Big Game Hunting – Week Twelve

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, November 16, 2017 | 1:49 PM

We take the off-ramp to Heinz Field here in Week 12 for the four WPIAL Championships to be decided in the mustard bowl, three of which are rematches as we continue with the déjà vu post season. We have the Semifinals in the two smallest classifications in the WPIAL as well. We also have a lot of great quarterback play. Seven of the eight quarterbacks playing at Heinz are ranked in the top 30 passers in the WPIAL, including the top two passers in our region. In the two semis featured here we have a pair of top-ten passers in the league. So, go down to the green station wagon, do a “button-hook” and I will hit you with this Big Game Hunting!

6-A Championship:
# 2 Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings (10-2) vs # 1 Pine-Richland Rams (12-0) Saturday November 18^th @ 2:00 PM at Heinz Field broadcast on The TribLiveHSSN by Paul Paterra and Lou Rood

Central tries to maintain their status as the only 6 A Champion in the history of the WPIAL. Pine-Rrichland tries to get their first title since 2014.

The Rams knocked off the Vikes in week five 47-17, and it was the running game that gave the Vikings defense fits in that game. Senior running back Jordan Crawford ran for 172 yards and six touchdowns in that game, he also caught a 24 yard touchdown pass. Yes the Vikes will likely be more aware of #3 in this game but they cannot stop being aware of #15.

Pine-Richland quarterback and Notre Dame recruit Phil Jurkovec has surpassed 3000 yards passing for the season, completing 175 of 230 passes for 3003 yards, 30 touchdowns and most impressively just four interceptions. Jurkovec is also the second leading rusher for the Rams with 805 yards and 13 touchdown runs.

Four different Rams have eclipsed the 20 catch mark on the 2017 season, led by Jason DeFrancisis with 45 catches for 635 yards and eight touchdowns. Ray Falcone is their leader in terms of yardage with 745 yards on 36 catches, he also has eight touchdowns.

The aforementioned Crawford leads the way on the ground for the Rams with 97 carries for 975 yards and a team-high 24 touchdowns scored on the year.

The Pine-Richland defense is anchored by junior linebacker Tyler King who has 47 solo tackles, 105 total tackles and 10 tackles for loss on the season. Senior linebacker Tommy Camino has 12 of the Rams 28.5 sacks on the season.

Sophomore free safety Luke Meckler has three of Pine-Richland’s 13 interceptions on the season.

The Vikes offense would like to play from ahead, where they have been for much of the season. Troy Fisher has been great at quarterback completing 106 of 176 passes for 1346 yards and 19 touchdowns. Fisher is also a threat to run with 453 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the ground.

Fisher’s favored target has been Cam Laconi 27 catches for 212 yards, and four scores. Gavin Thomson has 14 catches for 303 yards and nine scores.

The Vikes have Khalil Weathers as their leading rusher with 510 yards and eight touchdowns, Dontre Jones has added 368 yards and three touchdowns to the rush attack for Central.

Defensively David Green and Brian Dallas lead an attacking squad that has held opponents to a 2^nd best in 6 A 16.5 points per game on the season.

5-A Championship:
# 2 Gateway Gators (11-1) vs # 1 Penn-Trafford Warriors (11-1) Saturday November 18^th @ 5:00 PM at Heinz Field broadcast on The TribLiveHSSN by Cory Campano and Donny Chedrick also broadcast on WHJB-FM 107.1

Penn-Trafford won this game 28-0 back in week five. The Warriors got 118 yards rushing and a pair of scores from John Gay IV and a pair of touchdown passes from Cam Laffoon in the win. Gateway’s Brady Walker threw for over 200 yards in the loss but the Gators couldn’t crack the scoreboard.

Walker is the leading passer in all of the WPIAL this season with 207 completions in his 332 attempts for 3394 yards and 37 touchdowns to go along with only six picks. Walker is also a runner, in fact he is second on the Gators with 527 yards and has scored three touchdowns.

Walker’s favorite target, Courtney Jackson is second in the WPIAL with 63 catches on the year for 1382 yards and 20 touchdowns. Jeremiah Josephs has 42 catches for 487 yards and six touchdowns.

Isaiah Cameron contribute in the rushing and passing game for Gateway. Cameron has 80 carries for 576 yards on the ground, and 23 catches for 433 yards and has scored 14 touchdowns on the season.

Gateway in in search of their first title since 1986.

Penn-Trafford seeks their first ever WPIAL football title after getting their first win ever over USC in the semi-finals.

The Warriors Cam Laffoon has completed 91 of 171 passes for 1433 yards and 15 scores, he has also rushed for 707 yards and another eight scores.

The dynamic duo of receivers for the Warriors is Dimitri George and Cam Suman, with a combined 51 catches for 809 yards and six scores on the season.

On the ground Penn-Trafford has gotten a marvelous season out of John Gay IV with 1231 yards on 153 touches and he has scored a team-high 17 touchdowns.

4-A Championship:
# 3 Thomas Jefferson Jaguars (10-1) vs # 4 Montour Spartans (9-2) Saturday November 18^th @ 8:00 PM at Heinz Field broadcast on The TribLiveHSSN by James Dotson and Rennie Detore also broadcast on WJPA-FM 95.3

Montour seeks their 6^th WPIAL football title and first since 2011. Thomas Jefferson seeks title number eight and their 3^rd in a row when they come back to Heinz Field again this Saturday.

This game is the only one at Heinz Field this year that is not a re-match but both of these teams had to avenge earlier losses to reach this game. Thomas Jefferson shut out Belle Vernon in their semi-final 27-0 after falling to the Leopards in week seven. Montour not only had to avenge a week nine loss to South Fayette but they also had to overcome a 13 point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Lions 35-27.

Montour was able to come up with their 2^nd dramatic come from behind win thanks in large part to quarterback Kavon Morman who has had a spectacular season. Morman has completed 96 of 142 passes for 1641 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 663 yards and 16 more scores, has 29 total tackles on defense, and an interception which he returned 81 yards. Yep those are eye-popping numbers.

Brandon Lipford has blossomed into a huge force for Montour in all facets of the game. He leads them in catches with 29 for 652 yards and six touchdowns. He has rushed for over 100 yards and three more scores. He has accounted for 829 all-purpose yards. He has a pick on defense, he is the Spartans punter as well, putting tons of pressure on teams to watch for the fake every time he is out there. He is 0-1 passing the football though.

Brayden Jones leads the Spartans on the ground with 668 yards and five scores, another multi-talented athlete who contributes in the run and passing attack for Lou Cerro’s club and is a force on defense as well. For the season he has 35 total tackles and five tackles for loss. He has been hampered by injuries in this playoff run and if he can come back at 100% it will be a huge boost for Sparty.

The Jags have their names on the lockers at Heinz Field they have been there so much, and this team is very similar to those teams of the past. They do everything well.

They do defense spectacularly well. They have 19 sacks, led by Devin Danielson with five. They have 11 interceptions, led by three each for Nick Ubanowicz and Max Shaw. Sophomore James Martinis leads the team in solo tackles with 34.

The Jags defense has pitched six shutouts including not having allowed a point in the playoffs so far. They are allowing a second best in the WPIAL 4.4 points per game on the season.

Offensively sophomore quarterback Shane Stump has completed 75 of 151 passes for 1397 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Senior Garret Fairman gets the bulk of the targets with 42 catches for 785 yards and 10 touchdowns. So the Jags can and do throw the ball. But they only threw it three time in the semifinals because…

Senior running back Justin Vigna rushed 44 times for 203 yards and two scores that win. For the season Vigna has 216 carries for 1701 yards and 23 touchdowns.

3-A Championship:
#2 Quaker Valley Quakers (10-1) vs # 1 Aliquippa Quips (12-0) Saturday November 18^th @ 11:00 AM at Heinz Field broadcast on the TribLiveHSSN by Sean Saputo and Kevin Zielmanski also broadcast on WBVP-AM 1230, WMBA-AM 1460 & WKPL-FM 92.1 The Pickle

The Quakers and the Quips, as the TribLiveHSSN will have social media wearing out the “Q” on his laptop at Heinz Field Saturday.

The Quakers have qualified for the WPIAL title game for the very first time on school history. The Quips have qualified for the title game for a record 10^th straight year, they have won a record 16 WPIAL football championships.

The Quips beat the Quakers in week seven 22-7, it was the only loss of the year for Quaker Valley, and the closest any team played versus Aliquippa in the regular season.

The Quips defense has been the best the WPIAL has to offer this season, with six shutouts and allowing just 3.5 points per game.

Quaker Valley’s offense is tops in the classification averaging over 40 points per game on the year. So this is the unstoppable force versus the immovable object.

The Quakers Ricky Guss has been one of the most prolific passers, and runners in the WPIAL this season. The quintessential dual threat Guss has gone over 1000 yards in each category. He has completed 112 of 222 passes for 1942 yards and 24 touchdowns while also rushing for a team-high 1032 yards and 26 scores.

Isaiah McNair is the leading receiver for the Quakers with 43 catches for 806 yards on the season, he has scored 14 touchdowns. J.T. Taylor has 24 catches for 370 yards, he is also the second leading rusher for QV with 131 carries for 854 yards and a combined 12 touchdowns on the season.

The Quips have a dominant defense and a running game that has been unstoppable, but they got some bad news in their semi-final win when leading rusher Avante McKenzie who has 169 carries for 1567 yards and has scored 18 touchdowns, went down with an injury. McKenzie’s status remains up in the air but his return or lack thereof could have a huge impact on the outcome of this football game.

William Gipson at quarterback has completed 15 of 38 passes for 337 yards and five scores for the Quips.

Deoveon Crute and M.J.Devonshire will get the bulk of the targets in the Aliquippa passing game. The duo has combined to catch 28 passes for 523 yards.

Tariq Jones has 79 carries for 513 yards and eight touchdowns in therun game for the Quips, if McKenzie is not back look for his role to increase. Also Xavier Harvey 80 carries and 473 yards could pick up some of the load.

2-A Semifinals:
# 3 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans (10-2) vs # 2 Washington Little Prexies (11-0) Friday November 17^th @ 7:30 PM at Tiger Stadium on the campus of Moon high school broadcast on WJAS AM 1320 and the TribLiveHSSN by Lanny Frattare and Sean Meyers also broadcast on WJPA AM 1450 and the TribLiveHSSN by Bob Gregg and Jared Barton 

The Trojans ride an eight game winning streak into the semis against unbeaten Washington. The Prexies have never really been even challenged at all this season. Their smallest margin of victory was a 12-0 win over Frazier in week four. They have outscored their opponents on average 45.3 – 8.0 on the season. They have outscored their first two playoff opponents 96-16.

The Prexies are led by running back Nick Welsh who has 145 carries for 1865 yards and 26 toucdowns on the season. He is averaging more than a first down pickup every time he touches the ball.

Wash High quarterback Zack Swartz has completed 82 of 133 passes for 1737 yards and 25 touchdowns without throwing a single interception.

Isaiah Schoonmaker and Dan Walker have combined to catch 52 passes for 1182 yards and score 20 touchdowns.

The CWNC Trojans are led by Zack Rocco who has completed 146 of 231 passes for 2186 yards and 29 scores while tossing 10 picks. Rocco has also rushed for 370 yards and another 10 scores.

Four different Trojans have reached 20 catches on the season led by Ryan Maziarz who has 30 catches for 419 yards and eight touchdowns.

Joe Meinert will get the bulk of the work in the ground game for CWNC, he has 156 carries for 1225 yards and a team-high 15 touchdowns.

Winner moves on to face either Steel Valley or Riverside for the 2 A title at Robert Morris University.

1-A Semifinals:
# 4 Imani Christian Saints (10-2) vs # 1 California Trojans (12-0) Friday November 17^th @ 7:30 PM at Peters Township high school broadcast on WMBS AM 590 and FM 101.1 and the TribLiveHSSN by Brian Mroziak and Steve Superick also broadcast on WJPA FM 95.3 and the TribLiveHSSN by Mark Uriah and Bill Dukett

In the smallest classification we get yet another rematch (rematch on the other side of the bracket as well with Clairton and Jeannette squaring off) as the Saints and Trojans will re-live a week three 41-26 win for California at historic Graham Field.

The Saints have a rare combination of a 2000 yard passer, a 1000 yard receiver and a 1000 yard rusher for an offense that has averaged over 41 points per game on the season.

Tawan Wesley has completed 149 of 248 passes for 2404 yards and 31 touchdowns. Wesley has also rushed for over 100 yards.

Sam Fairley leads Imani with 60 catches for 1156 yards and 21 touchdowns. Rahmon Hart is a big-play threat in the passing game as well with 48 vcatches for 748 yards and nine touchdowns of his own.

On the ground for Imani it is the Asante Watkins show, Watkins has 126 carries for 1084 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Imani’s defense has allowed less than 20 points per game on the season and just 12 so far in the post season.

California has completed on average, exactly one pass per game. They will run the Wing T to perfection though and quarterback Collin Phillips is the guy who has made all the right reads all season long. Phillips has completed 12 passes for 437 yards and seven of those completions have gone for touchdowns.

Cochise Ryan leads the Trojans in catches with six for 204 yards, he also is one of seven California Trojans to eclipse the 100 yard rushing mark this season with 56 carries for 714 yards and he has scored 13 total touchdowns.

The load, of the running for California falls onto the wide shoulders of 6’1’’ 263 pound junior running back Jelani Stafford. Stafford has rushed 150 times this year for 1580 yards and 28 touchdowns. Stopping Safford will be the task for Imani, as Stafford ran for 236 yards and a touchdown against them in week three

Tags: Aliquippa, California, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Gateway, Imani Christian, North Catholic, Washington