Bulldogs stand alone

Sep 24, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 6 min read

After the smoke cleared from Week Four of the high school football season only one local team remained unbeaten.

Beth-Center heads into Week Five with a 4-0 record, including a 1-0 mark in the Class A Tri-County South Conference.

The Bulldogs will put that perfect mark on the line against West Greene (1-0, 2-2) at Kennedy Field tonight.

“Our team is playing pretty good ball right now,” B-C coach Tim Trump said.

Another key TCS matchup is a rematch from the 2025 WPIAL playoffs with Frazier hosting California. The Commodores went on the road to upend the Trojans, 27-12, in a first round game in last year’s clash. Both teams are 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play this year.

That game features a clash of top-notch quarterbacks in California’s Brandon Meier and Frazier’s Brady Secrest.

Secrest has completed 47 of 83 passes for 787 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing for five TDs. Meier had completed 49 of 79 throws for 717 yards and seven touchdowns while also running for five TDs as well as a trio of two-point conversions.

In non-conference play, Yough (0-4) is at Uniontown (2-2), Laurel Highlands (0-4) is at West Mifflin (2-2) and Albert Gallatin (2-2) travels to Indiana (1-3).

Other matchups of local teams have Mount Pleasant (1-0, 3-1) at Waynesburg Central (0-1, 3-1) in the Class 3A Interstate Conference, and Mapletown (0-1, 0-4) at Jefferson-Morgan (0-1, 0-4) in the Tri-County South.

As for the rest of the slate for area squads, Connellsville (3-1) opens Class 5A Big East Conference play against Penn-Trafford (4-0) at Falcon Stadium, Brownsville (0-1, 0-4) is at South Allegheny (1-0, 2-2) in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference, and in the Interstate, Southmoreland (1-0, 2-2) hosts Elizabeth Forward (1-0, 4-0) and Belle Vernon (3-1) takes on Greensburg Salem at James Weir Stadium.

All games kick off at 7 p.m.

Beth-Center showed off a balanced offensive attack in rolling to a 61-14 win at Avella last week with five rushing touchdowns and two through the air, while the defense pitched in a pair of interception returns for scores.

Enzo Brown had two of the TD runs and one of the pick-6s while rushing for 159 yards. DeSean Whipkey contributed a pair of touchdown runs and Homer Headlee had the other. Chase Bebout completed 7 of 8 passes for 130 yards, including scoring tosses to Hunter Bobbs and Dan Duncan.

For the season, Brown has 47 carries for 490 yards (10.2 average), Whipkey has 38 runs for 391 yards (10.3 average) and Bebout has connected on 31 of 45 passes for 681 yards and nine touchdowns.

“We’re trying to get a balanced attack going,” Trump said. “If they’re going to load up the box, we’re going to throw. We’re not afraid to put the ball in the air. It’s not like teams of the past here where you run, run, run. Our quarterback is playing exceptional, and we’ve got pretty good receivers in Duncan and Boggs and the backs out of the backfield.”

One addition to the team that has boosted B-C’s ground attack even more is Homer Headlee.

“Homer had been hurt and he just came back last week,” Trump said. “We’re expecting big things with him, too. He’s a fullback who’s a good blocking back and can also run the ball well. We haven’t run the fullback that much yet but with having him back, he’ll make a difference there. He runs really hard, too, and can get you 5 yards when you think nothing’s there.”

Whipkey and Brown make a terrifying tandem for defenses at running back and complement each other well, according to Trump.

“Both run very hard. DeSean has great outside speed where Enzo is tenacious and sees the field really well,” Trump said. “Both have great vision. Enzo is that hard runner who can go between the tackles. DeSean will pick his holes and then if he sees an opening he takes it.”

Bebout gives the Bulldogs’ offense another dangerous dimension.

“Chase is above and beyond where he was last year as a passer,” Trump said. “He’s throwing a really good ball. His mechanics have gotten so much better because he worked on them in the offseason, and he’s seeing the field well. He isn’t considered a running quarterback but he can when needed. We do run some option with him.”

A strong offensive line is the key to the offense that is averaging 47.5 points per game which is second to only Central Catholic and Thomas Jefferson in the WPIAL.

“The line is doing a really good job of getting push and keeping the pocket clean,” Trump said. “Brody Bebout, Chase’s big brother, plays guard. He’s been really good, as has my other guard, Bradley Detrick. We have a new center this year, Evan Miller, who’s doing well and my two tackles are Blake Stopko and Tallyn Carter. Blake is 6-foot-4, almost 300 pounds. He’s exceptional.

“We run multiple sets to try to make the defense uncomfortable as much as possible. Sometimes we’ll have multiple tight ends in and sometimes we’ll go with trips, double slot. Bobbs and Duncan are our top receivers and a third, Nick Miller, is a sophomore who is like 6-6.”

Bobbs is a special talent, as Trump pointed out.

“He’s a great kicker,” Trump said. “It’s a blessing to have a kicker like that who can give you field goals when you get close. Not just that but on kickoffs, he can kick it deep or he can do directional kicks, find an open spot and put it there.”

The defense has done its part in helping Beth-Center open up 4-0.

“My defensive line is much improved this year because they’ve gotten a season of experience,” Trump pointed out.

Stopko and Detrick man the tackle positions with Brody Bebout – who had the other pick-six last week – and Headlee at the ends.

“They’re very tenacious up front and they help keep the blockers off our linebackers so guys like Enzo and Cyler Myers can make plays. It makes a real difference keeping them clean.”

Trump is wary of the Pioneers, whose offense is led by talented sophomore quarterback Joel Rizor.

“He’s a very good, young quarterback,” Trump said of Rizor. “They like to run the ball and he’s a great runner but he will chuck it. I’ve watched him throw the ball plenty of times. He’s not afraid to put it up. That’s a good attribute to have in a quarterback.”

Trump waved off talk about a possible undefeated regular season.

“I treat it one week at a time, 0-0,” he said. “We’re playing West Greene this week and that’s all we worry about. That’s the tone we’ve set here. Kids are funny because if they start getting a big head, things can start going wrong real quick. You’ve got to keep them focused on the task at hand and our kids have done that pretty well so far.

“Like we had a lot of pre-snap penalties the first couple weeks and I’ve been on them about it. That contributes to us not starting off well in games. We worked on that and I think last week we didn’t have any pre-snap penalties.”