Friday night thoughts, WPIAL semifinals

Based on nothing more than gut feeling, here's my picks for Saturday's championship games:
Class AAAA – North Allegheny;
Class AAA – Central Valley;
Class AA – South Fayette;
Class A – Clairton.

Let's hear your picks.

* South Fayette's Jeff Davis has to be one of the top running backs in the WPIAL. Davis makes defenders miss in the open field, at the line of scrimmage and he can carry tacklers for a few yards.

If there's a better back in the WPIAL at catching balls out of the backfield, I want to see the guy play.

* The Class A title game between Clairton and Rochester will kick off at 9:30 a.m. to accommodate FSN. No word if overnight camping is permitted in the Heinz Field parking lot.

* With Central Valley in the WPIAL Class AAA championship game in its first year, Ringgold fans should feel a little better about the Rams' performance in the first round. Didn't cover the Thomas Jefferson-Central Valley game, but it didn't sound as competitive as the Ringgold game.

* Before the playoffs started, I picked Pittsburgh Central Catholic to win Class AAAA and Thomas Jefferson to win Class AAA. Oops!

* People can say what they want about the South Fayette defense, and the unit is not the most dominating, but the Lions' pass rush makes up for a lot of things.

Friday night thoughts, WPIAL quarterfinals

South Fayette's Christian Brumbaugh may not have the arm strength of former Penn Hills quarterback Anthony Morelli and Trinity quarterback Cody Endres, but I can't remember watching a more intelligent high school player at the position.

Which makes it all the more odd that Brumbaugh hasn't secured a college yet.

His first choice was Division I-AA power William & Mary but the school hasn't made an offer yet. Brumbaugh does have offers from Akron, Bowling Green and Buffalo. Ohio and Toledo are also interested.

After watching Brumbaugh pass for 324 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 completions in a complete dissection of Freeport's defense in Friday night's 47-13 victory in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals, it's befuddling that more schools are interested.

Let's see. Brumbaugh has the size, the smarts to read through four or five progressions, the ability to elude pressure, a decent arm and he's a winner.

If there's a better quarterback playing in the WPIAL, KinPA (a regular reader of this blog) has promised to eat a printout of this story with hot sauce.

* It's amazing how certain teams can't beat certain schools, such as Monessen's five-game playoff losing streak to Springdale.

The Dynamo cruised to a 30-6 win to advance to play Clairton in the semifinals. Not sure how Springdale posted 30 points against a Monessen defense that I considered stout. I did figure the Greyhounds would have trouble scoring. Just not that much trouble.

* Does Spiringdale's win change anyone's belief that Clairton and Rochester are destined to meet at Heinz Field once again? I still say it's the Bears and Rams two Saturdays from now.

* Impressive statement made by Aliquippa against a Beaver team that took the Quips to overtime in the regular season.

It's old school vs. new school in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals. Aliquippa vs. Ford City and Beaver Falls vs. South Fayette.

*If Beth-Center's play up front catches up to the talent of the skill positions, the Bulldogs could be better poised to make a deeper run in the postseason.

Still, Beth-Center remains the only team from Washington and Greene counties to win a playoff game this year or last year.

* South Fayette's Jeff Davis has to be one of the toughest running backs in the WPIAL to defense. He's equally adept at running and receiving, actually he might be a better pass catcher.

* I also like the play of Lions senior tight end/linebacker Eric Myers. The guy makes key catches on third down and finds a way to the football on defense.

* South Fayette has never been to the WPIAL Class AA semifinals, though the Lions previously made it that far in Class A and won the 1964 title, back when Gardner Points decided who played for the championship.

That said, the business-like approach the Lions displayed last night at Freeport shows this team has one objective in mind, and it involves winning at Heinz Field.

Friday night thoughts, opening round edition

Observations from the first Friday night of the postseason hours before emerging myself in "Super Soccer Saturday" at Elizabeth Forward High School.

Keystone Oaks' 20-16 victory over Greensburg Central Catholic did more than provide the rare No. 15 over No. 2 victory in the WPIAL playoffs - a feat Trinity accomplished against Penn Hills in 2005.

The Golden Eagles' impressive road win blew that side of the bracket wide open for South Fayette, a team predicted to win the WPIAL Class AA title on this site.

Granted, Greensburg Central Catholic wasn't playing up to the seeding it received the final month of the season but some of those Centurions were around last year when they won the WPIAL title as the 11th seed and advanced to the PIAA championship game.

Now, it sure looks like one of the great eras in South Fayette sports has a chance to add the area's most prestigious trophy to its ever-growing trophy case.

The Lions' 35-0 victory over Ellwood City is a testament to a defense playing without Nolan Spicer, perhaps the Lions' top two-way player. Spicer suffered a knee injury against Seton-La Salle but Erie Meyers, Nick Faraci and Tanner Courtad led a strong effort against an Ellwood City team that deserved better than a No. 14 seed.

Meyers and Faraci can be menacing defensive players at times and South Fayette will need continued play on that side of the football to achieve its goals. That said, with Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette both losing, South Fayette and Beaver Falls could be headed for a semifinal matchup.

* I've seen Monessen twice this season and the Greyhounds defense has been absolutely dominant in both victories. Against Beth-Center and Chartiers-Houston, two strong rushing offense, Monessen allowed a combined two first downs rushing.

That's one rushing first-down for Beth-Center and one rushing first-down for Chartiers-Houston.

Monessen will need a similar performance against crafty Springdale, which has knocked the Greyhounds out of the playoffs four times since 2003.

* About a month ago, a topic of discussion dealt with the Tri-County South and Black Hills conferences. Specifically, we discussed which conference was stronger this year, top-to-bottom.

I went with the TCS and Friday's results backed that up.

Monessen and Beth-Center convincingly advanced to the quarterfinals. Carmichaels lost to Clairton, 42-0, one of the better results posted against the Bears this year. Of course, I have no idea as I type this when the Bears called off the dogs.

Only Clairton advanced from the Black Hills. Fort Cherry, Chartiers-Houston and Brentwood lost its first-round games.

* Good to see Ed Woods back at Beth-Center. The Bulldogs have won first-round games the past two years. South Fayette and Beth-Center are the only area teams who can claim that.

* Shifting Ringgold and Franklin Regional to the Keystone Conference was a move the WPIAL hoped would strengthen the league. To some extent it did, but the Keystone went 0-4 Friday night.

Before the fingers get pointed at certain facets of Ringgold's team, let's start by saying the Rams' 9-1 season was an excellent one despite the first-round exit.

The Rams ignited an often-dormant fan base with their exciting play and there's certainly reasons to be optimistic for the future. Given some of the talent returning at the skill positions - players like Quad Law and Demetrius Louis - Ringgold will be expected to return to the postseason in 2011.

Here's one opinion as to why Central Valley advanced: Besides playing in a strong conference (Parkway), Central Valley is comprised of two school districts (Center and Monaca) with players who have been in the postseason and advanced several times. Those players know how to win close games and win on the road.

It's Ringgold's first time at the dance when something was expected of the team. Sometimes, it takes getting a foot in the door before kicking it down.

* If the season ended today, Ringgold's Matt Humbert gets my vote for Coach of the Year.

* According to the bracket, Ringgold was the No. 3 seed in Class AAA and Central Valley the 14th. No way was CV a 14th seed.

Maybe, when the WPIAL drew up the bracket, they put Ringgold in the No. 3 spot due to the 9-0 record but I'm wondering if the committee thought of the Rams as more of a No. 5 or No. 6 seed and Central Valley a No. 12 or No. 11.

While the pairings say one thing, it's not always a true seeding.

* Has Ed Dalton coached his final game at Trinity? The guess here is yes.

While I will never question Dalton's commitment to the Trinity players, a coach who has produced as many college players and drawn as much press (positive and negative) as Dalton has at Trinity would be an attractive candidate for other positions.

Friday night thoughts, Week 9

In Monday's edition of the Observer-Reporter, I'll offer my brackets for the upcoming WPIAL playoffs. For discussion purposes and for a small tease of the story, here's my Class A breakdown:

1 Clairton (9-0) vs. 16 Carmichaels (6-3);
2 Rochester (9-0) vs. 15 California (6-3);
3 Avonworth (8-1) vs. 14 Brentwood (7-2);
4 Springdale (8-1) vs. 13 Western Beaver (6-3);
5 Sto-Rox (7-2) vs. 12 North Catholic (6-3);
6 Monessen (8-1) vs. 11 Cornell (7-2);
7 Beth-Center (7-2) vs. 10 Chartiers-Houston (7-2);
8 Fort Cherry (5-4) vs. 9 Bishop Canevin (8-1).

* If the Bishop Canevin at Fort Cherry matchup happens (and I don't see any scenario where it doesn't), the Rangers need to find way to shore up the defensive backfield, even if it's a small tightening.

Bishop Canevin has a strong runner in Chris Walko but it's no secret that Fort Cherry is vulnerable to big pass plays. The last four times I've covered the Rangers the past two seasons, the opponent has attacked the secondary.

Chartiers-Houston did it early Friday night, but the Rangers had the talent to win in a shootout. It also helped that Tanner Garry picked off two passes and Tyreke Brown had another second-half interception.

Those interceptions can partly be attributed to Fort Cherry's decision to begin blitzing Bucs' quarterback Daniel Lis, who ran wild for most of three quarters.

* Speaking of Lis, the Bucs quarterback is an impressive football player and I thought he was the best player on the field at Jim Garry Stadium.

Just not by much.

Lis and Garry engaged in an exciting quarterback dual that resulted in a wild, up-and-down game where Fort Cherry rallied to score the final three touchdowns for a 48-40 victory.

The Rangers needed to win by five points to clinch second place.

Lis and Garry each rushed for 100-plus yards and passed for nearly 200. Lis tossed four touchdown passes - three to D.J. Denny - and Garry shrugged off a slow start passing for two key late touchdowns.

Garry's 56-yard touchdown pass to Nate Bellhy late in the third quarter put the Rangers ahead 41-40. For those who watched the play, about 15 other things could have happened before Garry spotted Bellhy uncovered 40 yards downfield.

Garry eluded the Bucs defense and scrambled toward the Rangers sideline before reversing directions and heading back toward the middle of the field. By that point, Bellhy was left uncovered and, somehow, Garry spotted him.

A fantastic play.

Until someone can actually hang with Clairton, the Bears are undoubtedly the favorite in the Black Hills Conference in 2011 but the play of Lis and Garry are encouraging signs for their respective teams.

* Chartiers-Houston finished the regular season 7-2 with two road losses and only four seniors.

* With four multi-year starters along the offensive line, Peters Township needed that unit to respond with a good game at Canon-McMillan.

They sure did.

Tackles Jon Allen and Nevin Hagman, guards Tyler Clark and Clayton Evans, center Boyd Jones and tight end Will McClure paved the way for Andrew Erenberg and Austin Hancock as the Indians rushed for 248 yards in a must-win over Canon-McMillan.

Erenberg rushed for 125 yards and scored four first-half touchdowns.

With the continued trend toward passing offenses at the high school level, it's good to see a team identify a strength, use the strength and keep the game-plan simple.

Sure, it's nice to have 1,000-yard passers to go with 1,000-yard rushers but there's still no easier way to beat a football team that to run the football effectively and repeatedly.

* Given the personnel, Avella believed its only chances for offensive success this season came throwing the football and quarterback Cameron Geresti along with freshman Kolton Kobrys quietly put together strong seasons.

Geresti passed for approximately 1,500 yards, which has to be a single-season school record, and Kobrys finished with 50-pus catches.

* Beth-Center is obviously a different football team when Jeff Tarley is healthy but the player that intrigues me is Deshan Brown.

Brown occasionally lines up in the backfield and sometime at receiver. When he touches the football, Brown often moves the first-down chains as his four catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns against Jefferson-Morgan indicates.

* Ringgold completed its undefeated regular season with a 40-7 win at Uniontown. Derrick Fiore topped 1,100 yards for the season and the Rams got their usual contributions from their large cast of characters.

Uniontown may not have a good record but this counts as an impressive win for the Rams.

Following last week's big win against Franklin Regional, Ringgold was primed for a letdown. The coaching staff ensured that wouldn't happen. In Matt Humbert's Gatorade-drenched postgame speech to his players, he congratulated them on the performance against Franklin Regional but his main message concerned Uniontown.

* The Varsity Letters would like to extend a sarcastic "Thank you" to the Charleroi football Team for not reporting any of its games to the Observer-Reporter this year. It continues to fathom me how teams (and Charleroi football isn't the only one) can't be bothered to spend five minutes calling in results from a game to earn a little extra recognition for their student-athletes.

Maybe I'll release a list of teams that never call in results someday. Then, readers may have an idea of why certain schools/teams rarely have Athletes of the Week, Players of the Week or feature stories done. Calling in results is essential to our coverage.

It's also tempting to relay a story of what recently happened to one of our stringers (a person hired by the paper to cover an event) at a local football game when he was confronted and accosted by a parent demanding coverage for his/her child in an inappropriate manner.

Note to parents, if you put reporters in a situation where we feel it is unsafe to cover a game at your place, we will be reluctant to come.

Friday night thoughts

With one week remaining before the postseason begins, it's time to begin considering candidates for the Observer-Reporter Player of the Year.

Christian Brumbaugh, the reigning POY, is having another strong statistical season for undefeated South Fayette. Brumbaugh's won-loss record the past two years is 18-1.

Ringgold running Derrick Fiore has 1,005 rushing yards to go with 12 touchdowns. Fiore averages nearly nine yards per carry and is capable of a big play at any moment, as his 60-yard touchdown run in Friday's 24-13 win against Franklin Regional demonstrated. Fiore is also a candidate for the All-Keystone Conference team as a safety. Oh, and Ringgold just wrapped up its first conference title since 2000 and is 8-0 for the first time.

When healthy, Trinity senior Kyle McWreath is a menacing two-way player. As the Hillers' fullback, McWreath gets limited opportunity to run but he makes big plays when he does. As a middle linebacker, I haven't seen a better one this year.

One player who placed himself on the short list this past week is Ringgold junior quarterback Quad Law. Statistically speaking, Law doesn't stack up against Brumbaugh or Fiore but there's no disputing his impact. Law makes a one-yard run look like a work of art and has the knack for clutch plays.

* After seeing Thomas Jefferson two weeks ago and Ringgold on Friday, a possible playoff matchup between the two seems awfully intriguing.

Ringgold has an advantage in speed and athleticism. Thomas Jefferson is stronger up front. If I was a betting man, my money would be on Thomas Jefferson because of the "been there, done that" factor.

* If Ringgold beats Uniontown to finish the regular season with a 9-0 record, the guess here is the Rams will receive the No. 4 seed or 5 seed in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Ringgold may have a tradition but the Rams haven't accomplished anything the past 10 years.
2. Montour and Thomas Jefferson look like locks for the top two seeds. A two-loss West Allegheny is the defending WPIAL champion and a strong team.

3. It's the Keystone Conference. Granted, Ringgold and Franklin Regional have made the conference better but until teams from the Keystone regularly win playoff games, teams from conferences like the Parkway will draw better seeds.

* Peters Township is a senior-dominated team that entered the season with high expectations. The Indians wanted to win the Great Southern Conference and host a playoff game. Those goals can no longer be achieved.

Now, the only way Peters Township can get into the playoffs for the first time at the Class AAAA level is to beat rival Canon-McMillan in Week 9. The Big Macs are winless in conference play but they are certainly playing better football now than they were early in the year.

* As important as that game is to Peters Township, the biggest Week 9 game from a local perspective looks like Chartiers-Houston at Fort Cherry.

The Bucs are 7-1 and their lone loss in the Black Hills Conference is to Clairton. A win over their biggest rival gives them an 8-1 record, a home playoff game and a seed anywhere from six to eight.

Fort Cherry has lost conference games to Brentwood and Clairton but the Rangers have an opportunity to finish second in the conference with a win. Since an overtime loss to Brentwood, the Rangers are playing some of their best football in recent years. Part of that stretch includes a five-touchdown loss to Clairton, which, by some accounts, was a competitive game despite the score.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that Fort Cherry has the talent to win a playoff game, maybe even make a mini-postseason run. A win against Chartiers-Houston gets that going.

Friday night thoughts, Week 7

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.

Friday night thoughts, Week 6

If one word can describe Monessen's 20-6 victory over Beth-Center Friday night, gutsy fits the bill.

The Greyhounds' performance was one of the gutsiest I've seen.

Jalen Madison moved from fullback to guard during the game. Brett Crenshaw went from tailback to tackle. Both players gave up size to Beth-Center's defensive front but size doesn't matter when a team with talent wants to win as badly as Monessen did.

Madison and Crenshaw weren't the only ones sacrificing personal statistics to put Monessen atop the Tri-County South Conference. Defensive backs moved the linebacker. Tight ends offered to move further inside the line to help an injury-depleted team dominate the previously unbeaten Bulldogs, 20-6.

Gutsy. Tough. Unselfish. Maybe even improbable considering the circumstances and how thoroughly Monessen dominated the second half, particularly on defense.

Beth-Center averaged 48.8 points coming into the game. Monessen allowed 80 yards.

* Beth-Center's Jeff Tarley practiced throughout the week according to Bulldogs coach Ed Woods but Tarley did not play against Monessen.

* Monessen played like a team in its biggest game of the year, which it was. Beth-Center failed to show similar emotion.

* Borrowing a call from the Bill Belichick school of coaching, Beth-Center went for it on a fourth-and-five from its own 25 with just under six minutes left and only trailing, 12-6. The Greyhounds put the game away a few plays later.

* After covering the Fort Cherry at Brentwood game last week, Brentwood's defense looked vulnerable against run plays through the middle. Chartiers-Houston must have noticed too when watching game tape.

Quarterback Daniel Lis rushed for 207 yards in the Bucs' 21-7 win.

The Bucs are a surprising 5-1 and if they can beat Fort Cherry in the regular season finale (which is anything but a sure thing), C-H will finish second in the Black Hills Conference.

* Due to the success of South Fayette and Seton-La Salle, it's easy to perceive the Century Conference as a pass-happy league, but some of the best runners in the WPIAL call the conference home.

Steel Valley's Delrece Williams went 259 yards and six touchdowns - six TDs! - against Washington.

Seton-La Salle's Kevin Hart is a scoring machine and wears down a defense, much like Williams.

South Fayette's Jeff Davis, who could be a slot receiver in college, celebrated his 18th birthday last night by rushing for 109 yards and totaling 177 yards in a critical win over Keystone Oaks.

Speaking of the Golden Eagles, Matt McCann and Jordan Maddox combined to rush for nearly 300 yards against the Lions.

* Losing to Steel Valley pretty much ends Washington's slim playoff hopes but the Prexies showed some life by giving the Ironmen a good game in a 48-33 loss. Wash High led 27-21 at halftime and 21-7 at one point.

The Prexies' schedule gets easier the final three weeks and it will be interesting to see if some of the younger players can build momentum and confidence heading toward 2011.

* The University of Tennessee has shown interest in Trinity senior Mike Cleveland, an athletic 6-6 multiple-position player who happens to have the strongest kicking leg I've seen on a high school player.

* Nice bounce-back win for Fort Cherry after a heartbreaking overtime loss at Brentwood the previous week.

Friday night thoughts, Week 5

Peters Township head coach Nick Milchovich said of Peters Township's 21-14 win over Bethel Park Friday night, "It might be the biggest win in the history of the program."

At first glance, it seems like hyperbole.

Upon closer inspection, Milchovich might be spot on.

Peters Township last made the WPIAL playoffs in 2003, when it played in Class AAA. That team featured future Division I players in Doug Fife and J.J. Knabb as well as Jim Gallagher. That team did not register a name-brand win like Peters Township did last night.

All the Indians need to do to clinch its first spot in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs is win one of its final four games.

Holding Bethel Park to 14 points has to be a confidence-booster for a defense that was smarting after last week's performance at West Mifflin.

Then, there's the play of senior quarterback Austin Hancock.

He completed 9 of 11 passes for 115 yards and his 22-yard touchdowns was the winning score. Hancock has been amazingly accurate this season. Through five games, he has completed 38 of 49 passes (77.6 percent) for 587 yards and four touchdowns. He's also rushed for three scores.

* Fort Cherry has a quarterback in junior Tanner Garry who can make throws downfield and along the sideline. I came away impressed with Garry's ability to hit the quick six-, seven- and eight-yard hitch during the Rangers' 28-21 overtime loss at Brentwood.

Fort Cherry receivers Ryan Babirad, Tyreke Brown and Nate Bellhy – in his first year playing football – are sure-handed, run after contact and get open on third and fourth down.

Tailback Gary Kiefer, who hurt a shoulder in the game but continued to play, is tough. He picks up three or four yards when it looks like nothing is there. Kiefer can also break the big play.

The Rangers gang tackle on defense and are a physical bunch.

Yet, Fort Cherry is 2-3 following the loss.

Breakdowns in pass coverage were evident as Brentwood quarterback Cory Bauer tossed four touchdowns. The Rangers are going to have to get better play in the secondary as they hunt for a playoff spot out of the Black Hills Conference.

The only other problem I noticed came on special teams. I don't recall a kickoff returner catching a ball on the fly. Balls hit the ground, rolled toward the goal line and gave Fort Cherry unnecessarily poor field position.

Should Fort Cherry find a way to put everything together, I say the Rangers could find themselves winning at least one playoff game.

* Fort Cherry won the overtime coin toss and elected to play defense first, as most teams do in such situations. Brentwood coach Kevin Kissel told me after the game he'd do the same thing if the Spartans won the coin toss.

Brentwood scored on its first play of overtime and kicked the ensuing extra point. The pressure was immediately placed on Fort Cherry to score.

At the high school level, with teams getting the ball at the 10-yard line in overtime, I'd like to see the team that wins the coin toss go on offense first.

Why?

Well, for starters, 10 yards is not far to go to get points, whether it come via touchdown or field goal. Second, if a team scores first and makes the extra point, it places a lot of pressure on the other kicker to make the extra point if his team scores a touchdown.

Pressure on a high school kicker is a lot different than pressure on Jeff Reed.

I'm just sayin'.

* Newsflash - Ringgold completed two passes, doubling it's season total to four. The Rams have one fewer completion than wins.

* I'd like to hear some predictions on Keystone Oaks at South Fayette and Beth-Center at Monessen. I'll offer mine later in the week.

* The lopsided scores continued Friday night.
Chartiers-Houston 41, Bentworth 14. Clairton 65, Avella 0. Ringgold 42, Albert Gallatin 7. South Fayette 48, Burgettstown 7. Keystone Oaks 37, Washington 0. Carmichaels 42, West Greene 0. Jefferson-Morgan 43, Mapletown 6.

There have not been an overwhelming number of competitive football games this season.

* Back to Bellhy. The 6-5 senior is known as a basketball player and he came close to averaging 30 points as a junior.

If I'm a local college football coach, I'm talking to Bellhy. He caught every passes thrown his way against Brentwood, whether it was over the middle or along the sideline. After every catch, he turned upfield for extra yards. With a solid frame, he fought off some contact.

Bellhy would be a project, but he might be worth the risk.

Friday night thoughts, Week 4

Could Ringgold win the Keystone Conference? The Rams took a major step by beating Greensburg-Salem. Difficult games remain against Franklin Regional and Uniontown.

* South Fayette puts up spectacular offensive numbers. From quarterback Christian Brumbaugh - the latest Lions signal caller to top 4,000 career passing yards - to running back Jeff Davis to sure-handed receivers Tyler Challingsworth and Josh Patterson, South Fayette is balanced, disciplined and intelligent on the offensive side of the football.

Against Washington Friday night, the Lions were dominant defensively.

And that type of play is what gives South Fayette a chance to contend for the WPIAL Class AA championship.

Nolan Spicer, who will play at Liberty, spent most of the evening tackling Prexies running backs in the backfield. When Spicer wasn't making plays, Nick Faraci, Eric Myers, Davis or Brian Haney did.

* Speaking of defense, Washington showed marked improvement on that side of the football from its season-opening loss to Clairton.

Yes, Wash High lost to South Fayette, 35-8, but the Lions didn't put up eye-popping offensive numbers and credit the Prexies defense for that.

Brumbaugh passed for 141 yards and two touchdowns but Washington continually made Brumbaugh look for his second, third and sometimes fourth option on passing plays. The Prexies also held Davis to 88 rushing yards, and more than 50 of them came on consecutive carries.

Washington needs to do a better job tackling in the open field but, if the Prexies are to sneak into the playoff picture, the offensive line must improve.

All of Washington's offensive output came in the second half and the Prexies' lone touchdown was against South Fayette's backups.

* Since 1999, I haven't seen a local quarterback with more zip on the football than Trinity's Cody Endres, who was recently reinstated to the Connecticut football team. And I haven't seen a quarterback launch a deep ball better than Ringgold's Lorenzo Gardner.

When it comes to Brumbaugh, he's the best I've seen at working the middle of the football field, maintaining poise and checking through progressions.

* Geibel in the WPIAL playoffs? Repeat. Geibel in the WPIAL playoffs? The Gators are 2-2 and in decent shape after beating Jefferson-Morgan in the Tri-County South Conference.

Beth-Center and Monessen are no-brainers to qualify from the TCS. Frazier, Carmichaels, California and, yes, Geibel look like they will contend for the final two spots.

* Wash High plays Keystone Oaks and Steel Valley the next two weeks. To make the playoffs, Washington must win one of those two games then win its remaining Century Conference contests.

* Congrats to West Greene for snapping a 26-game losing streak with a win against Mapletown. It's not easy maintaining numbers and morale when losses appear inevitable. Places like West Greene, one of the smallest public schools in the WPIAL, deserve the occasional 'W' just for the student-athletes who are tough enough to keep competing against difficult odds.

* McGuffey is this week's tough-luck loser.

The Highlanders take a late lead at Moon on a 1-yard touchdown run by Derrick Whipkey only to give up a 65-yard kickoff return to Mark Piccolo with 22 seconds left. It was Piccolo's fourth touchdown.

* Peters Township moved to 3-1 with an overtime win over West Mifflin and the Indians lone loss came in extra time to Penn-Trafford.

Still, it's tough to get a read on the Indians.

The non-conference schedule was not overly difficult. Andrew Erenberg is putting up strong numbers behind a strong offensive line. Yet, the defense looks iffy.

This is the same West Mifflin team that scored six points at South Fayette to open the season.