Scholastic football Highlights
Five area teams post first victories The past weekend not only brought on a change in the equinox, it brought with it a change in the status of five area football teams.
Five teams got into the winners’ column for the first time in the scholastic football season, which believe it or not, moves past the halfway point of regular season play this week.
Teams winning for the first time included Connellsville, Laurel Highlands, Albert Gallatin, California and Turkeyfoot Valley.
Connellsville not only got its first win, the Falcons also scored their first shutout of the young season, collaring Butler 14-0. Albert Gallatin nailed Trinity High of Washington, 12-7, while Laurel Highlands stopped Ambridge 19-9, California beat Frazier 32-7 and Turkeyfoot collared Rockwood, 37-0.
The win was not only the first one for Turkeyfoot; it was also an historic win for it was the first varsity football game played by Rockwood, which initiated its grid program last year. Prior to last Saturday, the Rockets had played a jayvee schedule, then made their varsity debut against Turkeyfoot.
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Carmichaels maintained its offensive lead for another week, and Waynesburg did the same on defense for football teams in the Herald-Standard coverage area.
A week ago, the Mikes led with 41.7 points per game, and that hiked to 43-even this week after a 47-13 defeat of West Greene, the first loss for WG.
Rounding out the top five on offense are Waynesburg, 37.0; Beth-Center, 31.8; Uniontown, 24.3; and Brownsville, 20.5. A week ago the top five were Carmichaels, Beth-Center, Waynesburg, Uniontown and Southmoreland,
Defensively, it’s a matter of three-tenths of a point separating the first two places.
Waynesburg holds the lead with an allowance of 10.5 per game, following a 35-21 win over Brownsville, just a tick over Belle Vernon, which posted its third consecutive shutout and has ceded 10.8 points per game.
Connellsville, while unable to generate a lot of offense, has prevented its opponents from doing the same. The Falcons allowed four opponents 48 points – a 12.0 per game average – to hold third place on defense, followed by California, 16.0, and Uniontown, 16-3 per game. A week ago, the top five were Waynesburg, Belle Vernon, Beth-Center, Connellsville and Uniontown.
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As the season hits its fifth week, there are still 22 WPIAL teams with perfect 4-0 marks. They include:
Quad-A – Woodland Hills, Bethel Park, Penn Hills, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Upper St. Clair.
3-A – Thomas Jefferson, Uniontown, Hopewell, New Castle, Knoch and Pine-Richland.
2-A – Waynesburg, East Allegheny, Seton-LaSalle, Aliquippa, Beaver, New Brighton and Jeannette.
A – Carmichaels, Duquesne, Springdale and Monaca.
The unbeaten ranks will lose at least one member this week when Beaver plays at Aliquippa.
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On the other side of the ledger, there are still 17 teams seeking their first win, five each in Quad-A and 3-A, four in 2-A and three in single A, none of whom play each other this week.
In addition to the five local teams scoring their first wins last week, other first time winners included:
3-A – Kittanning, 34-6 over Mount Pleasant.
2-A – Steel Valley, 10-0 over South Allegheny; Deer Lakes, 9-3 over Shadyside Academy; Summit Academy, 22-0 over Mohawk; and Greensburg Central Catholic, 34-3 over Southmoreland.
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There was another first the past weekend, Ringgold scoring its first points of the season, After being shutout three times, the Rams scored in a 35-7 loss to Upper St. Clair.
The stingiest team in the WPIAL is Pittsburgh Central Catholic, which has given up just seven points in four games. Franklin Regional lost 50-7. That’s an allowance of 1.8 points per game, to 39.3 of their own. And who does PCC play this week? They host Connellsville Friday night.
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Some top efforts among area players included:
Pass Interception TD – 54 yards, Gerod Buckhalter, Mapletown, vs. Jefferson-Morgan; 38, B.J. Straughters, Connellsville, vs. Butler; 5-yards, Bob Hathaway, Carmichaels, vs. West Greene. Buckhalter scored three times by three different methods for the Maples. He ran 15 yards for one TD, returned the pass interception, and had a 54-yard pass-run play with Drew Denham.
Pass-Run TD – 66 yards, Jim Basilone to Joey Yokiel, Jefferson-Morgan vs. Mapletown; 63, Parke Bongiorno to Dan Yurkovich, California, vs. Frazier; 57, Brian Gates to Mike Poccolomini, Brownsville, vs. Waynesburg.
TD Run – 58 yards, Andrew Bell, Belle Vernon, vs. Hampton; 50, Ryan Robinson, California, vs. Frazier; 50, Corey Nesser, Laurel Highlands, vs. Ambridge.
Return Blocked Punt or TD – 14 yards, Justin Zielensky, Carmichaels, vs. West Greene.
Field Goal – 25 yards, Dan Hagerman, Southmoreland, vs. Greensburg CC.