Football teams look for improvement
Mapletown’s Marcus Cumpston looks for an open receiver during Friday night’s season opener against California at California. (Photo by Holly Tonini)
Mapletown’s Michael Rumble scores the first touchdown of the game against California. (Photo by Holly Tonini)
First impressions are important and, after Week One of the high school football season, the five area Greene County teams are looking to make a couple of more impressions in the following eight weeks, including action tonight.
County teams posted a 2-3 record in the first week of gridiron action, with one lone game happening within the county lines. Ironically, it involved two county teams.
Jefferson-Morgan defeated West Greene in the lone county battle to the tune of 14-6. It was a back-and-forth affair between the Rockets and the Pioneers with the defenses controlling much of the momentum.
For the Rockets, Milton Sibanda returned a 75-yard interception for a touchdown in the waning moments of the first half and running back Dustin Conti tallied a 41-yard trip to the end zone that proved to be the game-deciding points.
Despite the Week One victory for J-M, coach Jan Haiden stressed the importance of getting better each week and stated that the offense has to pick up the load in the next few weeks.
“We have to pick it up,” Haiden said. “We are happy with the win, but we have to get better in all areas, like running the ball and playing physical. We have to keep our mental toughness in games and focus in on our game plan.”
The Rockets will play their lone non-section game this week, as they host Northgate.
“They run the spread offense and we have to stop it and slow it down if we have any chance to win,” Haiden said. “We are going to be looking at their formations a lot this week on film and hopefully we can have a good week of practice and be ready for Northgate on Friday.
West Greene’s sophomore quarterback Dalton Wildman didn’t look rattled in Week One action and was an effective signal-caller at times against the Rockets. Wildman threw for 182 yards and a scoring strike.
“Dalton played a good game for us and for the most part was under control,” Pioneers’ coach John Coss said. “I thought our defense played great. We limited their offense to one touchdown. We need to get in better shape, the heat kind of tired us out at times in the game. We just have to condition and get guys healthy this week.”
The Pioneers will try for the first win of the 2011 campaign, as they travel to Frazier for a Tri-County South Conference affair on Friday.
The Carmichaels Mighty Mikes traveled to Leechburg for the second straight season and for the second straight year, the Mikes’ defense posted a season-opener shutout by the score of 25-0. It was an exhibition game, but it still made coach John Menhart the school’s all-time winningest coach. Menhart’s 91st career win as Carmichaels head coach pushed him one victory ahead of Darwin Venen, who coached the Mikes from 1925 to 1944.
On the offensive side of things, Carmichaels running game was in control throughout the game, headlined by Brennan McMinn, who rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns. The Mikes rushed for 284 yards and did not attempt a pass during the contest.
“We followed our blueprint and we were able to control things on the defensive front and ran the ball effectively,” Menhart said. “Sometimes as a coach you don’t want to outsmart yourself and you just have to continue to do things if they continue to work.”
In Week Two, Carmichaels hosts California in a pivotal game between two playoff teams from a year ago in the Tri-County South. Menhart knows that in order to win the game, the offense must help out the defense against a high-powered offense like the Trojans.
“We have to play mistake-free football on offense and eat up the clock,” Menhart said. “Time of possession is going to be huge for us against California. They are a potent offense with a big quarterback. They are going to make plays and, as a defense, you just have to limit their chances. Sometimes the best weapon for a defense is for your own offense to run off some of the clock.”
Mapletown held an early 7-0 lead against California last week, but the Trojans rallied with 35 points in the second quarter and won the contest by the margin for 42-13.
“I liked what we did in the first quarter and a half,” Maples coach George Messich said. “But we just had a seven-minute span where we didn’t play good football and that cost us. We had some turnovers and shortened the field for them. You can’t do that against a quality team. Overall, I liked what I saw from our team and we just have to continue to build off of it.”
Scoring the two touchdowns for the Maples in the contest were Michael Rumble and Colby Kincell. Mapletown will have a tall test in front of them on Friday, as they host defending conference champion Monessen. The Greyhounds pounded Geibel Catholic 46-0 last week.
The Maples start the 2011 season by facing the top three teams in the conference from a year ago in California, Monessen and Beth-Center the following week.
“It’s a tough way to start any season, but you just have to do your best to prepare as a team,” Messich said. “Going against a team like Monessen you have to be aggressive from the get-go and you can’t be timid against them. We have to fly to the ball and we can’t afford any missed tackles. It has to be a team effort in order for us to win.”
Waynesburg Central started its Class AA Interstate Conference with conference powerhouse, Greensburg Central Catholic. The Raiders couldn’t hang with GCC for the full game as the home team eventually pulled away with 41-14 victory.
The Raiders will open their 2011 home schedule with a conference affair against East Allegheny.
The home contest will be only game in the first four weeks in which Waynesburg will have home field advantage.