Every time I see Trinity play, I come away more impressed with freshman tailback Pat Frey.
Frey didn't put up huge numbers against Thomas Jefferson as he rushed for 55 yards on a handful of carries but, against one strong defensive line, Frey continually fought off tackles for extra yards. There were carries where Frey looked to be swarmed at the line of scrimmage and he ended up with eight yards.
In another sequence, Frey got to the second level of TJ's defense and he came down on the crown of his helmet as he was tackled. Frey grabbed the top of his helmet but went right back to the huddle and carried on the next play.
Trinity ran the ball hard against Thomas Jefferson but the Hillers were completely undone by three second-quarter fumbles that turned a 3-0 game into a 17-0 one that felt like the margin was much larger.
To keep TJ from stacking the box, Trinity had to throw some and every time quarterback Brad Martin passed, the Jaguars' front chased after him.
Martin was sacked eight times.
Eight sacks and three fumbles spells doom against Thomas Jefferson, which will be an extremely difficult out in the postseason.
* Baldwin entered Friday's game at Peters Township with a 1-5 record. Among those losses were games against Upper St. Clair, Thomas Jefferson, Mt. Lebanon and Erie McDowell. The Highlanders weren't blown out in any of those losses.
That's one reason why Baldwin's 12-9 victory over the Indians isn't too surprising.
* Changing a culture of losing is one of the hardest things to do in high school football. For all the hard work Ed Dalton and his devoted staff have put in at Trinity, the Hillers have yet to have that signature win at the Class AAA level.
The same can be said for Peters Township. The same could be said at places like Norwin, Butler, Hempfield, etc.
* Clairton, a lightning rod for readers of this blog, had a scary moment during last night's win over Brentwood when senior Desimon Green was taken off the field in an ambulance.
Green, the Bears' quarterback and defensive end, is a Pitt recruit and possibly the state's top Class A player. Thanks to regular poster Joey Niklas who informed me that, fortunately, Green was taken off the field for precautionary reasons.
* It's been a trying start to the season for Washington, which struggled offensively through the first half of the season and all but fell out of the playoff picture in the Century Conference. That said, the guess here is most Prexies fans would probably agree that the young players needed to play well in the final three regular season games to begin building for a successful 2011.
How does four running backs rushing for 100-plus yards in a blowout of Quaker Valley sound?
Sophomore Jaylin Kelly had 125 yards and three scores. Jordan Thomas has 131 yards and freshman Shai McKenzie got 91 of his 102 yards on a fourth-quarter touchdown. Throw in 115 yards and two TDs from senior Zach Barnes and it goes down as one of Wash High's best rushing outputs in its storied history.
* McGuffey, which lost 18 seniors from last year's strong squad, has endured two of the toughest losses of the season.
There was the gut-wrenching loss a few weeks ago at Moon when the Highlanders took a late lead then gave up a late kickoff return. Last night against Chartiers Valley, McG quarterback Derrick Whipkey was stuffed on a fourth-and-goal at the 1 in double overtime.
* California receiver Dakota Conway has 12 touchdown catches on the year after having three against Jefferson-Morgan. Not sure but that has to rank high on the all-time single-season list for Washington County schools.
* Waynesburg's Nick Zupper is quietly on pace for 1,000 yard season.
Speaking of rushers, if the current pace holds, only Ringgold's Derrick Fiore and Zupper will rush for 1,000 yards in the regular season. Peters Township's Andrew Erenberg is just off 1,000-yard pace.
* Ringgold's upcoming game against Franklin Regional is the Rams' biggest since at least 1999.
19 comments:
Black Hills Conference coaches take note, this is how you lose with dignity and respect:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/highschool/s_704681.html
Mike, Pat Frey does seem to be an explosive gift to THS being a freshman. It's scary to see he's doing that as a freshman. McGuffey gave a strong effort against CV. Whipkey is a standout for the team. I think Ringgold and Franklin Regional is going to be a BIG game and will tell the complete story for both teams.
Agreed. The Franklin Regional--Ringgold game is a huge indicator of just how good either team is.
I'm not normally in the business of second-guessing coaches or play calling, but it seems to me that Peters Township is a little too conservative on offense. I was pretty sure Austin Hancock was a solid dual threat (running and passing) quarterback, but in the two games I've seen PT play, against Bethel Park and Baldwin, his passing ability wasn't exactly on display.
And on the crucial drive in the fourth quarter against Baldwin, the first two play calls looked like designed runs for Hancock. Granted, he was having much more success running in the second half than he did in the first, and there was still a good bit of time left on the clock. And it's easy to second-guess play calling when the results of those plays were a net of two yards (had they gone for 25 I bet I praise them for the calls), but I thought PT might throw the ball more than they do.
peters township......very dissapointing defeat
Regarding the first post, the entire link isnt available so if someone knows what this article is about, please inform the group. Thanks
Wash High rushes for almost 600 yards of offense and no "Experts" make any comments about the coaching? I'm shocked! Surely there was something those guys could have done better to score 70 points and rushed for 700 yards? Maybe move some players around to "where they should be palying". This shows it always comes down to who you have and what the other teams have. Wash High played a tough schedule the first 6 weeks with a young team. Great job coaches keeping your young team togehter with all the negativity from the parents who coach "Midget Football" that know it all!
here is the link again:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailynewsmckeesport/s_704711.html
PT has to be the worst-coached quad-a team in the wpial. There is no offensive identity, and any good coaching staff knows what is coming and when--ask USC and Baldwin.
The defensive coaches are over-matched at this level. The scheme is as basic as it gets for 90 percent of the game and then when the game is on the line, they blitz recklessly. Baldwin's qb scrambling for a first down on 4th and 19 is inexcusable.
What's the over/under for Luke Hagy's rushing yardage--400?
I have no idea why this link keeps doing this. MAYBE a certain someone that runs this blog doesnt want any type of POSITIVE story about Clairton posted. Go to the daily news mckeesport . com and go to the sports tab...you'll see it there.
"I have no idea why this link keeps doing this. MAYBE a certain someone that runs this blog doesnt want any type of POSITIVE story about Clairton posted. Go to the daily news mckeesport . com and go to the sports tab...you'll see it there."
I have absolutely no ability to change the content of any post nor do I have the desire to change the content of any post.
Get a grip!
And, honestly, I have let positive comment about positive comment posted to the board concerning Clairton, along with negative comments ... even when the subject matter of the content had absolutely nothing to do with Clairton.
Clairton Alum and Joey are two of my favorite contributors to this blog. They have the courage to put their tags on their posts whether they are popular or not. That's a lot more courageous than some anonymous poster coming on here and making ridiculous accusations.
Mike but you did post that comment about clairton stealing. That wasn't called for you know. That story should have never been reported, and i heard it was taking care of. As soon as it was reported that night. Thats all im saying. it really makes Clairton look bad.
Geez, paranoid much? Local football players had things stolen. It had some relevance to this blog. I'm positive Mike would've posted that story whether it happened to Bentworth in Clairton, or Avella, or Houston.
By the way, I don't know what the complaints were about the link in the first post. I highlighted, copied and pasted the link without a problem.
Mike, I hope I am one of your favorites too. lol
you're one of my favorites keith...
:-)
R Keith and Clairton Alum are always welcome contributors. You guys often offer opinion that isn't going to be popular but back it up with thoughtful discussion and a sense of realism.
Mike, are you going to be covering the Ringgold game?
Indeed
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