Monday, November 1, 2010

WPIAL football playoff capsules

Class AAAA
Top seeds - 1. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (9-0), 2. Mt. Lebanon (9-0), 3. North Hills (8-1), 4. McKeesport (8-1)
Players to watch - Bre' Ford (Bethel Park), Luke Hagy (Mt. Lebanon), Austin Hancock (Peters Township), Damion Jones-Moore (PCC), Sam Gooden (McKeesport), Alex Papson (North Allegheny), Lafayette Pitts (Woodland Hills), Manny Simpson (Penn-Trafford)
Best game - No. 11 Penn Hills at No. 6 Upper St. Clair
Defending champion - Woodland Hills
Sleeper - No. 7 Woodland Hills
Bits and pieces - Peters Township is in the Class AAAA playoffs for the first time. ... Papson averages 10 yards per carry for North Allegheny - Peters Township's first-round opponent. ... Woodland Hills, the preseason favorite, is finally healthy and the Wolverines have won five straight, including back-to-back shuouts over Pine-Richland and Penn Hills.
Prediction - Pittsburgh Central Catholic over Woodland Hills

Class AAA
Top seeds - 1. Montour (9-0), 2. Thomas Jefferson (8-1), 3. Ringgold (9-0), 4. Mars (8-1)
Players to watch - Chad Barton (Hollidaysburg), Dylan Bongiorni (West Allegheny), Julian Durden (Montour), Derrick Fiore (Ringgold), Michael Kizzie (Greensburg-Salem), Quad Law (Ringgold), Kyle McWreath (Trinity), Austin Miele (Mars), Rushel Shell (Hopewell)
Best game - No. 14 Central Valley at No. 3 Ringgold
Defending champion - West Allegheny
Sleeper - No. 10 Hopewell
Bits and pieces - Few teams enter the playoffs hotter than Hopewell, winners of four straight including Central Valley and West Allegheny, and no player is hotter than Shell. The closest thing to a household name in the WPIAL, the junior is already third on the WPIAL's all-time rushing list. ... Ringgold is 9-0 for the first time and the Rams are trying to win their first WPIAL title since 1982. ... Thomas Jefferson has not lost to WPIAL competition.
Championship - Thomas Jefferson over Montour

Class AA
Top seeds - 1. Aliquippa (9-0), 2. Greensburg Central Catholic (9-0), 3. South Fayette (9-0), 4. Ford City (9-0)
Players to watch - Christian Brumbaugh (South Fayette), Jeff Davis (South Fayette), Mikal Hall (Aliquippa), Trey Hall (Beaver Falls), Kevin Hart (Seton-La Salle), Matt McCann (Keystone Oaks), Bernie Sarra (Greensburg Central Catholic), Delrece Williams (Steel Valley)
Best game - No. 10 Steel Valley at No. 7 Beaver Falls
Defending champion - Greensburg Central Catholic
Sleeper - No. 9 Beaver
Bits and pieces - Both of Beaver's losses came in overtime. The Bobcats were tied with Aliquippa and Beaver Falls at the end of regulation. ... Ellwood City - South Fayette's first-round opponent - is seeded 14th, two spots behind Mt. Pleasant. Ellwood City won at Mt. Pleasant, 35-0, earlier in the season. ... Ford City is seeded fourth but the Sabers only played three teams with a winning record. ... Deer Lakes is in the playoffs for the first time.
Prediction - South Fayette over Beaver

Class A
Top seeds - 1. Clairton (9-0), 2. Rochester (9-0), 3. Avonworth (8-1), 4. Monessen (8-1)
Players to watch - Nick Bolias (Monessen), Dakota Conway (California), Desimon Green (Clairton), Daniel Lis (Chartiers-Houston), Gary Kiefer (Fort Cherry), Martin Long (North Catholic), Zach Mundell (Carmichaels), Josh Page (Clairton), Jeff Tarley (Beth-Center), Chris Walko (Bishop Canevin)
Best game - No. 13 Chartiers-Houston at No. 4 Monessen
Defending champion - Clairton
Sleeper - No. 11 North Catholic
Bits and pieces - North Catholic won at Monessen and lost by a touchdown to Avonworth. If the Trojans beat Sto-Rox in the first round, they could draw the Antelopes in the quarters. ... The top three teams (Avonworth, Springdale and Bishop Canevin) from the Eastern Conference are all 8-1. Bishop Canevin plays at Fort Cherry, which is 5-4. ... Clairton is the prohibitive favorite. ... The Bears and Rochester are the only undefeated teams in the Class A pairings but there are no teams with a losing record in the bracket.
Championship - Clairton over Rochester

38 comments:

Ringgold Realist said...

I am throwing this out there now, Ringgold fans you can think in your mind Friday night as the 4th quarter ticks off, man the Ringgold Realist really knows football...


Ringgold unfortunately got the worst matchup in maybe the last 10 years of an undefeated team that was a 3 seed going into the playoffs...NO WAY at all should Central Valley have been the 14 seed, but o well you have to play who you are told to play, and I sadly see the Rams fantastic season coming to an end this Friday night at Joe Montana Stadium. Everyone that is a Ringgold supporter can bash this post all week, but just remember once the clock ticks zero on Friday night...Ringgold Realist said the Ringgold coaching staff will be exposed Friday night, and lose, my guess...26-14...I hope Ringgold wins the WPIAL Title, and they have the talent to do so, but as I have said all season, the coaching staff will be exposed, I just thought it would be later rather than sooner in the playoffs.

If Ringgold wins, I will not post one more post ever again.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mike Peolple Are Saying Bishop Canevin Would Give Clairton A Good Game In The Second Round. What Do You Think? And I Don't Think Bishop Canevin Beats Fort Cherry This Week. Clairton ,Fort Cherry Second Round Matchup Sounds Better. Fort Cherry Hung In there With The Mighty Bears In The First Game And Still Lost By 5 TD'S.

mike_kovak said...

Ringgold did get a very difficult draw and I don't see any way that Central Valley is the 14th seed.

That said, the path to Heinz Field is never easy. Beating quality teams is essential.

My question to Realist is, if Ringgold loses why is it just on the coaching staff? Central Valley obviously has some good players to hang in there with West Allegheny, Hopewell and Montour.

mike_kovak said...

I do think Bishop Canevin is as good a No. 9 seed as the Class A bracket has seen in some time. Whether that means the Crusaders beat Fort Cherry in the first round and give Clairton some competition in the quarters remains to be seen.

Like you, I can see Fort Cherry advancing but the Rangers defense must eliminate the big play for that to happen.

Honestly, I'm not sure anyone gives Clairton a game until Heinz Field. The guess here is that good game comes from Rochester, which does have talent and one of the best coaches in the WPIAL (any classification).

Sarcastic Sword said...

@Realist….What are the specific deficiencies, in your opinion, with the Ringgold staff?

Ringgold Realist said...

Because Ringgold has the most talented skill players in all of AAA period. There is not one team that has atleast 5 players that can go the distance on any given play, i.e. fiore, law, louis, patch, cook. The line is somewhat suspect. When your a team that relies on breaking big plays, that is because your talent is doing it for you, not the coaching and the plays that are called. If Ringgold was being coached by Cherpak, or Palko...any one can argue, but they would probably be the state champs in AAA, certainly the WPIAL.

Let me ask you this Mike, Do you think Ringgold can really win a playoff game if they are forced to drive the ball down the field without busting any big plays, the sloppniess they have with turnovers and everything else is going to show up Friday night. And everyone can say that is what they have done all year, big plays is a part of their team...well you will see big plays do not just simply happen against good teams, starting with Central Valley.

Ringgold Realist said...

One more thing, let's enjoy Demetrious Louis vs. Robert Foster, arguably the top 2 sophomores in maybe the entire WPIAL, definitely 2 of the fastest.

Anonymous said...

Ringgold= One and done!! If you can't pass, you can't win when it matters. Good season though!

Anonymous said...

Canavin is very overrated. North Catholic had a weak team this year for them and the rest of the conference was very weak. You have 1 pretty good team, 3 soso teams, and the rest are very poor. The records do not indicate the talent. They did beat avonworth but it was the 1st game and avonworth didnt have the right players at the right positions then (5 turnovers). Not saying Avonworth will take it all, I will be happy if they win this friday since they lost their key running back.

mike_kovak said...

I'm not sure how an opposing defense eliminates the big play from Ringgold's arsenal. You can say it's all on talent and a lot of it is, but this coaching staff knew what to do with that talent this year.

At this point, Ringgold's big plays are not a fluke. They've popped a few on every team they've played.

Let's give Coach Humbert some credit. Ringgold is 9-0 with a group that had never proven anything at the varsity level before this year. There's a lot going right at Ringgold right now. Win or lose Friday night, it's been one exciting season.

And for anyone to expect a 25-year-old first year coach to have the wily veteran coaching skills of a Bill Cherpak (the best coach in the WPIAL) and Bob Palko is getting ahead of themselves. That said, go back and check how those teams did in the respective first years of those coaching regimes.

Ringgold Realist said...

Everyone is missing my point, I believe that anyone could have coached the Ringgold Rams to a 9-0 regular season. 6 wins were against teams that finished with a combined record of 9-45. They busted big plays against Salem and Franklin Regional, but did they really outplay them? Although, they were good wins for Ringgold, I tend to think that those 2 teams are far from the cream of the crop teams in AAA.

I just believe that anything short of a WPIAL title is a bust for this team, you can argue that Ringgold hasn't been good for however many years and this is the school's first undefeated regular season, and simply bask in their current accomplishments. Those things are great, but I've said all along that Ringgold is the most TALENTED team in AAA. It's going to come down to coaching whenever another team (i.e. Central Valley) comes close to matching up with them talent wise. Central Valley is BY FAR the best team the Rams have faced all season, and I believe they run Salem and Franklin Regional off of the field if they play them.

And what makes me mad is all the Anon's that get on here that do not have a clue about football, but will defend their rams and say be proud of these kids and blah blah blah...I am proud of that team and those players, its just going to be sad to me whenever they lose, and it will not be becuase of the players!!


Mike- Of course Humbert isn't as good as the top coaches in AAA, and that is the exact reason the Rams will not win the title. Those coaches first season also were not in the keystone conference, and they were not handed the most talented team in AAA!!!

Anonymous said...

"If Ringgold was being coached by Cherpak, or Palko...any one can argue, but they would probably be the state champs in AAA, certainly the WPIAL."

And if your aunt was your uncle, she'd have testicles.
Come on. The Rams are 9-0. Enjoy it. Win or lose from here on out, it was a good season. Quit your b@#$ing. It makes you sound like one.

mike_kovak said...

Realist,
Have you seen Montour? I haven't in person but what I did see was a very talented football team. To blindly say Ringgold is the most talented team in Class AAA might not be realistic.

Good point about the Keystone and Central Valley probably will be the best team Ringgold has played to this point.

Anonymous said...

I like Ringgold's chances of reaching the semifinals if they can get past Central Valley.

R. Keith Taylor said...

Realist. I am also worried about Central Valley. With that being said: Stifle.

I think Ringgold will be just fine when they play Central Valley. It just won't be a 40-7 romp. It is funny that Ringgold fans are more skeptical about Ringgold's success than those who do not reside in the area. Yes, beat the dead horse, Ringgold played in the Keystone conference, but at the end of the day, the team is well coached and they break of big plays, because they are capable of doing so at any given point. Those boys on Ringgold are fast. Meech Louis runs a 4.3 or so and Fiore, a 4.4. Cook is not much slower and Law and Patch are as nimble and agile as anyone. You put all those guys out there and you simply cannot key on one player. Law has proven he is a competent passer who can keep you honest. This team has the weapons and the ammo.

So, as I have said many times this season: Let them play the game, and then we can talk about it. I will see you Friday, Realist...

Clairton Alum said...

I realize I am a Clairton fan so maybe my opinion isnt worth much on this subject but boy oh boy...

I have been coming on this site for 3 years now I believe. For the first two years, all I heard from Ringgold fans were complaints about not being able to unite the communities to play as a team at the high school level, underachieving year after year, not being able to have a stable coach, etc. You guys FINALLY have a very good football team with A LOT of talent and some of you STILL choose to bash this team and this coach. WHY? Some of you have to have alterior motives here. Maybe you dont like Coach Humbert...I dont know...but for goodness sake give this team and this coach a break. If someone would have told you this team was going to be 9-0 after the regular season ended you people would have (should have) been thrilled. Enjoy this season for what it is...who knows how many more seasons like this you guys will have or when the next one might come around.

And to say that anyone could coach this team...let me ask this question...did Ringgold get an influx of Freshman this season? Is this not the same basic team that played last year that went 4-6?

Realist, I understand you may have some reservations about this team. I can understand trying to keep expectations in check...but to bash this team and Coach Humbert...from an outsiders perspective...comes across as sour grapes, a vendetta, something. I just dont get the over-the-top negative attitude regarding a 9-0 TEAM.

mike_kovak said...

Well said Alum.

Anonymous said...

Mike what's your thoughts on the Trinity/WA game? I think Trinty will come out with a victory. If the hillers dont fumble 3 times inside there own 20 vs TJ that game is a lot closer than what the score shows. And both there losses against Belle Vernon and Central Valley they were without Ty Billie and QB Brad Martin.

Joey Niklas said...

I don't know how anyone can say Canevin and North Catholic are overrated. North Catholic beat Monessen man. If those Eastern Schools are overrated then the Tri County South is even worse than I even thought it was. I'm not saying that Canevin can or cannot hang with the Bears. That remains to be seen. I think that Char Houston does have a great chance of beating Monessen esp if the weather is a little foul. That game is definitely an upset alert type of game. I want Fort Cherry to beat Canevin bur right now I'd put Canevin as a 10 point favorite. Another upset alert is North Catholic @ Sto Rox. I think Sto Rox is the better of the 2 but I just don't know which Sto Rox team is going to show up.

Anonymous said...

Anon,

You say Canevin is overrated, yet they beat Avonworth. Avonworth struggled to beat North, 7-0, when Avonworth had all their "best" players in the right positions. So you're saying they struggled to beat a weak North team? Just so I have this straight. Why the hate for BC?

Canevin was beating North 40-7 and was kneeling on the ball inside North's 10 yard line with 8 minutes to go.

Also, Fort Cherry is healthy and playing their best football of the year now.

R. Keith Taylor said...

Thanks, Alum. Ringgold was just a young team last year. They were suprisingly competitive last year despite returning one starter. They never really got walloped last year, sans TJ, but they held TJ to under 100 yards rushing. They could have beat BVA and CV last year, but they just made young mistakes. If Ringgold was in the Big 8, Ringgold would have receieved ahome playoff game.

Anonymous said...

Realist....all I can say is that you must have been passed up for a coaching job at Ringgold....I hope the Rams win and you crawl back in your hole with your remote and your game tapes that you must break down with a bag of cheetos in one hand and your midget league trophy in the other....get over yourself...

Sarcastic Sword said...

If I didnt know any better, I would say that Realist is either a coach who was passed over in the search or a disgruntled parent.

I have come on this board numerous times since the season started and raised questions about the Rams but at the end of the day, these boys are my team. Come hell or high water.

Alum makes a great point about this team having the same core parts as the one that went 4-6..Ys a few players who are contributors werent on the 2009 team but give credit where credit is due, Matt Humbert deserves alot of credit here. He didnt know until late June if he was going to get the job - puts together a staff when not many guys were available - and runs the damn table. I think it was Al Davis who said, "Just win baby"...Not win by 30+..Just win...

I hope you are man enough Realist that when the Rams knock out Central Valley, you will admit that you were wrong.

Anonymous said...

How many of you have actually watched any inter-conference games?

Ringgold is the only team that were successful in shutting down Dane Brown. Nobody has mentioned the sophomore surprise at HB for Franklin Regional, but I have seen this young man a number of times this season and he is the real deal!

Although I thought the Franklin play calling was suspect as they continually ran Brown up the middle, it is no small feat for Ringgold to have bottled him up. Last friday, he ran for 202 on Salem, and he was pulled at the start of the 4th Qtr. At that point, he and the FR offense were just gashing a pretty good, physical defense. And he put up 160+ yards on Plum, a Quad A playoff team that his the misfortune of playing Mt. Lebo in the first round.

I think Ringgold is going to surprise some people. I think Franklin Regional is going to SHOCK some people! Though they are "seeded" 7th and Hopewell 10th, I have not heard a single pundit call for a FR win. Mark it. I also think that Salem is going to surprise in their game with Knoch.

We'll all find out Friday night!

Anonymous said...

Chad Barton, T.j. Keefer, Mike Kizzie, Mark Nicholas, Dane Brown, Derrick Fiore, Quad Law - Neal Rands Nick McPherson and Jack Shogan on defense as good as any of the top talents (sans Mr. Shell) in any other conference - nobody knows it yet!

Ringgold Realist said...

-@Anon who said "Come on. The Rams are 9-0. Enjoy it. Win or lose from here on out, it was a good season. Quit your b@#$ing. It makes you sound like one."

Already explained my point about you..."And what makes me mad is all the Anon's that get on here that do not have a clue about football, but will defend their rams and say be proud of these kids and blah blah blah...I am proud of that team and those players, its just going to be sad to me whenever they lose, and it will not be becuase of the players!!"



-@R. Keith- Your exactly right you cannot key on every player Ringgold has, but there is only 1 player who has the ball in their hands at a time, and the playcalling you can key on. Jet sweeps and fake jet sweep powers aren't the hardest thing to prepare for if you have the talent to stop it...the boys from Ringgold are certainly very fast, but check out Robert Foster #4 and Curtis Lewis #2 from Central Valley in a game vs. defending champion West A, they lost in the final minute...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRliEjkTvwU...Ringgold has not faced speed like that all year.

-@Alum- you obviously go to every Clairton game so let me put it this way regardless that Clairton has been awesome year in and year out all the time...If Clairton was 9-0, and you felt they easily had the most talent in single A, would you feel that it would be a major letdown if they did not win the WPIAL Championship in single A?

and I'll leave you with this, especially R. Keith, when your driving home from Joe Montana Stadium Friday...just think man that stupid Ringgold Realist guy told me so!

Anonymous said...

I like how everyone just assumes Monessen and Beth Center are garbage teams because of the TCS. Yeah Monessen lost to North Catholic by 1 in OT where the refs played a big role in the outcome. NC had 37 total yards in the 1st half when Monessen had a bigger lead (11 points) than any of the top 3 eastern teams had against NC at half. Martin Long finished the game 6 for 29 passing but did have 3 TD's mainly because of the half dozen (at least) bogus interference calls allowing him to continue to heave the ball all around the field mostly unsuccessfully. He is a Very good player and any good player thats given numerous "extra" chances or 29 times total to throw the ball is going to have some success. This also doesn't take into account Monessen having a TD called back in the 4th. But because of this result, I guess the Hounds stink.

Beth Center lost to Avonworth 28-20 without their BEST player. The Lopes hadn't given up a point in like 15 quarters before BC put up 20 on them without their horse Tarley who is now healthy. We will see how "bad" these top 2 TCS teams are on friday night. I could be wrong and they could both lose, but Im willing to bet they don't.

Sarcastic Sword said...

@Realist…Not sure how you think their talent is the best in the WPIAL…….Do they have some nice skill players? Yes they do…But the OL isn’t dominating from game to game…Did you see the Derry game? The offense, save for three individual runs by Fiore/Louis, was lousy and Derry DL pushed them all over the field. The QB is unproven in the passing game - never had to win a game with his arm – maybe he can..No one knows…At times when teams passed the ball, there appears to be issues with coverages..See Uniontown in the first qtr….They are 9-0 – some of that is a product of playing in the Keystone – I don’t personally believe they would be 9-0 if they were still in the Big 8..But this team is where they are at because of the leadership they are getting at the top, not in spite of it..

You blame the head coach for play calling etc but give the guy credit for scrapping the horrible 3 and 4 WR sets they used last yr and he devised a scheme to play to their strengths. He was the OC last yr but he was running what the former coach wanted...

Anonymous said...

Yes Canevin is overrated. North Catholic is just not as good as normal. They still have alot of talent but some games it shows up and some games not. I just think the entire division this year is below average so you can not judge the records. The bottom 5 teams were really bad so you can just give the top couple teams 5 easy wins, throw in BC having a lucky game at avonworth and NC having a crap game at BC to give the 2 more wins. Springdale cleaned up the town with BC. You can not just pick a single game and say BC is really good because of it. Springdale also beat NC pretty easily, but Avonworth beat them by 16. I am just saying Avonworth had a good team, NC had a decent team that did not show up each week, Springdale was ok, and BC was the 4th best team. To rank them as a top team is why I say overrated.

Anonymous said...

It's the Beaver Bobcats, not the Beaver Beavers!

Anonymous said...

Ringgold lines will be exposed against the big boys and there "big plays" wont be a problem against disciplined teams like TJ and Montour..

mike_kovak said...

My bad. I might have been having a flashback to the Western Beaver Golden Beavers.

PA Announcer said...

A note to all Athletic Director's in the WPIAL...when you are submitting your roster to the opposing team please put the players in NUMERICAL ORDER according to their JERSEY NUMBER. It makes no sense to submit a roster that is arranged in alphabetical order or by class (senior, junior, etc).

Anonymous said...

Response to Clairton alum Nov.2 @ 4:59 pm...
Sometimes when you are on the outside looking in you can see more than those on the inside....
you don't see the "politics"

Good call

Ringgold Realist said...

Questions anyone?

Anonymous said...

Like I stated earlier, the top 2 TCS teams prove tonight they are no garbage pushovers. I don't care if they both lose next wk, they both showed everyone that they are top 8 teams at the very least!

Anonymous said...

November 2, 2010 11:59 PM

Two Tri-County teams survive. Congratulations to Beth Center and Monessen. Way to represent!

Anonymous said...

As, I read the recap of WestA and Canevin. I cannot get over Bongiorni is still talked about as a transfer. Let's say the truth, his father got mad at the Basketball coach, Dylan pouted cause he did not get his way so they took their toys and now are getting their own way again. Palko, wake up watch your films closely.