Alle-Kiski Valley high school notebook: Allegheny 6 about to enter conference play

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 23, 2023 | 8:02 PM

The Class 3A Allegheny 6 Conference, of which Freeport, Deer Lakes, Valley and Knoch are members, is one of two in the WPIAL to not have any of its teams play a conference game through five weeks.

The other is the Class 3A Interstate Conference with Elizabeth Forward, Mt. Pleasant, Belle Vernon and Southmoreland.

That all changes Friday as the Allegheny 6 gets rolling towards deciding a conference champ.

Deer Lakes, a winner of four in a row after a one-point loss to Keystone Oaks in Week Zero, visits a Knoch team hoping to bounce back from its first setback of the season, 22-0 at the hands of Elizabeth Forward.

Valley (2-3), which rolled past Uniontown, 38-6, on Friday behind two rushing TDs from Darnell Coaston and a pair of defensive scores, hosts East Allegheny (3-2).

The Wildcats scored a combined 83 points the past two weeks in wins over South Allegheny and Greensburg Salem.

Freeport (2-3), hopes to snap a two-game losing streak as it hosts Shady Side Academy (3-2).

Burrell wins again

The Bucs made the most of their Allegheny Conference opportunity Friday, scoring twice on offense and adding two defensive touchdowns in their 28-12 victory over Yough.

Burrell relied on its bread-and-butter rushing offense and delivered 280 yards on 42 attempts. Steve Hasson threw just one pass (which was incomplete), but he collected 17 rushing yards on four attempts.

Devin Beattie led all rushers with 151 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, and Cooper Hornack added 67 yards and a score on 10 rushes. He also made a team-best nine tackles.

Tyler Maglisco, who had 45 yards on eight attempts, also returned a fumble for a touchdown, and Esau King-Buchak delivered a pick-6 for the Bucs, who won for the third straight time after an 0-2 start.

The Bucs (3-2, 2-0) host Imani Christian (2-2, 0-1) this week. The Saints didn’t play Friday as their game against Serra Catholic was postponed in the wake of Wednesday’s death of a student from Serra.

Odom carries the load

Plum junior Nick Odom was a workhorse Friday despite his team’s 49-14 loss to Gateway.

He didn’t find the end zone, but he finished with 133 tough yards on 27 carries.

He hopes to help Plum recover from two Big East Conference losses and three straight setbacks overall after a 2-0 start. The Mustangs face conference rival Franklin Regional (3-2, 0-1) on Friday.

Homecoming celebration

Riverview’s annual homecoming game under the lights at Riverside Park in Oakmont always draws a big crowd, and that was the case Friday as the Raiders faced Frazier in an Eastern Conference matchup.

The Raiders got another big game from senior running back Carlo Buzzatto in the wing-T. He rushed 20 times for 245 yards and two touchdowns.

Riverview quarterback Rocco Cecere added 106 passing yards in the victory. He threw only seven passes and completed four. Three of the four completions went for touchdowns.

Riverview (3-2, 1-1), which returned to the win column after consecutive losses (Northgate, Clairton), visits Jeannette (4-1, 1-0) on Friday.

Schrock delivers in loss

Apollo-Ridge senior Karter Schrock scored three different ways Friday in the Vikings’ 35-21 loss to Derry.

He caught a 6-yard TD pass in the second quarter, tallied on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter and capped the scoring for A-R with a 43-yard touchdown strike to fellow senior Alex Wurmb.

Schrock, who finished with 275 combined yards (passing, rushing and receiving) against the Trojans, has accounted for nine of his team’s 13 touchdowns through five games.

Apollo-Ridge (1-4, 0-2) continues Allegheny Conference play Friday against Steel Valley (3-1, 2-0) at Owens Field.

WPIAL unbeatens

With Knoch’s loss to Elizabeth Forward among a number of other teams falling for the first time Friday, there now are just 11 unbeaten teams in the WPIAL.

They are Central Catholic in Class 6A, Peters Township in Class 5A, Thomas Jefferson and Aliquippa in Class 4A, Elizabeth Forward and Avonworth in Class 3A, Washington in Class 2A and South Side Beaver, Cornell, Bishop Canevin, and Fort Cherry in Class A.

That number will be reduced to at least 10 next Friday as Bishop Canevin and Fort Cherry meet in a Black Hills Conference clash at Dormont Stadium.

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, Freeport, Highlands, Knoch, Plum, Riverview, Valley