Football
This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 09/27/2015
September 27, 2015
We have plenty of fall high school sports as the calendar changes from September to October this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Five of the high school football season with 28 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.WPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz – Week Four
Saturday was a perfect afternoon/evening for high school football, perfectly timed for two schools in particular as Shady Side Academy and Beaver High School celebrated picture perfect homecoming weekends and the tradition of playing on a Saturday instead of Friday night. here are the Top Four performances from the Fourth Friday of the 2015 season from a pair of AA Allegheny Conference afternoon games and two conference contests played under the lights. Darius Wise - BeaverDistrict College Football Recap for September 26th
September is coming to an end and teams are starting to pull away on the local college football front. Division play opened up in the PSAC, conference play continues in the PAC. The NEC schools have to wait one more week before starting their conference acton. Here are recaps of ALL the games: Seton Hill 41 – Slippery Rock 38 In a game of scores and quick answers, the Griffins dump the #14 Rock at Offutt Field. Christian Strong threw 4 first half touchdown passes for Seton Hill. Strong was 29 of 52 for 472 yards, his counterpart, Dante Nania(Hempfield), posted 414 yards passing and 2 scores.WPIAL Saturday Football Scores – 09/26/2015
September 26, 2015
Sooner or later, the weather will turn cold and nasty, but until then high school football fans can continue to comfortably head out and enjoy the mass production of points being produced by high school football teams throughout the WPIAL. The fourth Saturday of the season featured four football contests, a pair of Class AA Allegheny Conference contests in the afternoon and a Class AA and Class A conference matchup under the lights to close the door on the fourth weekend of play. Here are all four of the final results. WPIAL CLASS AA Allegheny Conference: Valley Vikings 35 - Summit Academy Knights 8 Deer Lakes Lancers 28 - Shady Side Academy Indians 9 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS AA Midwestern Athletic Conference:WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Four
The fourth Friday of the 2015 WPIAL football season was a night filled with Firsts and Lasts. On the first Friday of Autumn, six teams got off the deck and won their first game of the season including one team winning for the first time in four seasons (more on that later). But without question on this last Friday of September, all of the nights winners are hoping this wont be their last taste of victory in 2015. Speaking of taste, here are ten performances that were absolutely delicious to all except the opposing team. Shaler TitansScholastic Notebook – 09/25/2015
September 25, 2015
It’s a Zane-y world out there in WPIAL football so far this season. After the first three weeks of the season, Zane Dudek is atop the WPIAL in rushing yards – and also points scored. Dudek is a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior running back at Armstrong High School. This is Armstrong’s first year of existence after Ford City and Kittanning merged to form Armstrong. Dudek is certainly bringing some attention to the Riverhawks. Dudek has rushed for 736 yards on 67 carries, an average of 10.9 yards a carry. No other WPIAL running back has 600 yards rushing. Dudek is tied for the scoring lead with Beth-Center’s Tony Welsh at 72 points.WPIAL/Pittsburgh City League Friday Football Scores – 09/24/2015
September 24, 2015
With a tip of the cap to the late, great Steve Sabol: "The Autumn Wind is a pirate, Blustering in from sea, With a rollicking song, he sweeps along, Swaggering boisterously. His face is weather beaten. He wears a hooded sash, With a silver hat about his head, And a bristling black mustache.He growls as he storms the country, A villain big and bold.And the trees all shake and quiver and quake, As he robs them of their gold. The Autumn Wind is a raider, Pillaging just for fun. He'll knock you 'round and upside down, And laugh when he's conquered and won.Chicks Picks – Week 4 – 2015
Welcome to Week 4 of the high school football season. Last Friday night, as Chick’s Picks monitored the various MSA Sports Network social media feeds, she noticed a newcomer to the Twittersphere – one who called himself @avonworthmascot. Could it be? Could Chick’s Picks’ favorite WPIAL mascot of all time finally be here on Twitter? Without hesitation, Chick’s Picks clicked the “Follow” button. Moments later, Chick’s Picks received a Twitter notification of her own, letting her know that she had a new follower: @avonworthmascot himself. Chick’s Picks was flattered to say the least, and immediately showed her delight with a happy dance throughout MSA Sports World Headquarters, much to the dismay of The Boss.WPIAL Big Game Hunting – Week Four – 09/23/2015
September 23, 2015
One third of the regular season is in the books and there are still a lot of questions to be answered. There were some big games in week three that seemed to indicate that 2015 might be wide open with regards to the teams with a chance to reach Heinz Field. That’s what makes this job so much fun. You see, you research, and you get a feel for history, and coaches, and programs but the bottom-line is you cannot really know what will happen when those kids go out there and take the field every Friday night. We do know it will be fun, and we also know MSA Sports will be the ultimate place for you to find out what happened, and how and, why it happened. More unbeaten teams will fall this weekend, it’s time to go Big Game Hunting!MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football – 09/21/2015
September 21, 2015
Each and every Monday during the regular season, the MSA Sports Network will rank the Top Ten football teams in each classification. These are the rankings following Week Three of the 2015 WPIAL football season...including not one but two NEW #1 teams in AAAA and again in AAA. WPIAL CLASS AAAA WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN: 1. WOODLAND HILLS WOLVERINES (3-0) (Last Week #2.....Week Four at Baldwin on MSA) 2. PENN-TRAFFORD WARRIORS (3-0) (Last Week #3.....Week Four at Altoona)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 09/21/2015
Believe it or not, we have out first district championship coming up as we creep closer to the mid-way point of the fall high school sports regular season this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Four of the high school football season with 30 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.2015 WPIAL & Pittsburgh City League Standings – Week 3
September 20, 2015
Here are the latest WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football standings through Week Three of the 2015 high school football season. Once again this year, we have added points for, point against and the updated WPIAL tiebreaker points for all 123 teams. Standings are updated after Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Standings can be also seen on each teams football webpage here on the MSA Sports Network. (Top 5 teams from AAAA and AAA conferences qualify for playoffs plus a sixth place wild card team) (Top 4 teams from AA and A conferences qualify for the playoffs) # = Clinched Section Title * = Clinched Playoff Berth x = Eliminated From Playoff ChaseWPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz – Week Three
An early homecoming game expanded the schedule of Saturday afternoon games to four to close out Week Three. When all was said and done on the third Saturday of the season, two teams remained undefeated, two teams picked up their first victory of the season and while four teams remain winless, one continues a losing streak that is inching close to four straight years. Here are the players who shined bright on an afternoon that went from sunny to stormy in the blink of an eye. Jo-El Shaw - Woodland HillsWPIAL Saturday Football Scores – 09/19/2015
September 19, 2015
An early homecoming game added to the third week of Saturday WPIAL football games, bumping up the slate from three games to four games. There was plenty of pomp and circumstance in Shaler as the homecoming parade down Mount Royal Boulevard led to Titans Stadium where the host team cound not end a 34-game skid against one of the top teams in the classification. Plus there was a Class AA battle of winless teams and a pair of Class A afternoon tilts to close out the one-third mark of the regular season. Here are all of the final results plus check out the archives as three of the four games broadcast here on MSA Sports. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Non-Conference: Woodland Hills Wolverines 59 - Shaler Titans 21 (MSA)WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Three 2015
With two weeks to get a feel of the district high school football landscape, there was plenty of 'big game' feel up and down the FOUR classifications of the WPIAL on the third Friday of the campaign. Some turned into laughers while others were nail-biters well into the fourth quarter. On a picture perfect night around Western Pennsylvania, here are the players who proved to be very photogenic in leading their teams to Week Three wins. Terron Murphy - Bethel ParkScholastic Notebook – 09/18/2015
September 18, 2015
To the PIAA, more is better. At least in football. The landscape of Pennsylvania football – and the WPIAL – might be changing real soon. The change will be significant. On Wednesday, the PIAA strategic planning committee and the PIAA football committee voted to recommend to the PIAA board of directors that football in Pennsylvania go to six classifications, starting next year. It was a noteworthy vote because the PIAA board of directors usually – but not always – does what the strategic planning committee recommends. The PIAA board has already passed this 6A idea twice and needs to pass it only one more time Oct. 19 for it to go into effect for the 2016-17 school year.WPIAL/Pittsburgh City League Friday Football Scores – 09/18/2015
Back in the day, Week Three meant the start of conference play for just about all of the teams around the WPIAL. However nowadays, teams are starting section games right out of the gates in Week One. However there was a special feel to this week with key conference games up and down the FOUR district classifications. Here is the complete WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League scoreboard for the third Friday of the 2015 season. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Foothills Conference: Penn-Trafford Warriors 21 - McKeesport Tigers 7 (F) Connellsville Falcons 41 - Latrobe Wildcats 17 (F) Plum Mustangs 35 - Altoona Mountain Lions 7 (F) Kiski Area Cavaliers 35 - Hempfield Spartans 20 (F) WPIAL CLASS AAAA Southeastern Conferfence:Chicks Picks – Week 3
September 17, 2015
Welcome to Week 3 of the high school football season. After a long night at MSA Sports World Headquarters last Friday, Chick’s Picks arrived home to find a neighborhood gathering outside her house. Questioning the purpose of this late-night assembly, Chick’s Picks quickly realized that the man of the house, Mr. Picks, was behind it. “Chick’s Picks – I was introducing myself to some of our new neighbors, and in conversation, I made sure to ask them if they had heard of THE Chick’s Picks. When they said yes, I proceeded to tell them that you lived here. So, they wanted to see you for themselves,” Mr. Picks said.WPIAL Big Game Hunting – Week Three – 09/16/2015
September 16, 2015
Time is inexorable, I know that, but nonetheless I find myself wanting to slow things down once the WPIAL football season begins. For a lot of reasons, to give myself more time to prepare for my game, to be able to have a little extra time to enjoy what is for me the best time of the year, to slow the inevitable cold-weather from getting here and, to lengthen the deadline to get Big Game Hunting into the Boss. I don’t have to tell you how he can be when you get on his bad side. Time goes by fast, and the older you get the faster it goes. Week three is here and I am almost ready with my pre-season Big Game Hunting. Speaking of time, how long has it been since the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars started a season 0-2?This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 09/15/2015
September 15, 2015
The warm weather isn't gone yet, thanks in part to the hot action on the gridiron, the pitch, the court and the links with lots of great fall high school sports action this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Three of the high school football season with 29 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.
