Sep 27, 2006 By The 2 min read

Waynesburg Central’s Troy Cree assumed the overall lead, but the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club race remains hotly contested as teams approach the mid-point of the regular high school football season. Cree scored both of the Raiders touchdowns last week and ran for 198 of Waynesburg Central’s 208 rushing yards. He passed previous leader, Frazier’s Jim Traynor, who did not score last weekend.

Traynor is second with 34 points scored, two more than Commodores teammate Joey Kulikoski and Beth-Center’s Chris Stay and Mapletown’s Ashly Menear. Only 10 points separate first place from fifth place.

Kulikoski scored 14 points for Frazier, with a pair of touchdown runs and a two-point conversion. Menear scored 8 on a touchdown run and two-point play to keep pace with Kulikoski and Stay, who didn’t score in the Bulldogs’ 29-6 win over Chartiers-Houston.

Albert Gallatin’s Nate Turner also made a big jump last weekend. Turner scored a pair of touchdowns in AG’s 27-6 win at Derry to lift his season scoring total to 30 points. That leaves Turner alone in sixth place.

Beth-Center’s Ryan Butka kept pace with a touchdown last weekend. He stands alone in seventh place with 26 points, two more than a pack of five players at 24.

Jumping into that pack was Connellsville’s Scott Jones, who scored two touchdowns last weekend, and Frazier’s Vince Conti, who scored one touchdown. They joined three players who did not score in their last games, Connellsville’s Lance Straughters, California’s Donte Valentino and Waynesburg Central’s Clint Podish.

With five regular season games to be played, plus playoff games for some teams, the race to replace Mapletown’s Ryan Geisel is wide open. Geisel scored 156 points in leading the Maples to the Tri-County South Conference championship last season.

The winner of the Herald-Standard’s Touchdown Club award will have his name engraved on a plaque that will be displayed at his school for a calendar year. The winner also will receive a plaque to keep.