A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2021 Week 6

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 | 6:02 PM

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Class 5A Northeast

Fox Chapel (3-3, 1-0) at Kiski Area (5-1, 0-1)

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

Fox Chapel opened conference play last Friday with a 28-14 victory over Shaler. The Foxes have won three of four after an 0-2 start. Their three losses have come to Peters Township, Hampton and Moon, who are a combined 16-2 this season. Zidane Thomas stood out against Shaler with 186 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 13 carries. Quarterback Collin Dietz was 14 of 24 for 137 yards and a TD toss to Colin Kwiatkowski. … Kiski Area hopes to bounce back from its first loss of the season, a last-minute 14-10 setback at North Hills on Friday. Quarterback Logan Johnson accounted for 220 total yards — 157 passing and 63 rushing. The Cavaliers’ lone touchdown came on a CJ Hepler 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Kiski Area leads the Northeast Conference in scoring defense at 11.5 points given up per game. … Fox Chapel won last year’s meeting, 28-24, but Kiski won the previous two in the conference series started in 2018.

Class 4A Greater Allegheny

5-Hampton (6-0, 3-0) at Plum (2-4, 2-1)

7 p.m. Friday, Mustangs Stadium, Plum Borough

Hampton now is the lone undefeated team in the Greater Allegheny Conference standings after last Friday’s 45-6 victory over Greensburg Salem (4-2, 2-1). The Talbots lead the conference and are third in Class 4A in scoring at 37.0 points a game. Hampton’s rushing attack led the way against the Golden Lions, collecting 432 yards on 52 attempts and five scores. Brock Borgo had 127 yards and three TDs on 10 carries. … Plum has won two in a row after an 0-4 start. Last Friday, the Mustangs jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter before prevailing over Highlands, 23-21. Freshman Angelo Baleno booted a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the game-winning points. It was his second field goal of the season. Eryck Moore rushed for 112 yards and two scores on 21 carries, giving him four rush scores on the season. David Westrick caught a 55-yard TD pass from Sean Franzi. … Plum won last year’s meeting, 20-7, in both the Mustangs’ and Talbots’ first seasons in Class 4A.

Highlands (4-2, 1-2) at Indiana (3-3, 1-2)

7 p.m. Friday, Andy Kuznieski Stadium, Indiana

The Golden Rams hope to get back on track this week after a second straight loss following a 4-0 start to the season. Highlands rallied from an early 14-0 deficit against Plum last Friday, but the Mustangs pulled out a 23-21 victory. Luke Bombalski rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He now has 814 yards and nine touchdowns through six games. Quarterback Chandler Thimons also contributed to the rushing attack with 109 yards and a score on 14 carries. The Golden Rams rushed for 333 total yards, an average of 7.6 yards per carry. … Indiana also is hoping to snap a two-game losing streak. The Indians fell to Knoch last Friday, 27-26. Indiana’s run-heavy offense totaled 295 yards. Zach Herrington and Devin Flint are a 1-2 rushing punch. Flint collected 144 yards and three touchdowns, while Herrington adds 15 carries for 147 yards and a score. … Highlands won last year’s meeting, 48-14, as part of a three-game winning streak to end the regular season.

Knoch (2-4, 1-2) at Mars (0-6, 0-3)

7 p.m. Friday, Mars Athletic Complex, Adams Township

With its 27-26 victory over Indiana last Friday, Knoch finds itself in a three-way tie for fifth in the Greater Allegheny Conference standings with Highlands and Indiana at 1-2. Keagan Fraser led the Wing-T rushing attack against the Indians with 24 carries for 128 yards and scores of 13 and 26 yards. Gavin McGowan added 43 yards and a score on six carries. McGowan also returned a fumble 20 yards to open the scoring. As a team, the Knights totaled 216 yards on the ground. … Mars hopes to get its offense in gear this week. The Planets are averaging just 4.5 points through six games and have been shut out three times, including the past two weeks against Plum and Armstrong. Mars surrendered 310 rushing yards and four touchdowns to the River Hawks. Sophomore Evan Wright has three of Mars’ four touchdowns this year with a trio of rushing scores. … Mars won last year’s meeting, 48-13.

Class 3A Allegheny 7

Burrell (0-6, 0-2) at Deer Lakes (3-3, 3-0)

7:30 p.m. Friday, Lancers Stadium, West Deer Township

Burrell was limited to 99 total yards of offense, 84 on the ground, in last week’s 56-0 loss to Class 3A No. 2 North Catholic (6-0). It was the first time the Bucs have been shut out this season. Burrell is scoring 9.8 points a game and surrendering 43.5. Caden DiCaprio continues to lead the Burrell ground game. … Deer Lakes heads into homecoming riding a three-game win streak after a 0-3 start. Derek Burk threw his sixth touchdown pass of the season in last Friday’s 9-7 win over East Allegheny. Wayne Love hauled in the TD reception. It was his only catch of the game. Cody Scarantine rushed for 119 yards against the Wildcats. It was his third straight 100-yard performance. He now has 485 yards and four scores on 96 rush attempts through six games. Mason Metzler kicked a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for what turned out to be the game-winning points. … Burrell won last year’s meeting, 44-6, and also won 16-14 in 2019. Deer Lakes won the 2018 matchup, 34-21.

East Allegheny (2-4, 1-2) at Freeport (2-3, 1-0)

7 p.m. Friday, Freeport Area Athletic Stadium, Buffalo Township

Freeport kicked off conference play last Friday by rolling past Valley, 33-6. The Yellowjackets collected 178 rushing yards on 29 carries as a team last week. Ben Lane threw just nine passes, completing four for 69 yards and a touchdown to senior Vince Clark, but he added eight carries for 74 yards and a score. Junior Zach Clark also rushed for a score. The Freeport defense recorded six sacks against Valley, and Zach and Vinnie Clark returned interceptions for touchdowns. … East Allegheny slipped to 1-2 in the conference with a 9-7 loss to Deer Lakes last Friday. The Wildcats scored late in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout. East Allegheny is averaging 17.5 points a game and is surrendering 20.8 a contest. Mekhi Manor, Nate Waleko and Matt Armenio are names for the Wildcats to keep an eye on. … East Allegheny and Freeport didn’t play last year because of a covid cancelation. The teams last played in 2013, and the Wildcats won that conference matchup 38-14.

Valley (0-6, 0-3) at Derry (0-5, 0-1)

7 p.m. Friday, Trojan Stadium, Derry

Valley fell to Freeport, 33-6, last Friday. Jayden Richter helped the Vikings avoid the shutout with a 17-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. Richter also returned a fumble for a score in Valley’s 36-9 loss to Shady Side Academy in Week 2. The Vikings have been shut out three times and have tallied just one offensive score in six games. … Derry also has been shut out three times this season. The Trojans were blanked 49-0 by Deer Lakes in Week 3, and after not playing Sept. 24, they were shut out by Southmoreland, 41-0, last Friday. Derry has surrendered 56.8 points a game, the most in Class 3A. Eric Catone rushed 18 times for 81 yards against Southmoreland. … Valley leads the all-time series 13-8. The teams first played in 1970. Derry won last year, 19-6.

Class 2A Allegheny Conference

Apollo-Ridge (2-3, 1-0) at Shady Side Acad. (3-3, 0-1)

2:30 p.m. Saturday, Michael J. Farrell Stadium, Fox Chapel

Apollo-Ridge won its second in a row after a 0-3 start and put itself right in the Allegheny Conference playoff mix with a 41-22 victory over Summit Academy last Friday at Owens Field. The Vikings have played one less game than the Bulldogs as they canceled a game with Freeport in Week 3 because of covid quarantine issues. The Apollo-Ridge running game was on point against Summit, totaling 268 yards and four scores on 40 carries. Karter Schrock, who also threw for 86 yards and two scores, carried the ball just three times, but two were for TDs. Nick Curci (10 carries, 117 yards) and Logan Bianco each added rushing scores. Curci and Gage Johnston caught TD passes from Schrock. … Shady Side Academy suffered a 39-7 loss to Class 2A No. 2 Serra Catholic in its conference opener last Friday. Chris Sullivan paced the Bulldogs offense with nine carries for 82 yards and a touchdown. Serra broke open a close game with 26 second-half points. … Apollo-Ridge leads the all-time series with Shady Side Academy, 11-10. The teams first played in 1994. The Vikings went ahead last year with a 42-7 win at Owens Field.

Class A Eastern Conference

Riverview (1-4, 1-2) at Greensburg Central Catholic (4-2, 2-1)

7 p.m., Friday, Centurion Stadium, Greensburg

The Raiders collected their first win of the season, a 42-12 thrashing of Imani Christian. Greensburg Central Catholic bounced back from a road loss at Bishop Canevin to blank Springdale, 35-0. … Running back Dean Cecere rushed for 221 yards and two touchdowns against Imani Christian. Quarterback Ben Hower completed 5 of 8 passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns. GCC’s Amari Mack rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass from Tyree Turner, who threw for two scores. Danny Dlugos rushed for 110 yards and a score.

Springdale (3-3, 0-3) at Jeannette (1-5, 1-2)

7 p.m. Friday, McKee Stadium, Jeannette

The Dynamos hope to put a halt to a three-game losing streak, all in conference play, after a 3-0 start. Springdale also expects to have key contributors in senior tailback Logan Dexter, senior quarterback Legend Ausk, sophomore lineman Giovanni Galasso and senior wideout John Utiss back in the lineup after all four missed last week’s 35-0 loss to Greensburg Central Catholic. Sophomore Chase Weihrauch started at quarterback and finished with 87 yards on 20 carries. … Jeannette took one on the chin last Friday in a 53-7 loss to Leechburg. The lone score for the Jayhawks came early on as Tyler Horn threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Payton Molter. Jeannette’s lone win of the season came in Week 3, a 28-6 home victory against Riverview. The Jayhawks were shut out three times to start the season and are averaging 7.0 points through six games. … Jeannette has won all 13 meetings with Springdale in two clusters of games, 1980-85 and 2014-20.

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, Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana, Kiski Area, Knoch, Mars, Plum, Riverview, Shady Side Academy, Springdale, Valley