Area high school football leaders
Bulldogs live up to the old adage the tough keep getting tougher To paraphrase that old adage about the rich, you can say that on the football field, the tough just keep getting tougher.
At least in Beth-Center’s case they do.
For that matter, the same can be said for the top five on offense and four on defense this week among scholastic football teams in the Herald-Standard’s coverage area. For while Beth-Center held onto the leadership on both sides of the ball, the other four with them in the offensive category remained the same, and on defense there was just one change.
Beth-Center scored its fifth consecutive shutout win, 41-0, over Bentworth, and kept its defensive lead through the end of regular season play. The Bulldogs’ allowance per game keeps getting lower, down this week to 4.3 points – less than one touchdown – per game, or slightly over 1/2 point better than a week ago.
For the record, the Bulldogs have not been scored on since Game 4 of the season, when they sustained their only loss, 13-12, to undefeated Bishop Canevin. In that span, they have outscored five opponents 243 to 0, or 48.6 to zilch per game.
Which also cements the ‘Dogs’ lead on offense for the season, at 37.3 per game overall.
Defensively, Mapletown stayed second, its 37-6 rout of Monessen decreasing the allowance by a point down to 13.4 per game.
Uniontown held third with a 17-7 win over Laurel Highlands, cutting its edge down to 14.1 ppg, and Laurel Highlands stayed fourth despite their loss, at 16.1 per game. The only change was in fifth place where California (17.8) moved up two after beating Geibel Catholic, 50-9.
The top five on offense are the same from last week, with just one change, California and Waynesburg Central switching places. California moved up to fourth (26.4) after its win, while Waynesburg dropped one notch to fifth (25.4) despite a 40-6 win over Brownsville.
Beth-Center kept its lead at nine points over Jefferson-Morgan, the latter winning 35-20 in a free-wheeler with West Greene, while Mapletown added one point (up to 27.9) and held third. California and Waynesburg hiked their game production, the former to 26.4 and moved up one place, and the latter to 25.4, but down one spot.
Offensively, there was one new member in the “20-plus” Club this week, Connellsville advancing to sixth with its 40-17 romp at Hempfield.
Now eight teams will be preparing for an additional week, since they have qualified for the WPIAL playoffs and will be in action again this weekend. How many others will be playing an exhibition 10th game will be determined later.
Some top local figures from previous action included:
nLong TD Run – 77 and 70 yards, Paul Sabo, Frazier vs. Carmichaels; 74, Chris Statzula, Beth-Center vs. Bentworth; 69, Waugh Carter, California vs. Geibel; 63, Jarrod Moskola, Jefferson-Morgan vs. West Greene; 57, Troy Cree, Waynesburg vs. Brownsville; 57 and 55, Nick Keefer, Belle Vernon vs. Albert Gallatin; 55, Nate Turner, Albert Gallatin vs. Belle Vernon.
nPass-Run TD – 77 yards, Bob Virgili to Matt Barnhart, Carmichaels vs. Frazier; 48, Clay Hurley to Terrence McCrae, Connellsville vs. Hempfield.
nKickoff Return TD – 52 yards, Terry Guthrie, Uniontown, return with onside kickoff to open game against Laurel Highlands.
nField Goals – 40 yards, Rob Miele, Belle Vernon vs. Albert Gallatin; 20, Mario Fragello, Geibel vs. California; 18, Ryan Robowski, Uniontown vs. Laurel Highlands.
nKick Points – 5, Miele (2 PAT, 1 field goal); Robowski (2 PAT, 1 FG), Ben Sakel, Beth-Center vs. Bentworth (5 PAT), Matt Kline, Jefferson-Morgan (5 PAT) vs. West Greene.
-Game Scoring – 24 Points, Sabo (4 TD – 2, 77 and 70 runs; 25 pass from Tony Battaglini); 24, Cree (TD runs – 9, 40, 4, 57 yards); 18, Ryan Geisel, Mapletown (TD runs – 2, 2, 5) vs. Monessen; 18, Donte Valentino (TD runs – 38, 9, 11), California vs. Geibel; Turner (TD runs – 1, 3, 55).
GRID NOTES: Four teams dropped from the unbeaten ranks in the final week of regular season play. In Class AAA, West Mifflin is the lone perfecto after handing Thomas Jefferson its first loss, 28-15. Only two survived in Class AA, Greensburg Central Catholic collaring Jeannette 32-0 in their unbeaten battle, and South Park winning over South Fayette, 35-13. Center was a first-time loser, 25-14 to Aliquippa. In Class A, Rochester lost to Monaca, 42-6. Bishop Canevin stayed perfect with its 17-7 win over Charleroi, and Duquesne stopped Serra, 34-7.
Two teams scored their first victories, Leechburg, 35-6 over Wilkinsburg, and Cornell over Avonworth, 42-6, both in Class A.
Connellsville enjoyed its biggest second half of the season with 27 points at Hempfield. … Belle Vernon scored more points (17) in its final game than in the previous eight games combined (12). It was also the first time the Leopards had scored in the first and fourth quarters, but they were scoreless in the second quarter all season. … California had its best fourth quarter of the season (21) against Geibel, Frazier its top third quarter (14) at Carmichaels, and Mapletown its best second quarter (29) vs. Monessen.
The Laurel Highlands offense has trouble getting started after halftime, scoring only 16 in the third quarter all season. On the other hand, the defense was in high gear, allowing only 27 in the same span. … Uniontown is still the toughest team to score on in the fourth quarter, the Raider defense ceding only six points, to Albert Gallatin two weeks ago.