The unbeatens

Sep 10, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 5 min read

Four local teams remain unbeaten while another will be playing the third of four consecutive rivalry games heading into Week Three of the high school football season.

Uniontown, Beth-Center, Waynesburg Central and Mount Pleasant will each look to go 3-0 Friday night.

The Red Raiders travel to Southmoreland, the Bulldogs host Leechburg, the Raiders go to Albert Gallatin and the Vikings are at South Allegheny.

Connellsville, coming off tight, emotional games from both ends of the spectrum with a home win over Southmoreland and a loss at AG, faces another nearby rival in Laurel Highlands at Mustang Field.

All 16 area teams will be in non-conference action Friday with 7 p.m. kickoffs.

Second-year Uniontown coach Tim Bukowski will be facing his former team. Bukowski came over to the Red Raiders after seven years at Southmoreland, the last three as head coach.

“I’ve been coaching a long time. I’ve coached against my alma mater Monessen,” Bukowski said. “So, for me, it’s not a big deal. Although I do have three coaches on my staff that graduated from Southmoreland.

“Some of the kids know the connection so they’re fired up for it. But it’s really just about us getting better and taking another step in the right direction, not so much about where we’re playing or who. We’ve just got to improve each week before we get into the conference.”

Uniontown has already matched last season’s win total and can surpass it with a victory at Russ Grimm Field.

“They know what they’re doing now,” said Bukowski of how his team has adjusted to his system. “Last year we had to put play cards on their wrists.”

Bukowski pointed to the improvement of senior quarterback Brayden Hinzy as another key reason his team has started the season with wins over Brownsville (47-0) at Ambridge (21-13).

“It was our quarterback’s first year under center and he faced a lot of pressure,” Bukowski said of Hinzy. “He’s kind of settled in back there this year. He has a good overall grasp of the scheme and where we want to get the football. He’s distributing it to the right people in the right spaces.

“Last year we had one senior starter, our left tackle. This year we have 14 seniors, which also helps.”

The Scotties, on the other hand, are off to an 0-2 start after going 9-2 and reaching the playoffs in 2025 in Dustin Shoaf’s first year as head coach.

Even so, Bukowski isn’t looking past them.

“We can’t look at their record and think, well, they’re not a good football team,” Bukowski said. “Dawson Wolfe is a quality player. He’s got Division-1 offers and does a great job on both sides (quarterback/linebacker) of the football for them. They have a veteran line, some of the guys we coached when they were younger.

“We expect a tough football game. We’ve got to go in with the mindset that we’ve got to play well to get out of there with a win.”

The Red Raiders won’t be a full strength, according to Bukowski.

“We’re beat up a little bit,” he said. “We lost our starting safety and wild cat guy, Cam Dugan, to a broken foot. He’s out about four more weeks. Jackson Mickens is still not ready to go. Taylor Galloway went out last week with a groin injury but we’re hoping he’s OK to play Friday.”

Like Uniontown, Beth-Center is off to a much better start than a season ago in Tim Trump’s second year as head coach. The Bulldogs were 3-7 in 2025 but can match the win total by defeating Leechburg (0-2). Beth-Center has knocked off Brentwood, 34-6, and Riverview, 48-32, so far.

Waynesburg, with Joe Kuhns in the second year of his second stint as head coach, opened its season with victories over West Greene, 43-0, and Chartiers-Houston, 27-14. The Raiders will face their stiffest test so far at the Colonials (1-0), who dropped their opener to Burrell, 32-7, but rebounded with a gutsy home victory over rival Connellsville, 33-28.

Mount Pleasant started its season with wins at Laurel Highlands, 24-17 in overtime, and at rival Yough, 47-14. The Vikings now face the Gladiators, who were 10-2 and won a playoff game last year. South Allegheny is off to an 0-2 start in 2026, however, with losses to Elizabeth Forward, 42-0, and Washington, 55-20.

Connellsville and Laurel Highlands have each played a pair of down-to-wire, heart-stopping games.

Coach Jace McClean’s Falcons topped Southmoreland, 21-15, in Week One before suffering the close loss at AG.

The Mustangs, under first-year coach Ian Edenfield, followed the OT defeat to Mount Pleasant with a 29-25 loss at Derry.

The two last meet in 2023 with Connellsville winning, 35-13, also at Mustang Field.

Five area teams — Frazier, California, Carmichaels, West Greene and Belle Vernon — sit a 1-1 after two weeks and will strive to go above the .500 mark.

The Commodores are at Monessen (2-0, coming of the program’s 700th win), the Trojans host Washington (2-0), the Class A Pioneers travel to Class 2A McGuffey, the Mikes entertain Greensburg Central Catholic (1-1), and the Leopards go to West Mifflin (1-1).

Three local teams searching for their first win after 0-2 starts will be on the road with Brownsville at Carlynton (1-1), Jefferson-Morgan at Chartiers-Houston (0-2) and Mapletown at Serra Catholic (0-2).