Sep 11, 2008 8 min read

Will it be the team that was predicted to contend for a WPIAL title before the season began? Or will it be the team that has licked its wounds the previous two weeks after losing to two other Class A title contenders?

“We’ve talked to the kids about this,” Messich said. “Either they’re (Monessen) going to come in here totally sky high and really, really hungry for a win, or they’re going to come in here flat because they’re 0-2.

“The key to this game is for us to have success early on.”

Mapletown will also look for its first win of the season tonight as Week 3 of the high school football season gets underway.

Elsewhere, Carmichaels travels to Beth-Center, California visits West Greene and Waynesburg Central makes the trip to Mount Pleasant for an Interstate Conference contest.

On Saturday, unbeaten Jefferson-Morgan visits Geibel Catholic.

Monessen will bring a winless record into tonight’s game and will be looking to scores its first points of the season after back-to-back losses to Rochester and Clairton.

The Greyhounds were a preseason favorite to make a deep postseason run, but kicked off their 2008 campaign with a 10-0 loss to Rochester before falling apart early in a 44-0 loss to Clairton last week.

In that game, the Greyhounds trailed 38-0 after the opening quarter.

“We’re nowhere near that bad,” said Monessen head coach Andy Pacak. “We just got caught up in an avalanche. It was like Clairton scored 24 points in one minute, which I think they actually did. It’s hard for high school kids to dig out from something like that.”

Mapletown should know the feeling. The Maples have come out flat in each of their losses, and it has cost them in losing to Bentworth and Frazier.

The Maples are 0-2 for the first time since 1998, and have not started a season 0-3 since 1992.

Against the Commodores a week ago, Mapletown dug itself into a hole and trailed 34-0 at halftime. Maples quarterback Cory Minnick then fired three touchdown passes to Kevin Glover, and Mapletown added a safety, to close the gap to 34-24, with just under five minutes remaining.

Frazier tacked on a late score and won, 40-24.

“I thought we made a lot of strides in the second half,” Messich said. “We gave 110 percent every play in the second half. We came out really flat in the first half. Our guys have to figure out they have to give 110 percent every play of the football game.”

Messich also knows his team can’t take any plays off against a team of Monessen’s caliber, even if the Greyhounds have yet to taste victory.

Monessen is perennially one of the Tri-County South’s top teams, and Messich believes they still are, 0-2 record and all.

“We watched them on film and they have to be the best 0-2 team in the United States,” Messich said. “They have a lot of different weapons they can attack you with.

“We’ve been able to play them tough the last couple years, so I hope our kids are up to the challenge.”

Monessen’s lack of success is a combination of a couple factors. First, Rochester and Clairton are proven powerhouses and likely have title aspirations of their own.

Second, the Greyhounds aren’t the same team many thought would vie for the Class A championship.

“I’ll be frank,” Pacak said. “We’ve run into problems with key people with eligibility. The team we thought would take the field is not on the field. I’m a firm believer when you go to school, you’re supposed to get your education first. It’s like ‘Hey man, get your butt in school and do what you’re supposed to do.’

“The school makes the rules and we abide by them.”

Whatever happens tonight, Pacak isn’t expecting either team to roll over.

“We historically don’t play as well at Mapletown, and George always has his team ready and they historically play us tough.”

Jefferson-Morgan at Geibel Catholic

The Rockets go into Saturday afternoon’s game at Geibel as Greene County’s lone unbeaten team, but head coach Jan Haiden isn’t about to kick back and prop up his heels.

“I’ve seen some good things so far; I’ve seen some things that aren’t so good,” Haiden said. “We’re not where we want to be.”

In a 42-13 win over Avella last week, Jefferson-Morgan’s Chris Faddas and Nathan Elkins each scored a pair of touchdowns, and Hans Lubich found the end zone for the second straight game.

The Rockets breezed past Leechburg in their opener, but Haiden expects a much tougher test at Geibel.

“Geibel is probably the best they’ve been in a long time,” Haiden said. “I’ve watched them play a couple times, and they look pretty tough.”

Indeed. The Gators, at least through the first two weeks, look nothing like the team that consistently finishes at the bottom of the standings year after year.

Geibel opened its season with a rather easy win over Avella, before dropping a 21-7 decision to Bentworth in Week 2. The Gators fell behind 14-0 after a pair of costly first-half turnovers, but righted their ship at halftime and played a solid 24 minutes of football.

Quarterback Mick Betler scored Geibel’s lone touchdown on a one-yard keeper.

After two non-section games to open the season, Haiden is glad his team has finally entered conference play.

“Having to open the season with two non-section games is good and bad,” Haiden said. “Our kids don’t even know where some of those places are. And there’s no type of rivalry.

“We’ve been here a long time, and we’ve built up some pretty good rivalries (within our section). It’s a little different when you’re playing a Leechburg. The kids have no idea where the school even is and they don’t bring a lot of fans to the game.”

The win over Avella was nice, but Geibel could be looking at Saturday’s game as its first true test.

The Gators have had little success against J-M over the years, and have been outscored 117-6 over the past two games against the Rockets.

“We just worry about ourselves,” Haiden said. “We watch our film every week, and we point out our good things and our bad things. We try to take care of ourselves. We’re patient, persistent and we keep working.

“If we do those things, things will take care of themselves.”

Waynesburg Central at Mount Pleasant

The Raiders and Vikings come into tonight’s game with identical 1-1 Interstate Conference records, with both teams earning victories over Washington.

Waynesburg (1-1) won its opener at Washington to give second-year head coach Scott Orndoff his first victory, but fell a week ago, 9-6, to a rejuvenated South Allegheny squad.

In that game, Gladiators kicker Dylan Bogdan booted three field goals, the last coming from 37 yards out with 6:02 remaining.

The Raiders endured a miserable first half in which they were held without a first down, and tied the game at 6 on the last play of the third quarter on John Sinnot’s 49-yard scoring run.

After rushing for over 300 yards in its opener, Waynesburg’s offense was stuffed during the first half last week. The second half was a different story as the Raiders moved the ball on all three of their possessions.

“It would have been nice to have one more quarter,” Orndoff said.

Mt. Pleasant was shut out in its opener, 28-0, by McGuffey, which is coached by former Mapletown and Penn State standout Derek Bochna.

In a 33-7 victory over Washington last week, the Vikings’ Jim Stefancik scored a pair of touchdowns.

Carmichaels at Beth-Center

The Mikes are looking to avoid starting 0-3 for the third consecutive year.

Carmichaels has faced Beth-Center in each of the previous two seasons, losing by an average score of 37-13. Tonight’s game carries more importance, however, after the Bulldogs were moved into the Tri-County South this season.

The Mikes’ young lineup opened the season with a loss to Fort Cherry, and fell last week to Chartiers-Houston.

Beth-Center, meanwhile, dropped its opener to Carlynton before rebounding with a convincing 28-0 victory over Burgettstown last week.

Jeff Tarley led the Bulldogs with 124 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Josh Lockett intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown. Lockett also scored on a four-yard run.

California at West Greene

The one nice facet of opening the season with two non-section games is demonstrated with tonight’s matchup between the Trojans and Pioneers:

Even though both teams enter the contest 0-2, the winner will wake up Saturday morning atop the Tri-County South standings.

West Greene’s young lineup has struggled through two games, as have the Trojans. California is 0-2 for the first time since 2005 after losing last week to Serra.

Eagles quarterback T.J. Hetherington amassed just short of 300 total yards of offense in that game.