Waynesburg’s loss leaves Mikes as last local unbeaten
The unbeaten ranks continue to shrink as the WPIAL heads into the final third of regular season football competition. And at least one more member will be ousted this week.
In the Herald-Standard coverage area, Carmichaels is the only team left with a perfect record. There had been two, but Waynesburg lost to Jeannette last Friday, 13-7 in overtime, while Carmichaels made it six in a row beating Jefferson-Morgan, 35-7.
The perfect lineup, and their next opponents:
Class AAAA – Bethel Park, Penn Hills, Woodland Hills, and Upper St. Clair. Pittsburgh Central Catholic lost for the first time last Friday, 13-5, to Bethel Park, while Penn Hills blasted Norwin, 50-7, Woodland Hills dittoed Connellsville, 54-3, and USC collared Trinity, 35-0. This week, Bethel Park plays North Hills (5-1), Penn Hills hosts Connellsville (1-5), Woodland Hills meets PCC, and USC plays Fox Chapel (4-2).
Class AAA – Thomas Jefferson, Hopewell, New Castle, Knoch, and Pine-Richland. TJ beat Chartiers Valley, 48-0, and faces Waynesburg this week; Knoch downed Hampton, 14-7, the first time this year that KHS has been held under 41 points in a game; New Castle beat West Allegheny, 21-8, and Pine-Richland blanked Valley, 33-0. The ranks will drop by at least one this week, when Hopewell and New Castle collide.
Class AA – Jeannette, Seton LaSalle, and Aliquippa. Jeannette nipped Waynesburg, 13-7, in overtime, and plays Southmoreland next, Seton-LaSalle blanked South Fayette, 28-0, and meets East Allegheny (5-1), while the Quips beat Beaver Falls, 30-14, and test Quaker Valley.
Class A – Carmichaels and Monaca. The ranks lost two members last week when Duquesne lost to Brentwood, 29-27, and Springdale lost to Wilkinsburg, 34-18. Carmichaels tests Monessen this week, while Monaca, a 29-13 winner over South Side Beaver, plays Western Beaver.
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On the other side of the ledger, 15 teams are still looking for their first wins, and at least two of them will reach that goal this week. Indiana plays Plum and Leechburg meets Serra Catholic in the all losers bracket. There are five winless teams in Quad-A, five in Class AAA, three in Class AA, and two in Class A.
Two teams got their first wins last week, Mohawk collaring Cornell, 33-0, and Geibel Catholic of Connellsville nipping Frazier, 27-24, in a free-wheeler at Perryopolis.
Department of correction – It was noted on these pages last week that Geibel snapped a 19-game losing skid with its win. It was actually 15 losses in a row.
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Locally, the offensive and defensive lineups remained the same for another week, with just a slight shuffling of positions.
Offensively, the top five are the same as a week ago. Carmichaels maintained its lead with 247 points scored, an average of 41.2 per game, to keep a comfortable edge over Waynesburg (182, 30.4).
Beth-Center, a 23-20 double overtime loser to Avella, is third (153, 25.5), Brownsville fourth (141, 23.5), and Uniontown fifth (132, 22.0).
Defensively, Waynesburg might have sustained its first loss, but the Raiders are still the only local team with a sub-10 allowance per game. They have given up 58 points, or 9.7 per game, to keep the lead over Belle Vernon (67, 11.2). Then come Carmichaels (84, 14.0), Uniontown (88, 14.7), and California (90, 15.0). A week ago, the lineup was Waynesburg, Belle Vernon, Uniontown, Carmichaels, and California.
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A Connellsville Stadium record was set last Friday night when Chris Sellman connected with Ryan Mundy for a 99-yard pass-run score in Woodland Hills’ win over Connellsville.
The record for a running score is still 98 yards by John Sage of South Connellsville, away back in 1961.
What is believed to be a WPIAL record was set Friday when Josh Miller of East Allegheny booted a 55-yard field goal against Steel Valley. Miller also kicked a 50-yarder in the same game. Unless somebody can prove differently, the 55-yard kick will stand as an all-time record. The state record is 58 yard by Matt Domonkos of Bishop McCort.
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Some top individual efforts around the area the past weekend included:
Longest Field Goal – 39 yards, Ben Popson, Connellsville; 35, Dan Hagerman, Southmoreland, vs Charleroi.
Touchdown Run – 79 yards, Ryan Robinson, California, vs Mapletown; 79, Bobby Hathaway, Carmichaels, vs Jefferson-Morgan; 51, Parke Bongiorno, California, vs Mapletown.
Kickoff Return TD – 90, Vaughn Jones, Albert Gallatin, with the game’s opener, vs Canon-McMillan, and 88, Andy Natale, Frazier, vs Geibel. In the AG-CM game, Jones returned the game’s opening kick, then Brendon Steele of the Macs returned the kickoff after that score 75 yards.
Pass-Run TD – 67 yards, Shane Datz to Brian Connors, Southmoreland, vs Charleroi.
Scoring With Fumble – Jordan Sweaney, Beth-Center, had the shortest “run” with a fumble for a touchdown. He recovered an Avella fumble in the end zone for a Bulldog score.
Punt Return TD – 70 yards, Colby Giles, Carmichaels, vs Jefferson-Morgan.
Scoring – 24 points, Hathaway, Carmichaels, vs Jefferson-Morgan, on TD runs of 1, 7, 20, and 79 yards.