Area teams look ahead after storm delays
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Mt. Lebanon’s Drew Vaughn (No. 2) burst through for a big gain against North Allegheny. Despite the play, Lebo lost to the Tigers, 43-3.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
West Allegheny quarterback Kam Kruze breaks free for big yardage while the Upper St. Clair defense of Antonio Orsini, Brandon Shearer, Colin McLinden and Harvey Rauch attempts to bring him down. Kruze completed 6 of 7 passes for 144 yards and two TDs in the Indians’ win over the Panthers, 29-12.
After the torrential rain, thunder and lightning that stymied everyone last week, local football coaches and their players bid summer farewell and good riddance.
A warm welcome to autumn awaits area teams Sept. 28 as they embark on the second-half of the season under what should be cooler and crisper temperatures.
“The weather conditions have been difficult regarding heat and humidity, but it’s been an equal platform for all teams,” Chartiers Valley coach Dan Knause said. “We all have to deal with it.”
Except for Bethel Park, which pushed its start time up, everybody dealt with storm delays Sept. 21.
“We got pretty wet but we were able to avoid a delay because the lightning came just as we were shaking hands,” said Jeff Metheny, whose Hawks lost a heartbreaker to Central Catholic, 7-6. “We finished it out but it was a whole lot different than the old days when we played in the mud and on the grass. Know you can just let it rain.”
“It was a crazy night,” agreed Mt. Lebanon’s Mike Melnyk, “but we had told our kids it would be like that so I thought they handled it well.”
Neither CV or Lebo, nor BP or Upper St. Clair, handled their opponents so well. They all suffered defeats.
Meanwhile Peters Township and South Fayette, which had to play over the course of two days, registered victories. The Indians and the Lions are on a roll since losing to USC. They both look to continue their winning streaks when Peters Township hosts rival Canon-McMillan at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a non-conference clash and South Fayette host Blackhawk at 7 p.m.
Canon-Mac at Peters
Don’t call this game meaningless. While a non-conference clash, it pairs two rivals, whose programs have been on the rise since Mike Evans and T.J. Plack have taken the reins.
“Canon-McMillan has been a good rival for us,” said Plack, who has Peters Township ranked No. 3 in Class 5A with a 4-1 record. “Mike (Evans) does a great job over there. He is trying to turn that program around, as are we here at Peters. It should be a good game.”
Evans concurred but bemoaned the fact that Peters Township is about the only rivalry that remains on the Big Macs’ schedule. Canon-Mac competes at the Class 6-A level with only one nearby opponent in Mt. Lebanon.
“To me, playing up and down Route 19 is special,” Evans said. “It’s where we are supposed to be playing. It’s going to be an exciting week.”
Evans added that Peters Township’s respectability should be attributed to Plack and his staff.
“They are clicking. They’ve got a few playmakers. They are solid upfront and you can tell when you watch their film that their coaches and players put in the time,” Plack said. “They are difficult to prepare for on both sides of the ball.”
On offense, Ryan Magiske is a concern. He rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns in PT’s 35-7 win against North Hills. Aidan McCall returned a punt 73 yards for another score. Logan Pfeuffer connected with Josh Casilli for a 6-yard TD pass for the other score in the victory. Pfeuffer finished with 94 yards passing.
“I will always believe that it comes down to stopping the run and being able to run the ball offensively,” Evans said. “They do a great job with their offense and their defense.”
Meanwhile, Drew Engel is a concern for the Indians. He caught two passes of 53 and 13 yards for touchdowns in C-M’s 20-14 win against Hempfield last week.
Jon Quinque completed 10 of 22 aerials for 131 yards and Josh O’Hare finished with 191 rushing yards and a 69-yard TD romp against the Spartans.
“Their offense poses some challenges, particularly with the Engel kid,” said Plack. “They are very balanced and do some good things. Defensively, they are a good tackling team, understand their assignments, and are well coached.”
How the teams truly match up against one another, Plack says everybody will find out on Friday, but there are keys to the outcome.
“We will need to do the little things well,” Plack said. “There will be big plays on both sides. The team that can win the turnover battle and limit their penalties should have an advantage.”
So will the one with the correct frame of mind. After all, the game still does not count in the conference standings.
“These kids do not have an off button,” Plack said. “We will remain consistent in everything we do.
Blackhawk at South Fayette
In a battle between undefeated Northwest Eight Conference opponents, South Fayette (4-0, 4-1) hosts Blackhawk (5-0) at 7 p.m. Sept. 28.
“They are playing with high confidence,” SF head coach Joe Rossi said of the Cougars.
And why not?
Cougars tailback Mar’Ques Watson-Trent is averaging nine yards per carry, while another veteran, Kenny Gawley, was a 1,000-yard rusher last season.
“They are punishing teams with their ground game and when they throw, their quarterback is getting it done,” said Rossi. “On defense, they swarm the ball and create turnovers. They will look to keep the ball away from our offense,” he added of the Cougars’ double tight/full house defense.
SF’s own offense is high-powered, too.
Behind Jamie Diven, the Lions picked up their fourth conference win by beating Hopewell, 48-0. The game was started Sept. 21 at Hopewell and finished Sept. 22 at South Fayette because of the inclement weather.
In the win, Diven completed 10 of 22 aerials for 210 yards and three scores. He also rushed for one touchdown. For the season, Diven has thrown for 1,204 yards and 17 TDs.
Mike Trimbur hauled in four passes for 64 yards and one TD against the Vikings. The senior leads SF in receiving with 353 yards and six scores.
Charley Rossi and Peyton Tinney each caught scoring strikes of 43 and 8 yards against Hopewell. Rossi has 285 yards and four scores this year while Tinney has 196 yards and three TDs.
In the win, RayQuin Glover also rushed for a 3-yard touchdown. Additionally, Jaywaughn Goodnight caught a 14-yard scoring strike from Naman Alemada.
Lebo at Hempfield
The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde season continues for Mt. Lebanon (2-2, 2-1) as the Blue Devils prepare for their visit with Hempfield (0-4). The trip comes on the heels of a 34-3 loss to North Allegheny, which sits atop the Quad County Conference with an undefeated record.
“There are times we look like we can play with anyone in 6A and others times we are our own worse enemy,” Blue Devils’ skipper Mike Melnyk said. “We will continue to work on the little things that are holding us back right now, but our kids will work hard to improve.”
Against the Spartans, it is imperative the Blue Devils do get better.
“This (game) has huge implications for us if we want to play in November,” Melnyk said. “So we will be very focused in practice this week.”
Generating offense and curtailing mistakes are concerns for Lebo.
Against NA, all the Blue Devils could muster was a 39-yard field goal from Casey Sorsdal. Seth Morgan completed 14 of 28 passes for 140 yards and Lucas Decaro had nine receptions for 93 yards.
Against the Spartans, Lebo must curtail Nathan Roby, who rushed for scores of 30 and 37 yards in a 20-14 loss to Canon-McMillan.
“If you can tell me who wins the turnover battle, I can tell you the winner,” Melnyk said. “We have to eliminate ours and get some against them.”
Chartiers Valley at Baldwin
The mantra rings through for Chartiers Valley, too, as the Colts (3-2, 0-2) prepare for Baldwin. The Allegheny Eight Conference game, set for 7 p.m. Sept. 28, comes on the heels of CV’s 26-0 loss to Moon.
“There were not many positives,” Knause said of the Moon defeat. “We made too many mistakes and you can’t win in our conference playing sloppy football. We have a lot to learn and correct. As players and coaches we will be accountable and improve.”
The Colts, however, will have their work cut out for themselves.
Loran Cooley and his Baldwin coaching staff have changed the culture. Knause also noted Baldwin’s personnel, which includes Mason Stahl at quarterback, Jarren Kelly and Naseer Penn at wide outs and Angelo Priore in the backfield.
“They are good at all levels of the field,” Knause said. “They have aggressive fronts and have very good skill on the perimeter. They also have an excellent running back that can go the distance on any play.
“We have to improve daily to compete and win versus Baldwin,” Knause concluded.
Bethel Park at Moon
The Hawks return to Allegheny Eight Conference action when they travel to Moon (2-3, 1-1) for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Sept. 28.
BP will likely play without leading rusher Jehvonn Lewis. The senior, who had 443 yards on 53 carries and 10 touchdowns, suffered a lower leg injury early in the game against Central Catholic.
Despite that fact, the Hawks played even with the Vikings, who are considered one of the top teams in Class 6A. After surrendering a first-frame TD, BP pulled to within one point of Central when John Gummo converted 31- and 31-yard field goals. The Hawks, however, missed a field-goal attempt at the end of the game that would have given them the victory.
“It was a tough loss but we’ll learn from this,” Metheny said. “We did some good things, though. Our defensive guys did great and special teams played pretty well. We realized too late that we could throw but then the weather got to us.
“We’ll pull the wagon together but we have to avoid penalties. It’s not that we had a ton. They just came at bad times.”
Though the injury to Lewis comes at a bad time, the Hawks have weapons as they prepare to play the Tigers.
“Moon’s a scrappy team. They have talent,” Metheny said. “But we have a lot of different guys and that’s nice but sometimes you need to have that one guy that can make a play. We need to find a go-to type receiver and get back to our run game because up front our guys do a good job. We just need to regroup.”
USC at Fox Chapel
Upper St. Clair (4-1, 3-1) looks to regroup after its first loss of the season when the Panthers travel to Fox Chapel Sept. 28 for a non-conference contest.
The Panthers are coming off a stunning defeat at the hands of West Allegheny, 29-12, in Allegheny Eight Conference action. The Indians stormed ahead, 23-0, by halftime before thunder and lightning delayed their game for more than an hour. Kam Kruze completed 6 of 7 passes for 144 yards and two scoring strikes of 39 and 60 yards to Dante Flati and Mateo Vandamia in the first half. Kruze also rushed for 1-yard touchdowns and John McArdle connected on a 24-yard field goal to pace West-A to victory.
Jason Sweeney tossed TD aerials of 10 and 14 yards to Brandon Shearer and Chris Pantellis to account for USC’s scoring, all in the fourth quarter.