A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2021 Week 3

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, September 15, 2021 | 5:00 PM

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Class 4A Greater Allegheny Conference

Greensburg Salem (2-1) at Knoch (1-2)

7 p.m. Friday, at Knoch Athletic Field, Saxonburg

Greensburg Salem’s lone win in 2020 was against Knoch. It also was the 700th win in school history. Now the Golden Lions come into the game riding a two-game winning streak, defeating Connellsville and Mt. Pleasant. Knoch ended a 10-game losing streak with a win against Deer Lakes. … The Greensburg Salem duo of quarterback Hayden Teska and wide receiver Cody Rubrecht connected for three touchdowns in a 34-6 win against Mt. Pleasant. J.J.Szebalski caught a touchdown pass against Freeport. Keagan Fraser rushed for 92 yards in the Freeport game. Fraser is looking for injury-free season.

Highlands (3-0) at Mars (0-3), 7 p.m.

7 p.m. Friday, at Mars Athletic Complex, Mars

Highlands has averaged 41.3 points per game in victories over University Prep, Valley and Burrell. The Golden Rams have surrendered just 4.3 points per game. Luke Bombalski scored two more touchdowns Friday against Burrell, giving him seven for the season. Brock White returned to action from injury against Burrell and had four carries for 16 yards. Chandler Thimons threw three touchdowns Friday, giving him six for the season. … Mars is an uncharacteristic 0-3 after losses to North Hills, Shaler and New Castle. The Planets surrendered 435 yards on 57 New Castle attempts in last Friday’s 40-14 loss. Evan Wright was a bright spot for Mars with 195 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

Plum (0-3) at Indiana (2-1)

7 p.m. Friday, at Kuzenski Field, Indiana

Plum was without a few key players last week against Fox Chapel, including standout senior receiver Logan Brooks and workhorse junior running back Eryck Moore. The Mustangs trailed Fox Chapel, 18-13, in the third quarter before the Foxes added two touchdowns to put the game away. Freshman Nick Odom scored on an 85-yard run on his first carry of the game and finished with 17 carries for 137 yards. Plum is hoping to avoid an 0-4 start for the first time since 2016 when it started 0-6 en route to a 2-7 overall record. … Indiana, in its 70-15 rout of Derry, had two rushers go over 100 yards, and two others tallied at least 80 yards on the ground. As a team, the Indians rushed for 418 yards, and eight of the 10 touchdowns were runs. Zach Herrington and Korbin Wilson had two touchdowns each and tallied 101 and 100 rushing yards, respectively. Indiana ran only 31 plays against the Trojans.

Class 3A Allegheny Seven Conference

East Allegheny (1-2) at Burrell (0-3)

7 p.m. Friday, at Buccaneers Stadium, Lower Burrell

The young Bucs begin conference play still searching for victory No. 1 after a tough 56-7 loss to Highlands last Friday. Burrell has surrendered an average of 46.7 points a game. The Bucs’ first three opponents — the Golden Rams, Mt. Pleasant and Indiana — are a combined 7-2. Burrell quarterback Chase Fennder got into the end zone against the Golden Rams on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. … East Allegheny has lost its last two games — 30-14 to Serra Catholic and 34-0 to Steel Valley — after defeating Jeannette, 40-0, in Week Zero. Senior Michael Smith is a rushing threat for the Wildcats. He scored twice in the loss to Serra Catholic. … East Allegheny won last year’s meeting 35-14.

Deer Lakes (0-3) at Derry (0-3)

7 p.m. Friday, at Trojan Stadium, Derry

Derry has won all three meetings in the latest conference series, including 31-7 last year. … Deer Lakes came close to snapping its losing streak last week against Knoch, but the Knights won 21-13 to send the Lancers to their 15th consecutive setback. Senior Cody Scarantine and sophomore quarterback Derek Burk scored on runs of 1 and 13 yards, respectively. … Derry has struggled defensively over the first three weeks, giving up an average of 64.7 points in losses to Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant and Indiana. Senior Eric Catone led Derry last week against Indiana with 82 rushing yards and a touchdown and 45 receiving yards.

No. 3 North Catholic (3-0) at Valley (0-3)

7 p.m. Friday, at Memorial Stadium, New Kensington

After two shutouts in which it averaged 51.5 points, North Catholic had to hang on last Friday for an 18-17 victory over Class 4A Blackhawk. Joey Prentice leads the Trojans’ passing game. He is 16 of 23 for 278 yards and three touchdowns. Kyle Tipinski has hauled in nine passes for 212 yards and three scores. Jack Farrell is the leading rusher with 147 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. … Valley hopes to get its offense untracked this week. The Vikings have averaged five points a game in losses to Hampton, Highlands and Shady Side Academy. Those three teams are a combined 8-1 through three weeks. Valley scored on special teams and defense against Shady Side Academy. Junior linebacker Jayden Richter scooped up a fumble and took it 40 yards for a score in the fourth quarter. … The teams are meeting for just the second time since 1997. Valley leads the all-time series 8-7.

Class A Eastern Conference

Leechburg (3-0) at No. 4 Clairton (0-2)

7 p.m. Friday, at Leechburg Veterans Stadium, Leechburg

This series has been dominated by Clairton. The Blue Devils are 0-26-1 against the Bears, with the one tie, 6-6, coming in 1992. … Leechburg will attempt to go 4-0 for the first time since 1981. The Blue Devils’ offense kept trucking last Friday with 50 points in a 50-20 victory over Brentwood on the new turf surface at Veterans Stadium. Thomas Burke (82 yards) and Braylan Lovelace (100 yards) returned interceptions for touchdowns against the Spartans. Lovelace and Eli Rich produced a pair of touchdown runs each, and Rich also threw for a score … Clairton is an uncharacteristic 0-2 entering conference play. The Bears suffered a close 14-12 loss to Class 3A Steel Valley in Week 1 and fell to Class 2A No. 3 Washington, 43-19, last Friday. Steel Valley and Washington are a combined 5-0. Junior wideout Lawrence Short and senior wideout Kameron Lewis own three and two touchdowns, respectively, for the Bears. Lewis returned a kickoff 92 yards for a score against Wash High.

Riverview (0-2) at Jeannette (0-3)

7 p.m. Friday, at McKee Stadium, Jeannette

Both teams are winless in this young season.

Riverview has lost to Shady Side Academy, 38-12, and Carlynton, 35-12. The Raiders had a game against Chartiers-Houston canceled because of covid-19. Jeannette has faced the toughest schedule in Class A, falling to Class 3A East Allegheny, Class 2A Sto-Rox and Class 2A Ligonier Valley. It will be Hall of Fame night at Jeannette. … Riverview running back Dean Cecere rushed for 213 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Carlynton. The Raiders also allowed a 256-yard performance by Shawn Curry. Jeannette’s offense is struggling, not finding the end zone this season. Jeannette has been outscored 177-0.

Class 5A nonconference

Connellsville (0-3) at Kiski Area (3-0)

7 p.m. Friday, at Richard Dilts Stadium, Allegheny Township

Kiski Area leads all-time series against Connellsville, 23-9-1, including last year’s 36-35 Cavaliers win to open the truncated season. … The Cavaliers have not started 4-0 since 2002. Kiski Area held off Latrobe last Friday, 35-27, and also own victories over Butler (21-7) and Franklin Regional (24-14). Logan Johnson completed 10 of 15 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. Calvin Heinle hauled in 101 of those yards on five catches, and Matt Hilty caught the TD toss. Johnson added a pair of rushing scores, and CJ Helper rushed 23 times for 167 yards and two TDs. … Connellsville is hoping to snap a 10-game losing streak. The Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since 2014. Connellsville was shut out last Friday against Norwin, 37-0. Zak David, Austin Elstner, Jayden McBride, Anthony Piasecki and Ethan Shultz have scored touchdowns for Connellsville this season.

Fox Chapel (1-2) at Franklin Regional (1-2)

7 p.m. Friday, Panther Stadium, Murrysville

Fox Chapel rebounded from losses to Peters Township and Hampton to rout Plum, 31-13, in a game fantasy footballers would appreciate. Collin Dietz completed 13 of 21 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns, Zidane Thomas ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, Nicholas Odom rushed for 137 yards on 17 attempts and Jake DeMotte had seven catches for 130 yards and a score. … Franklin Regional continued to rotate quarterbacks, using Connor Donnelly, Roman Sarnic and Caden Smith under center, all in the first quarter and throughout the game, in a 30-28 loss to Hempfield. The Panthers had three turnovers for the second straight week but nearly rallied in the fourth. They could not slow Hempfield’s running game. Smith threw a touchdown to Ayden Hudock, who had two scores and an interception.

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: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Clairton, Connellsville, Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Indiana, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Mars, North Catholic, Plum, Riverview, Valley