Stafford leads host of Trojan TD-makers
California is No. 1 in the WPIAL Class 1A football pairings and, fittingly, Trojans’ fullback Jelani Stafford is No. 1 in the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club standings heading into the postseason.
Stafford, who scored once in California’s 42-0 win over West Greene that wrapped up a perfect regular season, has 140 points and could push that total up much higher with a long playoff run.
It’s easy to see why the Trojans are 10-0. Incredibly, they have five different players who have scored at least 10 touchdowns this season: Stafford (23), 14th-place Cochise Ryan (12, 74 points), 19th-place Jonathan Wood (11, 66 points), and 23rd-place Zion Aldrich and Colin Phillips (10, 60 points each).
Yet there’s another Trojan with only one TD this season who still has racked up more points than three of those California players. That would be kicker Dustin Mock, who has benefited from all those touchdowns to the tune of 63 extra-point kicks to go along with one field goal. Mock is tied for 16th place.
California coach Darrin Dillow was happy to see his team rewarded with the No. 1 seed.
“It is great for the kids, something they worked hard for and deserved,” Dillow said. “It’s a good reward, but now we have to get back to work.”
Second behind Dillow in the TD Club standings is 2016 champion Dylan Rush who missed his final three games due to injury and finished up his senior season with 124 points.
Up one spot from last week into third place is Elizabeth Forward wide receiver Gavin Martik who scored twice in a 35-14 win over Burgettstown to give him 120 points.
Zach Pettit of playoff-bound West Greene remains at 109 points and slips to fourth place.
In fifth is Charleroi’s Hunter Perry, who was one of seven players to score three touchdowns last week, his coming in a 48-7 win at Brownsville to give him 102 points.
Yough’s Dustin Shoaf wrapped him his season as the hottest player coming down the stretch. The junior running back scored two TDs in a 48-14 loss to South Park, giving him seven in his last two games. Shoaf is sixth with 98 points and surpassed the idle Rush to become the area’s leading rusher with 1,647 yards, good enough for third in the entire WPIAL.
Dominic Fundy falls two spots into seventh with 96 points after failing to score in Beth-Center’s 49-20 loss to Washington.
Rounding out the top 10 are Charleroi wide receiver Dakota Romantino in eighth with 94 points, B-C’s Trevor Anderson in ninth with 90 points and the Pioneers’ Ben Jackson and the Bulldogs’ Bailey Lincoski tied for the 10th spot with 88 points.
The top scorer for the week was Frazier’s Mason Kelly, who scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion for 20 points in a 42-6 win at Chartiers-Houston. The Commodores actually had a pair of three-TD performers as George Smalich also turned the trick.
The most versatile scorer of the week was Jefferson-Morgan’s Colten Davidson who had three touchdowns in three different ways in a 49-21 loss to Fort Cherry. Davidson scored on an 85-yard kickoff return, a four-yard run and a nine-yard pass from D.L. Garrett.
Laurel Highlands’ 63-26 win over Albert Gallatin in the highest-scoring game of the week featured a three-TD performance by the Mustangs’ Ian Edenfield, all on touchdown pass from Conner Basinger, and a perfect nine-for-nine effort on extra-point kicks by LH’s Alec McLay in Zack Just’s final game as coach.
Also finding the end zone three times were Phillips and Mount Pleasant’s Cody Reese in a 64-21 win over Southmoreland.
Carmichaels’ Jacob Lowry actually found the end zone four times in a 36-0 victory at Bishop Canevin. Lowry had two TD runs and a pair of two-point conversion runs for 14 points.
Another coaching finale came at Trinity where Ringgold’s Nick Milchovich stepped down following a season-ending 55-34 loss to the Hillers. The Rams had the top kicking performance of the week, though, as Jackson O’Connor put up 10 points with a pair of field goals and four extra-point boots.
Nine teams remain alive in the postseason.