Knoch, West Mifflin square off with postseason berths in sight

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 | 5:26 PM

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Friday’s Greater Allegheny Conference matchup between Knoch and West Mifflin is rife with WPIAL playoff implications.

The Knights, 2-1 in the conference, control their own destiny and can clinch one of the two automatic berths from the conference to the Class 4A tournament with wins this Friday and in the regular-season finale next week against first-place McKeesport (3-0).

West Mifflin, 1-2 in league play after a convincing 44-0 triumph over Indiana last week, can help itself in the wild-card hunt with a victory over Knoch and also next week against Hampton (1-2).

“These last two games for us are essentially playoff games,” Knoch coach Tim Burchett said.

“One of our goals way back in August was to be playing meaningful games in October. This is a new step for us. We’re in Quad-A, and we’re the second smallest in the classification just above West Mifflin. It’s been a challenge for us, and it’s always going to be a challenge. Even with all of our injuries, attrition and all that we’ve gone through, we are here playing meaningful games.”

Friday’s game at West Mifflin is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Knoch, like West Mifflin, got back in the win column last Friday with a 38-14 victory over Hampton. It was a bounce-back triumph after a 42-7 loss to Mars (2-1) the week before.

“I don’t know how many people understand just how big of a win that was for our psyche, our culture and what we believe in here,” Burchett said.

“We dressed 27 healthy kids on Friday and went up against a team that was rather junior- and senior-heavy. We’re playing a lot of sophomores with some other seniors sprinkled in. We lost (starting senior wideout/linebacker) Kaden (Spencer) to an injury against Mars. It was a testament to our kids and what we’ve put in place that they kept believing and all rowed in the same direction. A lot of guys stepped up again.”

Senior Codi Mullen, again at quarterback for the injured Colt Sprankle, continued to shine as he accounted for 495 yards of total offense — 249 passing and 246 rushing — and threw for three touchdowns. He also stopped two Hampton drives with interceptions.

“Codi is such a good football player,” West Mifflin coach Rod Steele said. “But they have really good athletes all over the field. We have a lot to keep an eye on.”

Junior Vinny DeFelice caught six of Mullen’s passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, and seniors Ethan Rouleau and Keaton Oprosky also hauled in passes for TDs.

Senior Sam Skurka complemented the passing game with 16 carries for 83 yards and a score.

“Kaden is a safety blanket for us on offense and defense, and when he went out, we had to move some pieces around,” Burchett said.

“It opened up some opportunities. We talk all the time about seizing opportunities, next man up and all of that. Vinny, in particular, stepped up and made some really nice catches. He made people miss and really ran hard after the catch.”

Friday’s game is the fourth all-time meeting between the schools. West Mifflin won 28-14 in the opening round of the 2012 Class 3A playoffs. The Titans also won 42-0 in 2016 and 35-22 in 2017.

A fourth win Friday will go along way in improving West Mifflin’s playoff chances.

The Titans are in a position where they have to win their last two games and hope teams ahead of them in the conference standings such as McKeesport and Mars stumble sometime in the next two weeks.

After the automatic playoff berths are determined — the top two teams from each of the three conferences — the WPIAL steering committee will select the remaining two teams to complete the eight-team field.

“We’ve told the kids to go out and control what they can control,” Steele said.

“We want to go into the conversation on a winning streak and see what happens. The practices this week have been opportunities to learn more about Knoch and be ready Friday to play a pretty good football team. It’s a chance to also keep working to be fundamentally sound.”

West Mifflin had no trouble with Indiana last week as it used a 24-point second quarter to grab a 37-0 lead at the break. The Titans pulled their starters early in the third quarter.

“It was a really good win. The kids played well,” Steele said. “They played fast and physical. They executed their assignments like we knew they could and played really good team football all around.”

The offensive attack again heavily featured the running game, and sophomore Armand Hill and freshman Jarelle Mason combined for 333 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries.

“West Mifflin has so many great athletes,” Burchett said. “They are fast, and they also are physical up front. They present a whole host of problems we have to figure out. They play old-school, in-your-face football. A lot of people like it that way, and they play it very well. They will get after you, that’s for sure.

“Defensively, they are fast and physical, too.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Knoch, West Mifflin