't at the game (Char-Houston at Fort Cherry for me) but some big assumptions are being made here that B-C was running up the score just to improve its seeding.

From my perspective, if B-C beat J-M 100-0 it still would not get any higher than a No. 7 seed in Class A. Facts are facts and the fact is the Bulldogs are the second-place team from the Tri-County South Conference. If you pay attention to the WPIAL playoff pairings, you know the conference is alsmot always the lowest-seeded group in the classfication.

Sarcastic Sword said...

Mike,

Based on your rationale, since BC couldnt help its playoff seedings but further whipping J-M, can we just call it like it is and say that BC was taking advantage of an inferior team and was just piling it on? Because there is no good explanation for throwing the ball with 2 minutes left with the starters still in and then follow up with a 2 pt conversion. I dont care if J-M did something during the game and BC was trying for payback, you win with dignity and class....Wait till next yr to settle a score or bad blood.