GAME OF THE WEEK PREVIEW: Warriors try to get back on track at Mount Pleasant
Darnell Graham
Derry’s Paul Kootz (16) finds himself surrounded by Elizabeth Forward’s Nathan Sullivan (53), Nicholas Murphy (54), Ethan Cain (72), and Brain Hafner (56) during their Big East Conference game at Warrior Stadium on Sept. 28.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Mount Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas looks over his play sheet during a game last season. Fazekas is in his second year at the helm of the Vikings.
Ed Thompson
Mike Collodi is in his fourth year as head coach at Elizabeth Forward.
Elizabeth Forward will be looking to rebound from its first loss of the season when it travels to Mount Pleasant tonight in the Herald-Standard Game of the Week.
The Warriors (5-1, 4-1) were the last remaining area unbeaten team until they fell to visiting North Catholic, 27-0, in a Class AAA Big East Conference showdown last week, leaving them in a three-way tie for first place. They’ll try to get back on the winning track against a Vikings team (1-6, 1-4) that has been ravaged by injuries this season.
Kickoff for the conference clash is set for 7 p.m.
While it came up short of getting to 6-0, Elizabeth Forward started 5-0 for the first time in 40 years and its football program is clearly on the rise under fourth-year coach Mike Collodi.
“The culture has changed at Elizabeth Forward,” Collodi said. “The kids are really buying in and working hard. They’re the ones that are doing it. They’re a great group and they settle for nothing less than perfect. They practice hard, they play hard, they give their all, and they play fast and physical football. That’s what we’ve been preaching as a coaching staff since day one.
“We shared a conference title last year and a conference title is our goal again.”
Despite the loss to NC, the Warriors still control their own destiny. If they win out, they will again earn no less than a tie for the Big East championship.
While Collodi is establishing EF as a football power, Mount Pleasant has had a strong tradition on the gridiron for a long time.
“Year-in and year-out, Mount Pleasant has been a dominant football team for 20-25 years,” Collodi said. “We’re not taking them lightly by any means. They’re big and they do what they do. They have a big quarterback (Luke Pieszak) who can throw the ball, they have an athletic wide receiver (Jake Johnson) and they’re always well-coached and play hard. It’s always a tough game when we play Mount Pleasant.”
The Vikings lost their first two games by a combined six points before playing their best game of the season at Yough, coming away with a 22-16 win, but have lost four straight since then.
“One thing that we’ve been dealing with this year is injuries,” said Fazekas, who is in his second year as MP coach. “As of last week we still had more than 20 kids who could not play due to injury. That has been quite a challenge to try to overcome that.”
While mounting injuries and losses may beat down some coaches and players, Fazekas and his Vikings aren’t built from that mold.
“They only thing I know how to do is to just keep going and working hard,” Fazekas said. “We’re just keeping the same routine and schedule that we always have. We’re still preparing for every week the same way, no matter if we were undefeated of if we have the record that we have.
“I’m not making excuses, but sometimes it’s hard to put a good lineup out there and be competitive against some of these good teams with all the players we have out. But I still think our practices have been quality practices. I don’t see any kind of lack of effort from the kids. They are certainly still responding.”
Both teams have players they count on heavily on both sides of the ball.
With the Warriors, it’s quarterback Zach Benedek and middle linebacker Nathan Homa. Benedek had one of his few subpar performances against North Catholic, throwing a pair of interceptions, but Collodi isn’t worried about any ill effects from the loss.
“Zach is the leader of the football team and, no question, he’ll bounce back,” Collodi said. “He’s a true competitor and has all the intangibles that people talk about. The team follows Zach. He has been doing a great job for us since his sophomore year when he won the job.
“Nathan Homa has been doing an outstanding job for us also. He’s been a dominant middle linebacker and has been playing lights out on defense, averaging double-digit tackles a game. Big, strong, physical, he’s the rock of my defense.”
Two juniors who have been solid throughout the season for Mount Pleasant are Johnson and the coach’s son, Jake Fazekas.
“Jake Johnson is doing a real, good job for us,” coach Fazekas said. “He’s probably our biggest threat. He and Jake Fazekas, those are two kids that kind of stand out. When you talk about trying to keep things together and doing the right things, those are a couple kids that come to mind. They’re certainly trying to give that example.”
Collodi gave his squad a bit of a break after last Friday’s game.
“I told our guys put that game in the rearview mirror,” Collodi said. “That’s done and over. I gave the team the weekend off to get away from football. We usually come in Saturday morning and we didn’t this week. I gave them 48 hours because we’ve been going pretty strong since football camp. They really haven’t had too much time off.
“That was four really hard weeks in a row. We had Freeport, Quaker Valley, Derry and North Catholic. I felt they needed some time away from the game. I think that’s helped them focus on this week against Mount Pleasant.
“They recharged their batteries. They’re definitely ready.”
The rest of the schedule
The Interstate will feature a pair of games tonight that will have a huge impact on the top of the standings as undefeated and first-place McGuffey travels to Charleroi, while Beth-Center hosts Washington. The Cougars, Bulldogs and Prexies each have just one conference loss. Also, Brownsville hosts Frazier. All three games kick off at 7 p.m.
In other Class AAA Big East games, Uniontown is at North Catholic, and Derry travels to Yough, both at 7 p.m.
in the Class AAAAA Big East, Connellsville is at Franklin Regional at 7 p.m., and Albert Gallatin travels to Gateway at 7:30 p.m.
In the Big Eight, Belle Vernon is at West Mifflin, and Ringgold goes to Greensburg Salem, both at 7 p.m., and Laurel Highlands hosts Thomas Jefferson at 7:30 p.m.
In the Tri-County West, Waynesburg Central hosts Beaver Falls at 7 p.m.
In the Tri-County South, Bentworth hosts California, and Monessen travels to Mapletown in a pair of 7 p.m. games.
In non-conference clashes, all at 7 p.m., West Greene entertains Clairton, Carmichaels hosts Union, Jefferson-Morgan is as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and Southmoreland hosts Shenango.