From the clubhouse

The Varsity Letters spent the previous two days at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York, aka the White Rose City, covering the PIAA Golf Championships.

Besides the weather being a bit nippy in the morning - Monday's tee times were pushed back two hours as frost blanketed the area - and overall length of each round - both lasted the better part of six hours, the area was well-represented on the medals stand.

Waynesburg senior Rachel Rohanna finished tied for third.

The Peters Township boys team placed second, only three points behind a talented Cathedral Prep (Erie).

Brittany Andrews, from McDonald, was part of Shady Side Academy's gold-medal winning girls team.

I followed the majority of both of Rohanna's rounds as she attempted to win her third state championship. On both days, Rohanna played in top-notch foursomes. Each made some magical shots on occasion. Afterward, even after Rohanna struggled during the second round, she took ample time to answer my lengthy list of questions with thought, analysis and some humor. The Ohio State women's golf team has a good recruit in Rohanna.

I also got a chance to catch a few holes of the Peters Township boys quest to become the first WPIAL team to win a state team title. (It should be noted the PIAA has only held the team competition for three years and this is the first year the WPIAL participated.)

The second-place finish was impressive enough, but it was nice to see how the Peters Township players support each other.

Head coach David Kuhn started his four seniors - Jon Ross, Corey Martinez, Chris Resnik and Geoffrey Locher - both days. Not only did each golf well, the majority of Peters Township's golf team, many parents and supporters were there in support. To watch guys not participating cheering for teammates like they were playing themselves speaks volumes for the type of student-athletes Kuhn has on his team.

Johnson arrested

For the second time in a little more than three years, surprising and disturbing news concerning a local sports figure hits the newspapers today.

By now, many likely know that Joe Johnson, the Avella boys basketball coach until Monday, was arrested on web child-probe charges.

Here's the story in Wednesday's O-R:
Read here.


Here's another story from Wednesday's O-R concerning a former colleague:
Read here.

O-R Football Rankings

Very little movement this week.

WPIAL
Class AAAA
1. Gateway 8-0
2. Bethel Park 8-0
3. McKeesport 7-1
4. North Hills 7-1
5. Penn Hills 5-3

Class AAA
1. Thomas Jefferson 7-1
2. Highlands 8-0
3. Blackhawk 7-1
4. New Castle 5-3
5. Hopewell 6-2

Class AA
1. Jeannette 8-0
2. Beaver Falls 8-0
3. Keystone Oaks 8-0
4. Greensburg C.C. 8-0
5. Shady Side Academy 8-0

Class A
1. Clairton 8-0
2. Rochester 8-0
3. Avonworth 8-0
4. Beth-Center 7-1
5. Monaca 7-1

Friday night thoughts, Week 8

I left last night's Canon-McMillan at Bethel Park game with a couple distinct impressions.

1. Bethel Park receiver John Schademan is a clutch, big-game performer. He's done it all year and he did it again last night.

2. The Black Hawks have nice offensive balance. They might be good enough to get to Heinz Field. We'll see.

3. Canon-McMillan is vastly improved on defense. The Big Macs took away Bethel Park's power running game and as Coach Guy Montecalvo said after the game, "Nobody has really run on us all year."

The defensive line played another great game. And it seemed linebacker Brad Strimel was in on every tackle. On one play, he picked up the Bethel Park ball carrier and tossed him to the turf like he weighed 30 pounds.

4. That said, C-M still has a propensity to yield the big play and it cost them against Bethel Park. Whether it's a misread or a blown coverage, seems that pass defense lets C-M down in big games. It's getting better, but it must get better in order to contend for a WPIAL championship.

5. C-M quarterback Steve Roach wasn't particularly accurate last night, but he made plays when needed. He had a couple big third down conversions and he looked like the fastest offensive player in the game.

** McGuffey clinched its first playoff berth since 1994 with last night's win over Waynesburg and South Allegheny's loss. The Varsity Letters said all year that the Highlanders were a tough, playoff-caliber squad.

Given how hard they played Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette, I doubt any conference champ wants to draw McGuffey in the first round.

** Any on else surprised to see the 14-0 win for Monessen over Carmichaels? The Varsity Letters expected a shootout.

** Fort Cherry coach Tim Garry told me earlier in the week he was very worried about how well Burgettstown's offense matched up against the Rangers' defense. The Blue Devils, behind freshman quarterback Dylan Bongiorni, can throw the ball. They did, but they also ran well.

Still, despite the 34-33 score, don't get down on the Rangers. Good teams find ways to win games like this.

And Burgettstown is a much better football team than it was a month ago.

** I'll say the same thing about Ringgold. The 7-3 win over West Mifflin doesn't look impressive, but it is a win and it guaranteed Ringgold a playoff berth with a winning record for the first time this decade.

In it's previous three playoff appearances, Ringgold had losing records.

** Remember last week when the Varsity Letters said to remember Charleroi freshman running back Quinten Briggs?

Well, he put up 267 yards and three touchdowns against Wash High Friday night.

Games of the Week, Week 8

It's not every week when the eyes of the WPIAL football community are focused on a game involving a team from Washington County. Such is the case this week when Canon-McMillan plays at Bethel Park.

1. Canon-McMillan at Bethel Park (5 stars)
Looking to catch a glimpse at several future college football players? This game has that.
Looking for two great rushing offenses? This game has that.
Looking for top-notch linebackers and strong defensive lines? This game has that.

Canon-McMillan (3-0, 5-2) and Bethel Park (3-0, 7-0), already the top two teams in the Great Southern Conference, are playing for no less than a share of the title. Bethel Park is playing for one of the top three seeds in the Quad-A playoffs, while Canon-Mac is seeking a rare outright conference championship.

A year ago, Bethel Park controlled the line of scrimmage as it rushed for nearly 30 yards while throwing for 150 in a 20-6 victory. The game was closer than the score, or Bethel Park's gaudy stats, indicated.

2. Carmichaels at Monessen (3.5 stars)
The Mikes and Greyhounds are playing for second place in the Tri-County South Conference. Expect a lot of passing.

Carmichaels (4-1, 4-3) does not have a running back with more than 200 yards on the year but does have two quarterbacks with more than 500 yards passing. Monessen (4-1, 4-3) runs a spread offense.

"Elite" 11

During recent discussions on this blog, readers wondered whether the Avella football team – down to 13 players (one female) for Homecoming last week versus Bentworth – should forfeit Friday's game against Clairton.

Some interesting posts were made in favor and against such action.

Well, the Observer-Reporter received an e-mail from Eagles head coach Frank Gray, a man trying his best to salvage a difficult situation.

It read, "Thought you might want to know that we are going to play the #1 team in Class A (Clairton) on Friday with only 11 available players to dress. Two of our players were injured in the Bentworth game, and we have no substitutes on the sideline, but we are going to Clairton."

APB, Where are they now?

Every year it seems at least one or two players joins the WPIAL's 4,000-yard rushing list. For example, in 2007, Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor and California's Donte Valentino joined the fraternity. This year, East Allegheny's Monte Ashby surpassed 4,000 yards.

The possibility exists that Canon-McMillan's Mike Hull can become a member during his senior year.

On every list, there is a first. That's who the Varsity Letters is seeking out this week. We're issuing an All Points Bulletin for former Chartiers-Houston standout Jerry Patterson.

Back in 1969, Patterson became the first runner in WPIAL history to reach 4,000 yards. He finished his distinguished scholastic career with 459 carries for 4,075 yards (an 8.9 average).

Another 12 years elapsed before another player from the WPIAL accomplished the feat. Jon Green, formerly of Mon Valley Catholic, rushed for 4,709 by the time his scholastic football career ended in 1981.

Anyone knowing of Patterson's whereabouts is urged to contact the Varsity Letters.

Awwww yeah

For the past 53 years, Lawrence "Deuce" Skurcenski has been the WPIAL's unofficial "official" statistician. The 1961 North Braddock Scott High School grad has seen, by his own estimation, over 9,264 basketball games and 3,040 football games. He's known by virtually every journalist, coach and hanger-on in the WPIAL. He's also known throughout college basketball circles and used to do football rankings for the Observer-Reporter.

Deuce also is known for a long list of catch phrases.

"Not too shabby."
"Issue him a masonry license."
"Give them smoking jackets."

And, my personal favorite,
"Awwww yeah."

Deuce was also the subject of a documentary which will be making its way to a media screening on Nov. 11 at the Regent Theater in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

For a quick glimpse at a man who's seen more high school games than you could ever imagine, click here.

91-0

Avella football is going through one of the rougher seasons any WPIAL team has faced in some time. Here's a story from the Associated Press that shows it could be worse:

ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — The Estero High football staff gathered in head coach Rich Dombroski’s office late Friday, almost in stunned silence.
Earlier that night, Estero lost to Naples High by 13.
Not by 13 points. By 13 touchdowns. That’s right: Naples 91, Estero 0.
The rout fallout has been growing since the game ended.
“Hey,” offered Estero defensive line coach Pat Hayes after the one-sided affair, “I didn’t even know 91 was a multiple of seven.”
With that, the coaches all got a much-needed laugh.
A half-hour away in Naples, Eagles coach Bill Kramer — the man on the winning end — could use one of those.
He looked at the scoreboard late in the game, saw 91-0, and said he felt sick to his stomach. Kramer’s team ran only 31 plays and he kept most of his best players on the sideline — for the entire game in some cases. But still Kramer knew what was coming.
Soon after the game ended, his inbox began filling with angry e-mails, some from Estero parents wondering why so many points were necessary, some from Naples parents wondering why their kids didn’t play more in an effort to pad their stats.
“There’s only one way to describe it,” Kramer said. “Just bizarre.”
The schools aren’t far off in size: Estero has about 1,400 high schoolers, Naples roughly 1,700.
But the pedigree of the football programs couldn’t be more different.
Estero is rebuilding from the lowest level, with Dombroski in his first year at the school and having inherited a program that had simply crumbled. Naples is the reigning state Class 3A champion, and a contender to win the title again. Naples has players committed to Division I schools like Ohio State already and a roster filled with talent at every position. Estero has no college prospects and only about 25 healthy or so players remaining on its roster.
“Some of us, most of us, well, all of us were intimidated,” said Tyler Eastridge, a free safety who may be exaggerating when he says he weighs a 150 pounds.
Naples led 70-0 at the half; only four of the 1,420 games reported by member schools to the Florida High School Athletic Association this season have seen teams score more than 70 points.
“It was David versus Goliath,” Dombroski said, “and David didn’t have a stone to throw.”
The national record books are incomplete, but a score like 91-0 won’t register a blip on the list of all-time defeats. It wasn’t even the most lopsided score in the country this weekend — in Ohio, Beechcroft beat Centennial 96-0, taking knees on plays in the fourth quarter to avoid triple figures.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, five teams have scored more than 200 points in a game, with the record believed to be 256 by Haven (Ky.) High in 1927.
Dombroski isn’t blaming Naples.
“Naples did absolutely nothing wrong,” Dombroski said. “We just didn’t do anything right.”
Kramer has been in this spot before.
In 2001, the Golden Eagles scored 63 first-quarter points and beat Lely High — ironically, where Dombroski’s girlfriend teaches today — 85-0, and Kramer suddenly became the target of perceptions that he intentionally ran up the score.
But in that game, just as on Friday, Naples had some of its starters not play at all, and others just for one or two series.
“We’ve been through it before and you never want to go through it again,” Kramer said. “There were people ready to burn my house.”
It’s an unsettling time again.
The Naples Daily News ran a poll asking if Kramer and his team “should be ashamed” over the result, and by Monday afternoon, the vote was nearly dead-even: 239 no, 225 yes.
Hearing that, even Dombroski shook his head. He e-mailed Kramer on Monday to reiterate that Naples did nothing wrong, but that’s hardly the only opinion swirling around Naples these days.
“My daughter plays basketball and there’s a local team that’s really good and when they’re about to score 100, there’s no polls about that,” Kramer said. “When the local lacrosse team wins 24-0, where’s the outrage? Or when kids win 6-0, 6-0 in tennis? We score 10 touchdowns and everybody loses their minds.
“The real irony is we’ve got some of our parents upset that their kids didn’t play or didn’t play enough. And you just say, ’Wow.”’
Dombroski knew when he took the Estero job that there would be days like Friday, but he said the 91-0 thumping might help him turn the program around.
“We won’t forget this. I won’t forget this,” said Dombroski, whose freshman program is off to a 4-1-1 start this year, a sign that better days could be ahead for Estero. “We’re not going to lay down. We’re going to fight for 48 minutes, every time we’re out there.”
So on Monday afternoon, when school got out at 1:45, the Estero High football team headed to its locker room and prepared for practice. New scouting reports were waiting for them, and soon the team headed onto the field for practice, their blue jerseys whipping in the wind as they stretched.
“Our team might not be winning or might not be on top right now,” said right guard Mike Perez. “But we all have to do the best we can do. We can’t forget that.”
And so, they were back to work, which they’ll need. This week, Estero plays Cape Coral — a team that nearly beat Naples.