Nov 5, 2003 By Jim Kriek For The 4 min read

Carmichaels and Turkeyfoot Valley can rightly say this week “We’re Number One!” The scholastic football season came to a close locally last weekend with Carmichaels finishing as the No. 1 offensive team and Turkeyfoot taking down defensive honors among teams in the Herald-Standard’s coverage area.

Seven teams went into the WPIAL playoffs, and all seven lost in the first round, but it took a fourth quarter comeback by Clairton to nail Carmichaels, 20-18.

Laurel Highlands led for part of the second quarter, fell behind, then moved again in the fourth, but came up short against Hampton, 21-14, while Pine-Richland rolled in the second half to wallop Uniontown, 49-14; Beaver routed Waynesburg, 40-6; and Rochester collared Beth-Center, 27-0.

Jefferson-Morgan got away on top, and then Bishop Canevin moved out and won 35-12, while California scored first but Western Beaver came on strong after that for a 35-13 win.

Of those playoff entries, four finished in the top five on offense among local teams, and three were in the top five defenders.

Carmichaels is first on offense with 304 points, an average of 30.4 per game, the only local team to top 30 and down 1.5 from the previous week. Beth-Center fell to 27.8 per game (278) but still held second place offensively, followed by Waynesburg (254-25.4), Laurel Highlands (220-22.0), and Turkeyfoot Valley (190-21.1, in nine games).

Defensively, Turkeyfoot was the only team that didn’t give up 100 points. The Rams posted three shutouts and just two opponents scored more than one touchdown. And those were the only two games the Rams lost, Maryland teams Westmar (20) and Northern Garrett (19) combining for 39 of the 63 points Turkeyfoot allowed, while averaging 7.0 per game.

Southmoreland (102-11.3 in 9 games), and Carmichaels (140-14.0) held their places for another week, while Beth-Center (167-16.7) switched with Jefferson-Morgan (174-17.4).

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Some top efforts by local players included:

-Field goal – 28 yards, Steve Champlin, Albert Gallatin, vs. Latrobe.

-Touchdown run – 56 yards, Vaughn Jones, Albert Gallatin, vs. Latrobe; 53, Ryan Geisel, Mapletown, vs. Cornell.

-Passing touchdown – 32 yards, Jeff Lapkowicz to Jared Lapkowicz, Carmichaels, vs. Clairton; 27, Andy Novak to Matt Yoskovich, Mapletown, vs. Cornell.

-Punt return for touchdown – 75 yards, Seth Tressler, Turkeyfoot, vs. Williamsburg.

-Touchdown run with fumble – 50 yards, Mike Cox, Waynesburg, vs. Beaver.

-Family scoring – Lapkowicz Twins, Carmichaels, vs. Clairton. Jeff scored two touchdowns (2, 3, runs), and passed 32 yards to Jared for the other, in a 20-18 setback.

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The WPIAL’s unbeaten ranks dropped to five after last weekend’s playoff openers, Shenango running into a 27-16 ambush by Freedom.

Perfectos winning were Upper St. Clair, 44-13 over Indiana; Thomas Jefferson, 38-6 over Kittanning; Pine-Richland, 49-14 over Uniontown; Jeannette, 42-16 over New Brighton and Monessen edged Brentwood, 35-28.

Two teams escaped having winless seasons with first victories scored by McGuffey, 41-0 over Charleroi and Neshannock, 29-6 over Quaker Valley.

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Sto-Rox is the WPIAL’s offensive leader, by just a scant one-tenth of a point. S-R scored 433 points in 10 games (43.3), and Gateway (432-43.2), then comes Upper St. Clair (426-42.6), Pittsburgh Central Catholic (385-38.5), Pine-Richland (379-37.9), Thomas Jefferson (378-37.8), and Aliquippa (367-36.7).

Defensively, nine schools have given up less than 100 points in 10 games with Moon (59-5.9) taking the lead away from Monessen after a 17-7 win over Chartiers Valley, while Monessen (64-6.4) topped Brentwood, 35-28. Northgate moved up to tie for second (64-6.4) after a 27-7 win over Mars, followed by Thomas Jefferson (63-6.3), North Hills (69-6.9), Beaver (74-7.4), Springdale (75-7.5), Greensburg Salem (77-7.7) and Upper St. Clair (84-8.4).

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Some top individual efforts around the WPIAL:

-Field goal – 48, Dave Brytus, West Allegheny, vs. Highlands; 36, 35, 27, Adam Sciulli, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, vs. McKeesport.

-Kick scoring – 14, Sciulli (3 FG, 5 PAT).

-Punt Return TD – 75 yards, Tony Celitti, Kiski, vs. Mount Lebanon.

-Touchdown run – 89 yards, Kevin Matthews, Upper St. Clair, vs. Indiana; 85 and 82, Justin Colbaugh, Gateway, vs. McKeesport.

-Passing touchdown – 91 yards, Pete Winovich to Aaron Archibald, Thomas Jefferson, vs. Kittanning; 90, 66, Jon D’Angelo to Ryan Ricketts, Western Beaver, vs. California; 75, Andrew DiDonato to Marquis Parks, South Fayette, vs. Ford City.

-Kickoff return for touchdown – 90 yards, Ed Collington, Penn Hills, second half opener vs. Canon-McMillan; 84, Kevin Matthews, Upper St. Clair, vs. Indiana; Marques Parks, South Fayette, vs. Ford City.

-Touchdown run with fumble – 70 yards, Ryan Harris, Canon-McMillan, vs. Penn Hills.

-Pass interception return for touchdown – 102 yards, Elijah Fields, Duquesne, vs. Chartiers-Houston; 98, Shane Sullivan, Peters Twp., vs. Mount Pleasant.

-Touchdown passes – 4, Jim Gallagher, Peters Twp., vs. Mount Pleasant (9, 48, 19, 53, 317 yards passing).