West-A outlasts Bethel Park
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jack Evans (No. 44) blocks a West Allegheny lineman as Jehvonn Lewis looks for a place to run. Despite being held by the shirttails, Lewis reversed direction and managed to elude a tackle and make a first down. Lewis scored three touchdowns, two on the run and one via a pass, but that was not enough as Bethel Park dropped a 36-35 decision to West Allegheny in overtime.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park’s Jared Yantak (No. 24) indicates touchdown as Sean McGowan hauls in a scoring strike from Anthony Chiccett.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Luke Surunis breaks free of tacklers for a big gain during Bethel Park’s overtime loss to West Allegheny, 36-35. Surunis scored the tying touchdown that forced overtime.
West Allegheny is the common denominator for Bethel Park and Peters Township. The Hawks are coming off a heart-breaking, overtime loss, 36-35, to West-A while the Indians are preparing to tackle the fifth-ranked football team in Class 5A of the WPIAL at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 in Imperial.
The Hawks are adopting PT’s philosophy after their difficult defeat at Upper St. Clair, 16-14. The Indians recovered to beat Woodland Hills, an opponent BP beat in its opener before falling to West-A. BP hosts Shaler at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14.
After coaching in one of the best high school games he had been associated with since BP won an overtime decision in the PIAA state semifinals in 2008, BP coach Jeff Metheny noted how the loss to West-A hurt but he reminded his players that they have a good team.
“Our kids fought hard but hats off to their kids,” Metheny said. “We have a good team. They have a good team. They just made one more play than us. It was a good play but it still was a tough loss. This one hurt. It’s hard but we have to go back to work and have a short memory. We have to take this and keep working because there is a lot of football to be played and we have a lot of good football left.”
Even though this is Bob Palko’s final season as head coach, his West Allegheny squad has a lot of football left, too. Palko is a legend in the WPIAL. He has won eight district championships, the most of any coach in the WPIAL.
“I am sure Coach Palko has forgotten more football than I know,” PT coach T.J. Plack said. “I highly respect him as a coach. Pound for pound, I would put West Allegheny up there as one of the best programs in the WPIAL during his term as head football coach. We are looking forward to the opportunity to compete against a program of their caliber.”
Metheny looked forward to his first meeting against his pal, too, but his Hawks lost their first-ever encounter with West-A when their host capitalized on a two-point conversion to seal the victory in overtime. Quarterback Kam Kruze completed a 2-yard jump pass to tight end Isaac Longstreth for the decisive point.
In addition to Kruze, who tossed two TDs, Dante Flati did the job on the ground. He rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns, including one in overtime and an 87-yard ramble with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
Jehvonn and Luke Surunis, however, answered for the Hawks, who were tied with West-A, 14-14, after one frame and 21-21, at halftime.
Lewis rushed for 41 yards and two scores. He also caught three passes for 57 yards and another touchdown. Surunis scored on a 6-yard run. Sean McGowan also hauled in a 9-yard scoring strike from Anthony Chiccitt, who completed 12 of 21 aerials for 197 yards.
“Our kids fought hard. We made some mistakes, penalties that kind of thing, but we had our chances, too. We had kind of control of the game,” Metheny said.
Meanwhile, Plack watched his Indians tackle Woodland Hills. In posting a 20-0 shutout, Corban Hondru and Seth Lukisk excelled at linebacker while Aidan McCall locked down the corners on defense. The offensive line of Rob Corrado, Grant Nelson, Shane O’Connell, Ian Chaudhari and Logan Clark handled a “very active” defensive front and opened up holes for PT to rack up 200 rushing yards and touchdowns of 9 and 4 yards by Ryan Magiske and Adrian Williams. Williams led all rushers with 94 yards. Luksik followed with 70 yards and Magiske finished with 41.
Josh Casilli also returned a punt 38 yards for a touchdown and Brian Bruzdewicz converted two PATs to account for the rest of the scoring against the Wolverines. Logan Pfueffer completed two passes, both to Casilli for 51 yards.
“It was a good win against Woodland Hills in the fact that it helps keep our players positive but outside of that, the week is over,” Plack said in response to whether the victory gave the Indians momentum heading into its next clash. “Again, it is just another event during the season, how we respond, prepare, and play against West Allegheny is all that matters.
“West-A is an extremely well-coached team,” he continued. “They are very versatile offensively, and will pressure you as a defensive unit. They don’t have one person to focus on, but rather multiple guys that are capable of making plays. So we need to get better at making plays and taking care of the football.”
Lebo at Seneca Valley
While Mt. Lebanon moved to 2-0 in Quad County Conference with a huge victory last week over Butler, 44-21, the Blue Devils will gain a true glimpse of their progress when they visit Seneca Valley Sept. 14 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
“We have worked hard the last two weeks and have continued to improve but Seneca Valley will be a great measuring stick to see where we are at this point of the season,” Lebo skipper Mike Melnyk said. “Seneca Valley is a big, physical team that is built to play in the North and we will have to match their physicality to be successful. They are very balanced and have multiple skills players who can make plays rather than relying on one player.”
To date, the Blue Devils have relied on Seth Morgan to power the offense.
The senior signal caller has completed 47 passes for 675 yards and six scores. He completed 8 of 19 attempts for 139 yards and two touchdowns to Tim Walters and Mason Ventrone against the Golden Tornado. Morgan also rushed for 112 yards on 12 carries.
“Seth had a fine all-around ballgame,” Melnyk said. “He is a threat when he has the ball in his hands.”
When the ball is in the hands of the Raiders, Lucas DeCaro and Michael Palmer are threats to take it away. Both intercepted passes for touchdowns of 15 and 22 yards against Butler. The Lebo defense also held the Golden Tornado offense to minus-3 yards passing and six total first downs.
“We played excellent defense and had two defensive scores that contributed to the victory,” said Melnyk, who is now Lebo’s defensive coordinator.
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils must be better than they were against the winless Golden Tornado if they are to beat the Raiders, who are 2-1 overall and ranked No. 4 in Class 6A.
“We will have to be physical, start faster than we have the past three weeks and be crisp in our execution if we expect to win,” Melnyk said.
Greensburg Salem at SF
South Fayette (2-1, 2-0) dominated every aspect of the game and blanked New Castle, 36-0, in Northwest Eight Conference action. Now the Lions host Greensburg Salem (1-2) in a non-conference clash at 7 p.m. Sept. 14.
“It was a total team effort traveling to New Castle and playing in a place that is always tough to play,” said SF coach Joe Rossi.
“We are back home now and facing a team that was able to dominate Trinity, played a good Hempfield team down to the wire and lost to Mars.
“Greensburg will bring a bunch of athletes in the spread attack. So we have to be ready for their quarterback, who is a quality rusher and does very well distributing the ball around.”
While Trent Patrick is dynamic and has the ability to spread the ball around to his tailback Aaren Putt as well as target his receivers Tyler Williams and Dajuan Hertzog, the Lions have a host of weapons that warrant the Golden Lions’ attention.
The arsenal begins with Jamie Diven. With 18 completions for 249 yards and two TDs against New Castle, the senior improved to 52 of 73 passes for 771 yards and 11 scores this season.
Mike Trimbur was the top target against the ‘Canes. He had eight receptions for 159 yards and the two scoring strikes of 54 and 36 yards.
Andrew Franklin led the ground game, rolling up 117 yards on 19 carries. He scored on a 3-yard run. Rayquin also rushed for a touchdown and Ryan Coe kicked two, 36-yard field goals.
The defense also blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety.
CV at Norwin
Chartiers Valley ruined Armstrong’s debut in its new stadium when the Colts came back to defeat the Red Hawks, 21-17. The Colts hope to do the same when they take to the road again and attempt to topple Norwin in another non-conference clash set for 7 p.m. Sept. 14.
“It was an electric atmosphere,” CV head coach Dan Knause said.
“We have another far road trip at a great venue,” he added, noting that Norwin will be the site of this year’s WPIAL 5A championships. “We want to improve each and every day, though, so it doesn’t matter if we are playing a conference or non conference game.”
Norwin is considered a Top Class 6A team. Plus, the Knights boast the 1-2 punch of Jack Salopek and Jayvon Thrift. A junior quarterback, Salopek has been offered a scholarship to Pitt. A senior tailback, Thrift is also being recruited by WVU and Syracuse. Gianni Rizzo is a Youngstown State recruit.
“Norwin is a very talented team with multiple D1 prospects,” Knause explained. “We can’t afford to make mistakes. We will have to play great team football to lead us to victory.”
Mistakes nearly did in the Colts last week but they found a way to win on the road against Armstrong. They overcame a host of first-half miscues as well as a 10-point deficit.
Though Griffin Beattie stacked CV to a 7-0 advantage on a 35-yard TD ramble, the Red Hawks reeled off 17 unanswered points to take the lead. A pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 5 and 25 yards by Conner Barrett lifted the Colts to victory.
Barrett rushed for 157 yards on 17 carries while Beattie finished with 78 yards.
Additionally, the defense made key stops when the offense hurt itself in the middle quarters. The offensive line also shone, particularly in the second half.
“Armstrong was a great character win for our program,” Knause said. “We are hopeful our players gained confidence in our ability to respond to adversity and find a way to win.”
USC at Woodland Hills
After recovering to defeat Baldwin, 28-21, Upper St. Clair takes to the road again and takes its undefeated, 3-0, record to Turtle Creek to battle Woodland Hills at 7 p.m. Sept. 14.
Against the Highlanders (2-1, 0-1), USC overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to win its second Allegheny Eight Conference contest.
Antonio Orsini led the uprising. He rushed for a game-high 164 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries to bring his season totals to 341 yards on 59 carries.
Though his 11-yard scamper into the end zone gave the Panthers a brief, first-frame advantage, he spearheaded the comeback with a 2-yard score in the third quarter and a 35-yard TD run with eight minutes to play in the game.
Less than a minute later, Chris Pantelis lifted USC into the lead when he returned a punt 60 yards into the end zone.
With Baldwin outgaining USC, 275-219, the Panthers relied on its defense for victory. Jake Slinger led the way with nine solo and one assisted tackle. Colin McLinden and Brandon Shearer combined for seven tackles each. Harvey Rauch had three solo and three assisted tackles and Nate Ripley had four solo tackles.
To date, Jason Sweeney has completed 31 of 60 aerials for six scores and 451 yards. His top targets have been the Pantelis brothers: Chris with 13 receptions for 223 yards and four scores and David with 11 catches for 179 yards and two TDs.