Oct 30, 2002 By Jim Kriek For The 3 min read

Mikes on track to finish as top local offensive team Unless a miracle happens on offense and defense or both, it’s safe to say that Carmichaels is the No. 1 team on offense for regular season games.

Figures are compiled for teams in the Herald-Standard coverage area, and are based on games covered by the newspaper’s staff or as reported by coaches or statisticians.

Through nine games, and heading into the playoffs this weekend, Carmichaels scored 367 points, an average of 40.8 per game, to be first among local teams and No. 2 in the entire WPIAL, trailing only Thomas Jefferson (376).

Waynesburg (239-26.6) held onto second place and was followed in the top five by Beth-Center (222-24.7), Brownsville (170-18.9) and Uniontown (166-18.4). The only change from a week ago is Uniontown moving into fifth after collaring Laurel Highlands 20-0, just one-half point ahead of Belle Vernon (163-18.1), the latter a 13-10 loser to New Castle.

Right now, the only way that Carmichaels – the last unbeaten team left in Class A – can be dislodged from first place on offense is to be shutout by its first playoff opponent, or Waynesburg scores 128 points against whomever it meets in the opening round. In any event, either “if” is highly unlikely.

Defensively, Belle Vernon held onto the lead with a 10.1 allowance per game (94 points), an edge of .7 ahead of Carmichaels (100-11.1), which moved into second after beating Frazier, 37-8, while Waynesburg dropped one place to third (102-11.3) after losing to Washington, 15-7.

California kept fourth place (123-13.7) after collaring Geibel Catholic, 28-0, while Uniontown (158-17.6) moved into fifth ahead of Beth-Center (160-17.8), a 33-6 winner over Bentworth.

Of the top five in each category, Carmichaels, California, Waynesburg, Belle Vernon and Uniontown are headed for the playoffs, along with Frazier and Laurel Highlands.

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Four teams were knocked out of the perfect ranks last weekend. Upper St. Clair was upset by McKeesport, while Woodland Hills whipped Penn Hills in the battle of Quad-A unbeatens and is the only perfecto in that class. In 3-A, Knoch lost to Pine-Richland in another battle of unbeatens, leaving P-R and Thomas Jefferson the lone all-winners. Jeannette and Seton-LaSalle remained unbeaten in 2-A, while Aliquippa was losing to Center.

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Connellsville defeated Hempfield 30-10 for its second win and a 2-7 record going into the season finale Friday night at home with Shaler.

If the Falcons can beat Shaler, they will finish 3-7 and equal their record of two years ago when they split their first two games, lost six in a row, then won their last two games.

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Some top efforts by local players in Game 9 included:

Touchdown run – 80 yards, Vaughn Jones, Albert Gallatin, vs. Yough; 54 yards, Zack Blackstone, Connellsville, vs. Hempfield.

Pass interception TD – 17 yards, John Mulhorn, Southmoreland, vs. McGuffey.

Pass-run TD – 46 yards, Cory Walsh to Kyle Aldhizer, Waynesburg, vs. Washington.

Kickoff return TD – 81 yards, Doug Patterson, Brownsville, vs. Charleroi.

Field goal – 45 yards, Jon Fowler, Belle Vernon, vs. New Castle, his 10th of the season.

Scoring – 18 points, Shane Datz, Southmoreland (3 TD), vs. McGuffey.

Kick scoring – 4, Ben Popson, Connellsville (4 PATs), vs. Hempfield; 4, Fowler (FG, PATs), 4, Tom Russell, California (4 PATs), vs. Geibel Catholic.