Big Game Hunting – Week Three

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 14, 2017 | 1:29 AM

After Friday a third of the 2017 season will be in the books. For some teams they will have played four games. Some teams are still sorting things out, others are dealing with devastating injuries to key players, while still others are figuring things out and kicking it into high gear. Hope remains strong for some newcomers to playoff contention. Fear starts to make noise in the belly of teams that find themselves falling behind their own expectations. The clock keesp ticking toward the playoff pairings show, and the tension grows with each passing day. That is the joy of football, and how you, and your team respond to that tension, and that ticking, that response will decide your fate. Respond well, and let’s go Big Game Hunting!

6 A Southeastern Conference:
Norwin Knights (2-1)(1-0) at #3 Bethel Park Black Hawks (2-0)(1-0) Friday September 15th @ 7:30 PM at Black Hawk Stadium on the campus of Bethel Park high school broadcast on WJAS 1320 AM and the MSA Sports Network by Sean Meyers and Rob McKinney

The Hawks got everyone’s attention the old-fashioned way, by knocking off perennial power North Allegheny in convincing fashion in week one 35-15. Jeff Metheny’s club followed up that win with a conference victory at Peters Township last week 28-7.

Junior quarterback Luke Surunis has been solid throwing for 144 yards and a pair of scores in the 2-0 start.

Make no mistake though the Hawks live in the land of running the football. They have a pair of great running backs and one of the best offensive lines in the WPIAL.

Senior running backs John Doleno and Tanner Volpatti have combined to carry the ball 53 times for 567 yards and that duo has combined to score nine touchdowns. Doleno has added six catches for another 67 yards on the season.

James Gmiter anchors a veteran offensive line that features five seniors for the Hawks. Gmiter, at 6’4” and 315 pounds is quite the anchor mix in returning all conference guard Gavin Vargesko at 6’1” 250 pounds and the reason the Hawks have had success running the football becomes very clear. Trying to stop the run will be an all-night endeavor for teams facing Bethel Park this season.

Such is the task for the Knights of Norwin Friday.

Sophomore quarterback Jack Salopek has thrown for 438 yards and three touchdowns to start this 2017 campaign for the Knights.

On the ground brothers Tevin and Jayvon Thrift have combined for 479 yards and three scores for Norwin.

Salopek’s top receiver is senior Gage Luptak who has 10 catches for 190 yards, Salopek has also hit Gianni Rizzo eight times for 122 yards and a score.

Senior linebacker John Piekut leads the Knights in tackles with 47 on the year, how well he gets his defense to handle the rushing attack of the Hawks will have a big say in the outcome of this football game Friday night.

5 A Allegheny Nine Conference:
North Hills Indians (1-2)(0-2) vs Fox Chapel Foxes (1-2)(1-1) Friday September 15^th @ 7:00 PM at Fox Chapel high school broadcast on the MSA Sports Network by Matt Vandriak and Rennie Detore

It’s tough to make the playoffs in 5 A after starting out 0-2 in conference. That’s the task that faces the North Hills Indians. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The Indians desperately need to take that first step Friday night on the road against a solid Foxes club fighting for one of those very few playoff spots as well.

Fox Chapel senior quarterback Nick Gizzo has completed 20 of 41 passes for 283 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Gizzo has thrown four picks, and will want to take better care of the ball against the Indians. Gizzo is a dual threat guy who also leads the Foxes in rushing and has scored four touchdowns with his feet.

When Gizzo does hand it off look for Micah Morris to get the bulk of the work on the ground.

Gizzo has a trio of guys he like to throw to in Brayden Thomas, Cole Waxter, and Drew Witt. The threesome has 13 catches for 253 yards on the season. Two of Waxters catches have been for touchdowns.

Defensively the Foxes leading tackler is senior outside linebacker, Luke Brown who also has three tackles for loss. Senior defensive end Adam Woo has Fox fans yelling Wooooo a lot he has three sacks and four tackles for loss on the season.

The Indians dropped a heartbreaker in overtime to West Allegheny last week. Senior quarterback Will Hirt threw for 122 yards and a score in the loss.

Senior Melvin Blanks rushed for 185 yards against the ‘other” Indians and scored two touchdowns.

Blanks along with fellow senior Kamron Taylor form a very dynamic duo in the North Hills backfield.

In the passing game Hirt will look to junior wide out Tyler Brennan a lot. This is a very good North Hills club that has a lot of experience and might end up making a lot of noise in the 5 A playoffs. The thing is, they gotta start making some noise now to get to the playoffs.

4 A Northwest Nine Conference:
#10 Knoch Knights (1-1)(1-0) vs #9 Highlands Golden Rams (1-1)(1-1) Friday September 15^th @ 7:00 PM at Highlands high school broadcast on WISR AM 680 and the MSA Sports Network by Scott Briggs and Dave Bacon

A battle of top-ten teams in 4 A features a pair of teams coming off tough losses last week. Knoch remains perfect in section play despite a difficult 35-22 decision at the hands of the West Mifflin Titans last week.

The Knights are 1-1 under new head coach Frank Whalen and running the triple option.

Quarterback Jake Herrit will be the man called upon to make the decisions and so far he’s been making the right ones.

Fullback Ivan Stapchak scored five touchdowns in a week one win over Blackhawk.

Highlands will be celebrating their 50^th anniversary of having a football team at this game. The Golden Rams lost a thriller to New Castle last week 48-47 in double overtime.

In the loss Rams quarterback Seth Cohen set school records for yards passing (412) and touchdowns passes (7). For the season Cohen’s numbers jump off the page.

He has completed 25 of 52 passes for 527 yards and eight touchdowns, in two games. Romello Freeman, Gabe Booker, and Johnny Crise all have six catches on the year. Freeman leads that group in yardage with 169, while Booker is ahead of the class in touchdowns with three.

Jermaine Jett and Cameron Taylor get the workload in the rush attack both are over 100 yards for the season.

3 A Interstate Conference:
#10 McGuffey Highlanders (2-1)(1-0) vs Mount Pleasant Vikings (1-2)(1-1) Friday September 15^th @ 7:00 PM on the campus of Mount Pleasant high school broadcast on the McGuffey Sports Network and the MSA Sports Network by Rusty Petit and Ty Bedillion

The Highlanders cracked the top ten with a 35-0 blanking of Waynesburg last week. McGuffey prefers to keep it on the ground having only thrown 17 passes for the season. Marshall Whipkey is the guy who throws it when they do having completed 9 of those 17 for 168 yards and five touchdowns, of note he has not thrown an interception so when they do throw they have been very successful.

The bulk of their work though gets done in the ground attack, Whipkey is one of three Highlanders who have rushed more than 20 times on the season. Adam Townsend has carried 38 times for 285yards and a pair of scores. Chris Clutter has 22 carries for 190 yards and a score. Whipkey has added 28 carries for 135 yards.

The Vikes lost a tough one last week to South Park 14-9.

Quarterback Lucas Pieszak has completed 25 of his 45 passes on the season for 427 yards to go along with five touchdowns and a single interception.

Cody Reese and Ryan Quin are the top catchers of the football for Mount Pleasant, Reese has 9 catches for 129 yards. Quin has five catches for 127 yards.

Reese is a big part of the rush game as well with 24 carries for 188 yards and he has totaled a team-high five touchdowns. Mike Govern is the leading rusher for the Vikes with 202 yards and a pair of scores in his 35 rushes.

2 A Interconference:
#9 Brentwood Spartans (2-1) vs #6 Freedom Bulldogs (2-1) Friday September 15^th @ 7:30 PM at Freedom high school

An Inter-conference battle of top ten teams is always intriguing to the BGH gang. These teams could very well face off again in the post season. Brentwood makes the long drive to Beaver County to represent the Three Rivers Conference against one of the front-runners for the Midwestern Conference title.

Brentwood suffered their first loss of the season last week 33-19 to a very good East Allegheny team.

Quarterback Michael Trent has completed 42 of 85 passes for 687 yards, that yardage ranks him 6^th of

all the WPIAL passers of the football. He has thrown five touchdown passes and a pair of interceptions.

Austin Veatch is the leading receiver for the Spartans with 17 catches for 401 yards interestingly Veatch’s yardage numbers place him at 6^th in the WPIAL amongst all receivers.

Veatch also contributes in the rush attack as the 2^nd leading rusher on the team and combined has totaled six touchdowns.

Brendan Donnelly will be a big time target for Trent as well, Donnelly has 10 catches for 105 yards.

On the ground Even Vickless gets the bulk of the carries with 36 for 144 yards and four touchdowns.

Freedom bounced back from a week one loss to Beaver to roll New Brighton last week 28-7.

Junior quarterback Zach Rosa has hooked up on 19 of 44 passes for 209 yards on the year but, he has tossed three picks to go along with just one touchdown.

Jake Pail leads the Bulldogs in catches with eight for 71 yards.

On the ground a trio of guys carry the load for Freedom. Kyle Borgman has 47 carries for 222 yards and a pair of scores.             Rosa has carried himself 33 times for 105 yards and fullback Cody Ross has 29 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

Ross is one of those kids who is a football player’s football player.  He is both fullback and middle linebacker, anchoring the defense for the Bulldogs. He is a dream for a play-by-play guy because even if you didn’t really see the tackle you can be safe saying “Ross in on the tackle for the Bulldogs.”

1 A Inter-Conference :
#5 California Trojans (3-0) vs #4 Imani Christian Saints (3-0) Saturday September 16^th @ 1:30 PM at Graham Field in Wilkinsburg broadcast on the MSA Sports Network by Don Rebel and Mike Azadian

These clubs have certainly earned a visit from the “A- Team” this weekend. A combined 6-0 and outscoring their opponents by a combined total of 388-54. It has been a dominant start to the 2017 campaign for both the Trojans and Saints.

The Saints senior quarterback Tawan Wesley is lighting up the entire WPIAL with his shining star. Wesley is second in passing yards and first in passing touchdowns in all of the WPIAL. He has completed 41 of 75 passes for 876 yards and a dozen touchdowns. He has also chipped in with nearly a hundred rushing yards.

Sam Fairly has a team-high 15 catches for 372 yards and nine touchdowns.

Rahmon Hart and Ray Jackson each have a dozen catches and they have combined for 449 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Asante Watkins leads the Saints on the ground with 33 carries for 428 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Trojans are more ground oriented, way, way more ground oriented. They have thrown just eight passes for the year. In fact quarterback Collin Phillips has rushed nearly three times as many times as he has attempted to pass. Collins is one of five Trojans with more than 100 rushing yards on the year.

Jelani Stafford leads the way with 32 carries for 325 yards and a team-high nine scores. The other four are Zion Aldrich with 16 carries 185 yards and five touchdowns, Cochise Ryan with 11 carries, 184 yards and four touchdowns, Phillips chips in his 22 carries here for 156 yards and four scores and finally, Jonathan wood adds 17 carries for 125 yards and three touchdowns.

It would seem it’s the pass versus the run at “Historic Graham Field” and a field day working the stats sheet for MSA Wiz-Kid Mika Azadian.

Tags: Bethel Park, Brentwood, California, Fox Chapel, Freedom, Highlands, Imani Christian, Knoch