Conference games dominate schedule in Week 3
Most of the preliminaries are out of the way. Tonight, the real action starts in high school football, as conference-opening games dominate the schedule. “That’s exactly right,” Laurel Highlands coach Jack Buehner said. “We want to win all of our games, but the real deal starts this week with conference play.”
Buehner’s Mustangs opened the season with a pair of exhibition losses, but the coach said he seen enough positive plays to make him hopeful for the immediate future.
“Sometimes, we’ve played solid, made good plays, in all aspects of the game,” Buehner said. “But we’ve also had mistakes in all aspects of the game. Last week, it was special teams, when he gave up a game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown that put us in a hole right off the bat.
“The encouraging part is that we have played well in all those departments (offense, defense and special teams) at times,” Buehner said.
The Mustangs open Class AAA Keystone Conference play at Yough (0-2), a team Buehner said has played similarly to his Mustangs.
“They are having the same problems we are having,” he said. “They were in a tie game with Elizabeth-Forward late in the third quarter and going in for the go-ahead touchdown, when they had a fumble that E-F returned for a touchdown. Last week, they were beating Chartiers Valley, 3-0, at halftime.”
Elsewhere in the Keystone, Albert Gallatin (1-1) hits the road with a game at Greensburg Salem (0-2), while Uniontown (1-1) hosts Derry (1-1). Southmoreland (0-2) welcomes Ringgold (2-0) for an exhibition. The Scotties just moved back to the Keystone, while the Rams moved from the Keystone to the Big Seven.
Coach Lew Sweitzer’s 2-0 Frazier Commodores are all set to host Clairton (2-0) in the Class A Black Hills Conference opener for both teams.
“Of course, we’re happy about being 2-0, but we’re looking at a Clairton team that I is a very formidable opponent,” Sweitzer said. “It will be a good test to see where we are. I’m talking about being competitive and being able to stay in that game with them.”
In fact, the Bears are one of many formidable opponents the Black Hills has to offer. Defending PIAA finalist Serra Catholic is in the mix with the Bears. The conference came through two exhibition games with five unbeaten teams. Frazier is one of them and Sweitzer knows how that happened.
“Something that we have going for us is this offensive line,” he said. “They are a good group. They are strong and smart and they play well together.”
In part because of the strong line, the Commodores can disguise ball carriers. Sweitzer has a strong stable of runners, including Kevin Shanaberger, Jordan Adams and Chase Kirmeyer.
“We’re able to take away people trying to shut down one back,” Sweitzer said. “We have at least three kids that, defensively, you have trouble knowing who is going to get the ball.”
And it’s not surprising that Shanaberger ranks second and Adams third in the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club rankings.
“We noticed that because the kids gave it to me,” Sweitzer said. “That’s good because they are looking. Either way, it’s not the end of the season, but hopefully they’ll still be there come Monday.”
All Friday games involving area teams begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Class A Tri-County South match-up of Jefferson-Morgan (2-0) at Geibel Catholic (1-1) features a noon kickoff.
Meanwhile, the Class AA Interstate Conference is well into its conference race. With 10 teams in the conference, there are no exhibition games. Therefore, Waynesburg Central (1-1) and Brownsville (0-2) have the same records in conference. The Raiders visit Mount Pleasant (1-1) tonight, while Brownsville travels to Charleroi (0-2).
Connellsville (0-2) kicks off Foothills Conference action tonight at McKeesport (1-1). The Falcons are the area’s only Class AAAA team in football.
Belle Vernon (2-0) hopes to turn a fast start into an early lead in the Class AAA Big Seven Conference. The Leopards host Chartiers Valley (1-1) tonight.
Elsewhere in the Class A Tri-County South Conference, Carmichaels (0-2) travels to Beth-Center (1-1) in the Bulldogs’ first game in this conference, Monessen (0-2) visits Mapletown (0-2) and California (0-2) visits West Greene (0-2).