PRINT VERSION : FOOTBALL ROUNDUP
Mike Trimbur makes a touchdown grab in this Almanac file photo.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Andrew Franklin eludes a tackler as he picks up yardage. During South Fayette’s victory against Greensburg Salem, he rushed for 127 yards.
Eleanor Bailey/thealmanac
Luke Surunis gets wrapped up by a Shaler tackler but not before making a big gain. Surunis helped Bethel Park to a 42-7 win against the Titans by scoring a play later on a 4-yard run.
After battling the third-ranked team in Class 6A of the WPIAL before losing to Seneca Valley (3-1) on the final play, 17-14, Mt. Lebanon returns home to host No. 2 ranked North Allegheny at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21 in scholastic football action.
Noting the Tigers beat the Blue Devils twice on their home turf last season, Mike Melnyk doesn’t think NA will be “intimidated” when it arrives in Lebo’s den.
“NA is difficult to play anywhere,” he said, “but I know our kids love the support of our home fans and get energized by them.”
Lebo will need more than enthusiasm to beat the Tigers as NA is off to a 4-0 start, having defeated COF Academy of Ohio, Norwin, Central Catholic and Canon-McMillan.
“NA is on top of the division and has beaten some quality opponents,” Melnyk said. “They are well-coached, always prepared, and big, strong, and fast.”
Art Walker Jr., whose father coached Mt. Lebanon to prominence and won four WPIAL titles between 1980-84, leads the talented Tigers into town.
Among the players to watch are the offspring of Pittsburgh Steelers. Joey Porter, a senior wide receiver and defensive back, is a Penn State commit. Cade Hoke, whose father, Chris, played 11 seasons with the Steelers, is a senior linebacker. Justus Gildon also plays linebacker like his dad, Jason, did for the Steelers. Justus is a junior.
But there is more.
Ben Maenza ranks among the top tailbacks in the district. He rushed for 165 yards and three TDs in NA’s 45-21 win last week against Canon-McMillan. Additionally, Gunnar Fisher completed 6 of 13 passes, including a scoring strike to Porter.
The Blue Devils can take some solace in the fact that NA only led the Big Macs, 17-14, at halftime. Lebo, too, was deadlocked with C-M, 7-7, before scoring a victory. Plus, the Blue Devils played Seneca Valley to the wire. That contest, too, was tied at halftime, 7-7.
The Raiders capitalized on a Lebo fumble to start the second half. They scored on the next play to grab the lead for good.
Though Seth Morgan tossed TD passes of 47 and 53 yards to Carter Davidson and Tim Walters respectively and Casey Sorsdal converted the extra points, the Blue Devils were stymied by the Raiders’ defense on a fourth-down play to end the game.
“I thought our kids played extremely hard on both sides of the ball against Seneca Valley,” said Melnyk. “Both teams laid it out on the line. Seneca Valley just made one more play than we did. I was proud of our effort, but obviously not happy with the outcome.”
To gain a positive outcome against NA, the Blue Devils must control the five keys that determine all verdicts.
“The keys to the game will be much like every other contest: limit the turnovers, win the field position game with great special teams, negate big plays, and match their physical style of play. To win, we have to win the five key plays of the game…just not sure what five plays they will be,” Melnyk concluded.
Peters at North Hills
When Peters Township steps onto the field Sept. 21 at Martorelli Stadium to battle North Hills at 7:30 p.m. the Indians will treat this non-conference clash like any other contest on the schedule featuring a league opponent.
“There is no off switch with these guys,” PT head coach T.J. Plack said. “We will remain consistent in everything we do. North Hills has historically been a tough, physical team. We need to enter that game the same way and match their intensity. There may be a sense of urgency from our coaching staff just to ensure we are all on the same page.”
This contest against a 4-0-1 squad that competes in the WPIAL’s Class 5A Northern Conference ranks as critical as last week’s impressive victory against West Allegheny, 42-28, in the Allegheny Eight Conference or future contests down the road, including home matches against Moon, Bethel Park and Baldwin, all in October.
“We hope to respond with execution, focus, and physicality,” Plack said. “We responded to an emotional loss against USC in a positive manner,” he noted of a shutout win against Woodland Hills that followed on the heels of that 16-14 defeat to the league-leading Panthers. “We would like to respond after an emotional win in a consistent, positive manner.”
And, the win, last week against West-A at Joe P. DeMichela Stadium in Imperial, was electrifying and moved the Indians into the WPIAL rankings as the No. 4 team behind top-rated Gateway, Penn Hills and USC. All are undefeated.
Meanwhile, Peters Township dominated the action against West-A, scoring on the opening play of the game. The Indians also had three interceptions, a strip sack for a score and long, physical touchdown drives when West-A threatened to climb back into the fray, closing to within seven, 35-28, with 26 seconds left in the third quarter.
Ryan Magiske rushed for 107 yards on 12 carries. His 41-yard romp on a third-and-four set up Seth Luksik’s 1-yard score with 10 minutes to play. Magiske scored twice on four-yard runs in the first half.
Logan Pfeuffer completed 11 of 15 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns.
Josh Casilli hauled in both of those scores. On the first play of the game, Casilli pulled in a 65-yard scoring strike. He caught a 22-yard TD aerial in the third quarter. Casilli finished with seven receptions for 135 yards.
Plack had much praise for Casilli.
“I could talk about Josh for days,” he said. “I have not met too many people, if any, that could out-compete him. He is not only athletic, but he is a warrior. He is not a vocal leader, but he is the perfect model of a student-athlete for our younger players. He makes us better in so many ways both on and off the field. His peers like him.”
The Indians liked what Shane O’Connell and Logan Clark did on defense to put an exclamation point on their 21-point first quarter. O’Connell sacked the quarterback, forcing a fumble, that Clark recovered for a 15-yard touchdown.
Aidan McCall or Corban Hondru led the defense with seven and five tackles respectively. McCall had two tackles for losses and two interceptions. Magiske had the other to go along with a fumble recovery.
The Indians, however, are by no means overlooking North Hills (3-0), which blanked Hampton last week. Tyler Tomasic rushed for 160 yards and Dan Wagner converted a 23-yard field goal in the victory.
“From their roster, they remind me of us. Very few seniors and juniors, same guys on offense and defense, with a couple young players sprinkled in,” said Plack.
Bethel Park hosts Central
Appearances are not deceiving when it comes to Central Catholic. The Vikings are good and they present a challenge for Bethel Park. The Hawks host the third-ranked team in Class 6A at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21.
“They look good dressed up,” said Hawks’ head coach Jeff Metheny after watching film from the Vikings’ 28-13 win against Hempfield.
“I’m not sure how we stack up against them because we’re trying to figure them out. We do know they are one of the top teams in their league. They have been in close games and won them. They have a lot of great players and to beat them you can’t turn the ball over.”
By the same token, the Hawks have their share of players that will make opponents pay for their miscues. In last week’s 42-7 win against Shaler, a few of them demonstrated those skills.
Jehvonn Lewis, who ranks among the top rushers in the WPIAL, scored four touchdowns in the victory on rushes of 1, 8, 2 and 11 yards.
Zach Cashman recovered a Titan fumble for a 15-yard TD.
Additionally, Anthony Chiccitt completed 8 of 12 passes for 138 yards. His top target was Sean McGowan with four receptions for 88 yards.
John Gummo converted five extra points before yielding to Azalynn Coblentz. She tacked on the final point of the game for the Hawks.
“When you look at the score, it appears to be a whitewash but Shaler did some good stuff but we had some players step up. I was real pleased with our defense. They settled in and special teams did a great job. Plus, our interior guys did a fantastic job.”
Against Central and down the road when the Hawks return to conference action to face foes such as Peters Township (3-1) on Oct. 19 and Upper St. Clair (4-0) on Oct. 26, they will need such efforts.
“You have to make plays. You have to make teams earn it,” said Metheny. “Teams we play have been in close games, championship-type games so you are not going to walk through this league without having faced adversity.”
Moon at Chartiers Valley
After two long journeys that resulted in non-conference victories at Armstrong, 21-17, and most recently on Sept. 14 at Norwin, 28-24, Chartiers Valley returns home to host Moon in a pivotal Allegheny Eight Conference clash set for 7 p.m. Sept. 21.
“We’ve had two great character road wins and are pleased with our progress,” said CV field general Dan Knause. “However, the reality is that we are 0-1 in our conference. Every team we play in this conference is a quality football team.”
Despite their 1-3 record, the Tigers are no exception. Moon lost in overtime to Baldwin, 48-42, in last week’s conference action.
“Moon is a good football team that is well-coached,” said Knause of Ryan Linn’s club. “They have lost a couple close games to quality opponents.
“They have a physical football team with a tough running back (Brady Sunday) and good receivers on the perimeter. On defense they have an experienced line-backing core and a physical defensive front.
“So,” Knause continued, “we have to play smart football and be physical at the line of scrimmage to be successful against them. We have to play a clean game and win the turnover battle to win. We fully anticipate another four-quarter battle.”
That’s exactly what the Colts got against the Knights, who are a Class 6A club.
Griffin Beattie amassed 262 all-purpose yards. He completed 10 of 16 passes for 156 yards and two scores. He rushed 12 times for 106 yards and two TDs of 18 and 1 yards.
Connor Barrett rushed for 121 yards on 22 carries. He also corralled a 14-yard TD pass.
Sean Banas also factored into the win. At tight end, he grabbed a 45-yard scoring strike from Beattie. He finished with four receptions for 69 total yards.
Adam Weiss converted all four extra point attempts.
“Norwin was a great team win,” Knause said. “We had to come back multiple times throughout the game. Our defense played well versus a very athletic offense. We were very pleasued with our O-line and D-line play. Our physicality on both fronts led us to victory. It was a big win versus a good football team.”
South Fayette visits Hopewell
South Fayette will play its second straight non-conference contest when the Lions take to the road and visit Hopewell for a 7 p.m. kickoff Sept. 21. The Vikings are 2-2 overall and compete in the Tri-County Conference in Class AAA of the WPIAL.
Meanwhile the Lions are 3-1 overall after whipping Greensburg Salem, 51-28, last week in another non-conference clash. They are 2-0 in the Northwest Eight Conference and ranked No. 2 in Class 4A behind undefeated Thomas Jefferson.
The Lions present a five-prong threat on offense. Jamie Diven leads the attack. The senior quarterback completed 11 of 22 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s win against the Golden Lions. He has tossed 14 TDs and passed for 989 yards so far this season.
Andrew Franklin and Ryan Glover lead the ground game.
Franklin rushed for 127 yards and a 5-yard touchdown against Greensburg Salem to bring his season totals to 317 yards and three scores. Glover galloped for a 32-yard TD versus the Golden Lions. He also returned a punt 66 yards for another score.
Mike Trimbur spearheads the receiving corps, which also includes Charley Rossi, Peyton Tinney, Joey Audia and Ryan Kokoski. The senior hauled in six passes for 106 yards and two scores last week. Trimbur has 323 yards receiving and five TDs.
Ryan McGuire caught a 67-yard scoring strike from Diven against GS and Tinney recovered a fumble for another TD.
Additionally, Ryan Coe dominates the kicking game. He converted the extra points and connected on a 34-yard field goal in last week’s win.
The Vikings, however, present their own problems for South Fayette.
“They operate out of many formations and play an aggressive cover on their man-topman defense,” said Joe Rossi. “They will be aggressive on defense. They will blitz often and force opposing offenses to make quick decisions.”