Time to talk about the playoffs
I know we have three more weeks of the regular season for high school football left, but let’s talk about Jim Mora’s favorite subject, playoffs?!? (Can you believe it was in 2001 that the former Indianapolis Colts’ coach tirade went viral. Wow, I feel old).
The playoff picture in both Class AA and A is getting clearer and clearer after six weeks of action and several teams have positioned themselves at the top of their conferences.
In the Interstate Conference, Washington and Mount Pleasant are the top two teams, and if they win out they will be first and second in the conference.
There are two playoff spots left and three teams are battling for them: Waynesburg Central, Southmoreland and McGuffey.
If the Raiders win two out of their next three, they will more than likely clinch a playoff spot. Waynesburg’s remaining schedule is at Southmoreland, at McGuffey and home with Derry.
After hosting Waynesburg, Southmoreland’s final two games are at Washington and at Mount Pleasant. McGuffey is at Burgettstown and then hosts Waynesburg and Washington.
Beth-Center picked up a huge win over Frazier last week in the Tri-County South Conference. The top three teams in the conference are B-C, Frazier and Mapletown, and if those three win the rest of their TCS games they will finish in that order.
The final postseason spot in the conference is still up for grabs between four teams: Avella (2-3), Bentworth (3-3), Carmichaels (3-2) and Jefferson-Morgan (3-3).
Two big match-ups that might decide who will get that fourth spot are Carmichaels at Avella next week and J-M at Carmichaels in the final week of the regular season.
The first tiebreaker to decide a playoff spot is head-to-head. The next tiebreaker is Gardner Points, and trust me I don’t have the space or the time to talk about that crazy system.
Carmichaels and Mapletown took bragging rights last week within the county, as the Mikes defeated West Greene, 22-19, and the Maples took down J-M, 21-7, in Week 6 action.
The Mikes (3-3, 3-2) got the game’s first score on a 4-yard touchdown run by Shawn Dulaney, but the Pioneers (1-5, 0-5) countered with a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Owen Main.
West Greene tallied the only points in the second quarter, by way of a 5-yard scoring run by Main. Main added the PAT and the Pioneers held a 13-6 lead at halftime.
Carmichaels battled back in the third period on its opening drive when Cody Brown took a 9-yard reverse into the end zone. The Mikes held a 14-13 edge after the two-point conversion.
Midway through the fourth quarter, with West Greene driving, Dulaney was able to pick off a pass and return it for a 77-yard score with 7:05 left.
“That’s something that when we talk about playing like you practice, when our guys intercept balls we yell at them to go to the end zone,” Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull said. “When it happens in a game we don’t want a kid there who intercepts it, but doesn’t know what to do.”
The Pioneers capped the scoring with a 9-yard pass connection to Tyler Baker from Main, but the Mikes defense stepped up in the final minutes to secure the TCS win.
“These kids have heart,” West Greene coach Paul Kreuzer said. “With 12 kids and two more that haven’t played in a couple years, we are who we are. They gave their hearts the whole game. I can’t be more proud of those kids for the effort they gave and what we have done with so little. We’re Pioneer strong, and we’re building a program.”
Dulaney led all rushers in the contest with 124 yards on 18 carries.
Carmichaels travels to Frazier tonight for a critical conference contest at 7 p.m. The Mikes are 4-2 against Frazier the last six meetings and won last year’s contest, 30-22. The game will be broadcast on greenesports.net.
West Greene hosts California this week and will look to beat the Trojans for the first time since 2003. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Pioneer Field.
In Mapletown’s victory over J-M, freshman tailback Dylan Rush accounted for all three touchdowns for the Maples (4-2, 4-2) and added 119 yards on 24 rushes.
Rush caught a 53-yard scoring toss from quarterback Ben Boone in the second quarter and added two touchdown runs (1, 7) in the third.
“It never enters our minds on who is going to get the football,” Mapletown coach George Messich said. “It goes from week to week and we ride the hot hand. We went with Dylan to start the second half and it was working. I give our running backs a lot of credit, there’s never any jealousy. They are great kids.”
Boone compiled a season-high 152 passing yards on 7-of-11 passing.
The Rockets’ lone score of the night came in the third period when quarterback Austin Clark found tight end Jake Bissett in the back of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown.
“We were able to contain their run game in the first half, but they started the second half with some runs for big chunks,” J-M coach Liam Ryan said. “They were able to run the ball more effectively than we did. We knew Mapletown could throw, and they have a couple of skilled kids that can hurt you on defense.”
Mapletown welcomes Bentworth tonight for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Greensboro. The game will be broadcast on greenesports.net.
Since 2004, the Maples are 4-5 versus their Washington County rival, but have won the last two meetings against the Bearcats, 38-22 in 2012 and 42-14 last year.
The Rockets will step out of the TCS tonight and hosts Springdale for a non-conference contest at 7 p.m. Springdale is 3-3 overall and is coming off an upset of Monessen last week.
Waynesburg Central took care of business in their non-conference test against Summit Academy last week with a 47-20 triumph.
With John Glen Davis being sidelined with a leg injury, tailback Hunter Cenname carried the rushing load for the Raiders (4-2, 3-2) and is in second place in the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club race with 96 points.
Cenname had touchdown runs of 50, 6, 62 and 85 yards. Quarterback Colby Collins and wideout Dominick Sarra hooked up for two scores (34, 63), while Austin Herrod added a score.
Waynesburg ventures out to Southmoreland tonight for a pivotal game in the Interstate Conference. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
The squads have split the last eight meetings with Southmoreland grabbing a 14-13 win in 2013.