Pioneers must balance Jackson’s health, record quest
Despite suffering its first loss of the season at Clairton, all eyes will still be on West Greene this Friday, when it hosts Jefferson-Morgan in the Pioneers’ final Tri-County South match-up of the season. A victory for the home team locks down sole possession of the Tri-County South title and a home game in the first round of the upcoming WPIAL playoffs.
The Pioneers are heavy favorites in the intra-county match-up, and while many are expecting West Greene to have the game well in hand before the final whistle is blown, the bigger question might be just how long star running back Ben Jackson plays in the next-to-last game of the 2019 season.
According to West Greene, Jackson needs less than 300 yards to move into first place on the all-time Greene County rushing list. This brings up yet another question … How does the West Greene coaching staff balance Jackson’s attempt at breaking the record in front of his home crowd with making sure perhaps the most valuable player in Class A is healthy and ready for the postseason.
The sturdy star has battled injury problems in the past, but has looked almost bullet-proof in his final season as a Pioneer. If No. 34 moves past another West Greene great, Rodney Wilson, for the local rushing crown, that will definitely be his final tote of the night. So what does that mean for his usage in the regular season finale at Union on Oct. 25?
West Greene’s chance to make a statement with those who seed the playoff brackets came and went in the team’s 49-7 road loss at Clairton this past Friday. However, the Scotties, who come into week eight with a 3-5 overall record, aren’t exactly a sure victory and keeping Jackson out for the entire evening could spell defeat for the Pioneers.
If the Blue and Gold take care of business against Jefferson-Morgan, expect to see Jackson for at least a portion of his team’s season finale. Should the Pioneers be able to take control of Union, one would think head coach Brian Hanson would shut his star down to get an early jump on preparations for the WPIAL’s second season.
However, the Pioneers need to make sure to not suffer a second loss. A Tri-County South champion with two non-conference defeats on its resume will no doubt be put on a difficult road to a district crown.
n Moving from the high school game to the college ranks, even Pitt fans have to admit that it’s hard to root against Penn State. This year’s Nittany Lions value physicality before finesse and are proud to be a defense-first team in a college landscape that is dominated by teams that are comfortable giving up 35 points, as long as they can score 36.
Following Saturday’s 17-12 win over Iowa, PSU has given up 49 points over six games, which averages out to just over eight points per contest, good for second place in the Big Ten. Head coach James Franklin and his offensive staff have been able to rebuild an offense pretty quickly after the loss of the team’s top two quarterbacks and No. 1 running back from a year ago.
I’ll admit, I thought the transfer of starting quarterback in waiting Tommy Stevens to Mississippi State was a huge blow to the team’s chances of remaining nationally relevant. However, sophomore Sean Clifford, who won the starting job in camp, has quietly kept things rolling after the end of the stellar collegiate career of Trace McSorley.
The next few weeks will truly determine just how good Penn State can be in 2019-20. If the boys from Mount Nittany take down Michigan, Michigan State and a surprisingly good Minnesota team before a bit of a break against Indiana, the Blue and White may just find themselves in the playoff mix.
n I’d like to analyze the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it seems like no matter what happens to this team, they are able to keep the boat afloat in what seems to be an AFC North Division that is way down in terms of parity amongst its members.
Despite injuries to Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph, James Washington, Jaylen Samuels and now Stephon Tuitt, Pittsburgh just seems to be able to hang around a playoff spot. With a bye week looming followed by a game against the tanking Miami Dolphins, the Steelers could easily be 3-4 and getting healthy for the second half of the season.
It’s way too early to count this team out, despite facing perhaps more adversity than any team in the NFL.