Key games loom for Pioneers, Yellow Jackets
October is my favorite month of the year. I’d like to say it’s because the Pirates are gearing up for a playoff run, but we all know that hasn’t been the case for a while now.
Will the next manager of the franchise be able to right the ship? I’ll be honest, I don’t know if the right cog was removed from the sputtering machine. All I know is, the next hire better be able to make his voice heard with Huntington and Nutting, or that ship is not going to be righted anytime soon.
While the baseball season has effectively been over for at least two months, football on all levels is heating up in and around Greene County. For two local scholastic programs, this weekend could be the most important of the season.
Coming into the year, many felt as though West Greene was going to have to carry the banner for Greene County. The Pioneers have lived up to that expectation and more as senior running Ben Jackson has been healthy and battering opponents to the tune of a WPIAL-best 1,356 yards on 66 carries. If he stays healthy, and that would be a first for the ultra-talented local star, Jackson should cruise past former Pioneer star Rodney Wilson for the No. 1 spot on the Greene County all-time rushing list.
Jackson has also scored a WPIAL-best 29 touchdowns, which, when combined with a pair of extra points, gives him 176 total points scored. To put that immense number into perspective, no other team in the county has scored more than 128 points (Jefferson-Morgan) this year.
Not surprisingly, the Pioneers have rarely been challenged in 2019. The only time the team has even been pushed in the slightest was when Monessen put a scare into them two weeks ago. That challenge was quickly met and overcome in the third quarter of a 49-24 victory.
Jump ahead two weeks and what appears to be the final hurdle to a Tri-County South Conference title and a home playoff spot is coming to Rogersville this week in the form of California. Don’t let the Trojans’ 4-2 overall record fool you. Head coach Ed Woods’ team has faced challenge after challenge thanks to a schedule that includes the likes of Washington, Laurel, Monessen and Beth-Center.
Cal is a gritty, battle-tested group of veterans that is thriving after the graduation of its own star running back and current Youngstown State defensive tackle Jelani Stafford.
If West Greene can hand California its first conference loss of the year, the path to that Tri-County South crown gets a lot smoother. However, the Pioneers will have road non-conference clashes with Clairton and Union to help them gear up for the postseason.
While West Greene will be looking to stay undefeated and secure its postseason future on Friday, Waynesburg University will be fighting to save its season on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets enter this weekend’s homecoming game desperately needing a win against another winless team in Thiel. Head coach Chris Smithley and his staff have been getting very creative in trying to find the winning combination.
First, they moved away from four-year starting quarterback Tyler Perone and gave the keys of the offense to junior Mason Schrenker. Schrenker wasn’t spectacular in his first collegiate start this past weekend, but completed around 50% of his passes, tossed a touchdown and didn’t give up an interception.
The main running back job now clearly belongs to Justin Flack, a freshman out of Derry High School. Flack put in a full day’s work this past Saturday against Geneva, piling up 28 carries for 94 yards. He usurped second-team All-PAC back Chad Walker for the job.
A young, inexperienced defense got some help this past Saturday when highly touted freshman running back recruit Brandon Ntankeu made the move to linebacker and responded with five tackles against the Golden Tornadoes.
For a Waynesburg team that seemed to take a step forward last year, an 0-4 start to the 2019 schedule was not what they had in mind. Hopefully, the Jackets can start turning things around in front of a homecoming crowd.