Football
Big Game Hunting for Week Eight 2016
October 19, 2016
Week eight brings with it the answer to a question put forth here back in week one. How will I personally feel about the change to six classifications after seeing it for a season? The answer now, is the same as it was for me at first blush. I hate it, hate it with the fiery passion of 1000 suns, not to put too fine a point on it. It does nothing to accomplish any of the goals it portends to. It is going to exclude some very good teams, possibly great teams from the playoffs and include some very bad teams. Not to mention we are only in week eight and little is left that matters in terms of games of import in the largest classification. Nonetheless, we are nothing if not intrepid here at BGH, so let’s go Big Game Hunting!MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football – 10/18/2016
October 18, 2016
Each and every Monday during the regular season, the MSA Sports Network will rank the Top Ten seven in 6-A and top ten football teams in each of the other five classifications. Here are the rankings following Week Five of the 2016 high school football season. WPIAL CLASS 6-A WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP SEVEN: 1. PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS (7-1) (Last Week #1.....Week Eight - host #7 Norwin) 2. NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (6-2) (Last Week #2.....Week Eight - at Hempfield on MSA) 3. PINE-RICHLAND RAMS (5-3) (Last Week #4.....Week Eight - at Butler on MSA)WPIAL Football Playoff Picture 10/17/2016
October 17, 2016
There is no doubt this school year is a season of change in the WPIAL, not just in high school football, but across the board with every sport that saw an expansion in classification. But our focus here is football. The bigger postseason is a couple of weeks away and MSA Sports traditional and exclusive playoff trip also must be tweaked. Yes, the Highway to Heinz opens up in two weeks for teams in Class 6-A, 5-A, 4-A and 3-A, bot now there is a new fork in the road. All of that construction on the Parkway near the Airport has created The Road to RMU for teams in 2-A and 1-A as their two title games will take place at Robert Morris University.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/16/2016
October 16, 2016
We head into the second half of October, which means the transition from regular season to postseason begins in high school volleyball and soccer this week here on the MSA Sports Network. The 'Stretch Run' of the high school football season continues with Week Eight and The Network has 30 WPIAL football weekend contests starting with the MSA Sports pregame Show Friday at 6pm and concluding with the WPIAL Scoreboard Show Friday at 9:30pm.2016 WPIAL Football Standings – 10/16
Here are the latest WPIAL football standings through Friday of Week Six of the 2016 high school football season...INCLUDING THE LATEST PLAYOFF PICTURE WITH POSTSEASON CLINCHINGS AND ELIMINATIONS. Once again this year, we have added points for and points against as well as the updated WPIAL tiebreaker points for all 122 WPIAL teams. Standings are updated after Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Click on each team to see all of their results along with their remaining schedule for the 2016 season.MSA Sports Saturdays Scholastic Starz for Week Seven
A couple of more Homecoming Weekends once again expanded the Saturday WPIAL football slate on a chamber of commerce postcard picture perfect October day. Some school districts have a parade through town to coincide with their special autumn weekend in which alumni return to their alma mater. There five players put their skills on display as Week Seven concluded and we took another step toward then end of the regular season. Garrett Day - AvonworthMSA Sports Friday Night HighLights for Week Seven
October 15, 2016
Wonderful weather made for an excellent start to the MSA 'Stretch Run' to this high school football regular season. an old children's song contained the lyrics, "bend and stretch, reach for the stars." Well these players took those words to heart and were shining bright on the gridiron in leading their teams to key victories with the scent of postseason noticeably in the air. Zane Dudek - ArmstrongWPIAL Football Scores for Sat 10/15
Eight more teams hit the 'Stretch Run' of the 2016 season on Saturday, although they all didn't have the same goals. Some hoped to continue their winning season as they fine tuned for the upcoming playoffs, while others were struggling to keep their postseason hopes alive. Whatever the case, here are ALL four final scores from Saturday that concludes Week Seven of the WPIAL football schedule. WPIAL CLASS 3-A vs CLASS 2-A Non-Conference: Avonworth Antelopes 28 - Shady Side Academy Indians 13 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS 2-A Century Conference: Charleori Cougars 26 - Burgettstown Blue Devils 23 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS 2-A vs CLASS 1-A Non-Conference:Scholastic Notebook – 10/14/2016
October 14, 2016
At least in two respects, there has never been a fall sports season like this at Derry Area High School. The Derry football team is perfect and the girls soccer team is headed to the postseason. No one has ever been able to say those two things before. Derry’s football team is 7-0. The last time Derry was 7-0 was 1983. That year, the Trojans lost their eighth game to Greensburg Central Catholic. Derry will try to go 8-0 with a win against Ellwood City Friday. Derry has never had a regular season with a perfect record. Derry Township had a perfect record in the 1930s, but that was before the school merged with Derry Borough to form Derry Area.WPIAL and City League Football Finals for 10/14
October 13, 2016
There was a chill in the air Friday and that can mean only one thing. No, don't want to hear anything about a cool front rolling through the Appalachian Mountains blah, blah, blah. it means we have reached the 'Stretch Run' of the 2016 regular season in the WPIAL. It's the final three weeks of high school football where conference championships are up for grabs, district playoff berths are there to be clinched and the pretenders are separated from the contenders. Here are ALL the scores for Friday of Week Seven in both the WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League. WPIAL CLASS 6-A Northern Seven Conference: North Allegheny Tigers 49 - Seneca Valley Raiders 14 (F)Chicks Picks for Week Seven
Welcome to Week 7 of the high school football season. Chick’s Picks had a tremendous performance last week, a career week, in fact – correctly predicting 53 winners. Each Sunday, Chick’s Picks spends time reflecting on the weekend’s games, analyzing the good, the bad, and the ugly. Despite her top-notch performance, a few incorrect picks were eating at her.Big Game Hunting for Week Seven 2016
October 12, 2016
And now we enter the stretch run on the MSA sports network. Week seven, time to separate the pretenders from the contenders for WPIAL championships. Monster games, not just this Friday night, but all weekend long and, over the next month as we head on the Highway’s to Heinz and Highmark, let's go Big Game Hunting 6 A Northern Seven Conference: #3 Seneca Valley Raiders (2-2)(4-2) vs #2 North Allegheny Tigers (3-1)(5-2) Friday October 14th @ 7:30 at Newman Stadium on the campus of North Allegheny high school broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and the North Allegheny Sports Network by Randy Gore and Rick MeisterMSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football – 10/10/2016
October 10, 2016
Each and every Monday during the regular season, the MSA Sports Network will rank the Top Ten seven in 6-A and top ten football teams in each of the other five classifications. Here are the rankings following Week Five of the 2016 high school football season. WPIAL CLASS 6-A WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP SEVEN: 1. PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS (6-1) (Last Week #1.....Week Seven - at Altoona) 2. NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (5-2) (Last Week #2.....Week Seven - host #3 Seneca Valley on MSA)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/10/2016
We open up a busy October with a bang with high school football, soccer, volleyball, field hockey, golf and even hockey this week here on the MSA Sports Network. The high school football season kicks off the second half of the regular season with Week Six and The Network has 31 WPIAL football weekend contests starting with the MSA Sports pregame Show Friday at 6pm and concluding with the WPIAL Scoreboard Show Friday at 9:30pm.2016 WPIAL Football Standings – 10/9
October 9, 2016
Here are the latest WPIAL football standings through Friday of Week Six of the 2016 high school football season...including the latest playoff picture with postseason clinchings and eliminations. Once again this year, we have added points for and points against as well as the updated WPIAL tiebreaker points for all 122 WPIAL teams. Standings are updated after Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Click on each team to see all of their results along with their remaining schedule for the 2016 season.MSA Sports Saturdays Scholastic Starz for Week Six
Some of the Homecoming Queens at high schools in Western Pennsylvania are selected by way of vote, while other winners are decided randomly by whichever rose they select. Three schools celebrated homecoming weekend with Saturday high school football games instead of on the traditional Friday night. Here are the performers who may not have selected the correct rose, but they were definitely a thorn in the side of their opponents. Jordan Castelli and Bryan Milligan - Canon-McMillanMSA Sports Friday Night HighLights for Week Six
October 8, 2016
The second half of the WPIAL football season began with a BANG...albeit a very wet bang. Or in the case of Class 3-A Allegheny Conference front running Keystone Oaks, the second half began with a POWE, as in newly eligible wide receiver Quran Powe. While he had a nice debut, it was his signal calling teammate who was one of the Week 6 standouts in a rainy edition of the HighLights. Let's begin to tip our drenched caps. Zane Dudek - ArmstrongWPIAL Football Scores for Sat 10/8
There was a chill in the air as the footballs prepared to fly while the Tierra's came out for Homecoming weekend at Shaler, Bishop Canevin and Beaver. The bonus Saturday football schedule grew to four games in Week Six with a pair of afternoon contests followed by two primetime matchups. Here are all of the results with three of the games archived here on the MSA Sports Network. WPIAL CLASS 6-A Non-Conference: Canon-McMillan Big Macs 43 - Shaler Titans 7 WPIAL CLASS 3-A Beaver Valley Conference: Beaver Bobcats 49 - Ellwood City Wolverines 0 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS 1-A Big 7 Conference: Sto-Rox Vikings 36 - Western Beaver Golden Beavers 26 (MSA)WPIAL and City League Football Finals for 10/7
October 7, 2016
Last Friday, we closed out the month of September. This Friday, we kicked off the second half of the regular season with the first Friday of October. The night brought a mixed back of comfortable temperatures and some rain in the forecast. We also had a mixed back a big conference games and HUGE non-conference frays highlighted by the much anticipated battle of champions as Aliquippa visits Clairton. Big school or small school, fights for first place or battles for pride, we had an autumn cornucopia of WPIAL high school football with 28 games streamed live and archived here on The Network. WPIAL CLASS 6-A Northern Seven Conference: Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 49 - Butler Golden Tornado 7 (F)Scholastic Notebook – 10/07/2016
It seems dual-threat quarterbacks are all the rage in high school football these days, from Western Pennsylvania to all around the country. Just take a look at the leading rushers in the WPIAL to see the effects that dual-threat QBs are having. Among the top 25 rushers in the WPIAL, four are quarterbacks – and two of the top seven are quarterbacks. Beaver quarterback Darius Wise is third in the WPIAL in rushing with 1,093 yards. Burrell’s Max Garda is seventh with 791. Wise is averaging 11 yards a carry. After those two, McGuffey’s Marcus Czulewicz is 15th with 702 yards rushing and North Allegheny’s Ethan Maenza 23rd with 584 yards, and he missed a game with an injury.
