Football
Pittsburgh Central Catholic Finds Gold In The Snow at Heinz Field
November 23, 2013
In a dominant performance in the opening half, the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings defeated the Woodland Hills Wolverines to claim their 4th WPIAL championship. The Vikings piled up 188 yards of offense in the first half, all on the ground and used a turnover and a bizarre play to lead 20-0 at the half. Luigi Lista-Brinza started after being injured in the semifinal win over Penn Trafford, the senior was questionable coming into the game. He scored twice on runs of 13 and 4 yards, the second sealed the win with just under 9 minutes to play in the final quarter, finishing with 27 carries for 136 yards.
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Claims First Football Crown
The third time was not a charm for Sto-Rox. Playing in their very first WPIAL football title game, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic used a stifling defense to blank the high powered Vikings 14-0 to win a first ever WPIAL football championship for the Trojans. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic rushed for 159 yards on the ground, including a team high 83 yards by Trojans quarterback P.J. Fumore, who ended the first possession of the game for North Catholic with a 2-yard run on fourth and goal. Mike Tarsovich added the extra point and the Trojans led 7-0, an advantage they would take into halftime.Scholastic Notebook – 11/22/2013
November 22, 2013
The weather for the WPIAL football championships Saturday is not good. The forecast is for cold, possible snow showers and winds gusting to 20 m.p.h. But for half of the four title games, the outlook looks absolutely perfect. Never mind the weather, two of the games match perfect teams – and that is a pretty unusual occurrence. Sto-Rox meets North Catholic for the WPIAL Class A title at 11 and Aliquippa takes on South Fayette for the AA championship at 5. All four teams in those games have perfect 12-0 records.Chicks Picks – Championship Saturday – 11/21/2013
November 21, 2013
Welcome to Championship Week. Chick’s Picks received a delightful phone call over the weekend. The recording on the other end of the line delivered the best news—Chick’s Picks was the lucky winner of an all-expenses paid, undoubtedly legit, dream vacation to Aruba next week. Having never been the recipient of such a lavish price, Chick’s Picks was thrilled.Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Championship Saturday
November 20, 2013
So Saturday is your chance to come to Heinz Field and meet the MSA Sports crew. Find the guy who mispronounced your son or daughter’s name and let him have it. Find the guy or girl who left your club out of Big Game Hunting or Chix Picks and let them have it. Find the guy who completely credited someone else with your kid’s touchdown run, or tackle, and let them have it. Find the person who completely messed up the stats and flip-flopped the years when they were talking about your team in the playoff pairings show or on the round table and let them have it! Find the guy who clearly missed the fact that the ball had touched the ground and you saw it with your own eyes and let him have it.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/18/2013
November 18, 2013
The Highway to Heinz comes to a conclusion with four district title contests on the North Shore this week here on the MSA Sports Network. The ONLY place where Championships are heard is here on MSA Sports as we have all four WPIAL football finals along with the District 6 Class A championship game, plus college football postseason action, men's and women's college basketball, PIHL high school hockey and our Championship Saturday preview with This Week in the WPIAL ALL here at MSAsports.netMonday, November 18th:No BroadcastsTuesday, November 19th:PIHL High School Hockey - Bethel Park vs North Allegheny at 6:10pm on the North Allegheny Sports Network at MSAsports.netWPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Twelve
November 16, 2013
Many times, there is a fine line between advancing to the next round and hanging up the gear for good when you get deep into the postseason, and make no doubt about it, Final Four Friday in the WPIAL Football Playoffs is deep into the postseason. A turnover here, a costly penalty there, or a big block that leads to a big play, it all adds up in November football. Here are the Primetime Performers who have helped their team get their ticket punched to Heinz Field and the 2013 WPIAL Football Championships next Saturday here on MSA Sports. Trevon Mathis - Woodland HillsScholastic Notebook – 11/15/2013
November 15, 2013
Look at Friday night’s WPIAL Semifinals and you see many of the same old faces, like Aliquippa, Woodland Hills and Thomas Jefferson, to just name a few. But there are definitely some new faces mixed in.Penn-Trafford is making its first semifinal appearance since 1997. The Warriors have been to only one WPIAL title game.Neshannock is making its second consecutive semifinal appearance and will play Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic. Neither Neshannock nor North Catholic has ever been to a WPIAL title game.WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League Football Scores for Friday, November 15th
The 2013 ride on the Highway to Heinz hit the Semifinals Round on Friday and the final exit. For the eight teams that won tonight, dreams were be realized as they will move on to play for a district championship next Saturday at Heinz Field. For the eight teams that came up short, it was the cruelest cut of all...so close and yet, so far. Here are ALL the WPIAL Final Four scores plus the final Pittsburgh City League team in action as Allderdice hosted Erie McDowell in a PIAA Preliminary Round game.WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:Woodland Hills Wolverines 28 - Upper St. Clair Panthers 21 (F)Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 49 -. Penn-Trafford Warriors 10 (F)WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:District 10, 9, 8, 6 & 5 Playoff Football Scores – Nov. 14
November 14, 2013
It is the final tune-up for the Road to Hershey, which is slated to begin with First Round action next weekend. For this past Friday and Saturday, we had a combination of PIAA Preliminary Round games, District championship contests and District Semifinals, including the Final Four in the WPIAL. Here are ALL of the results from the high school football playoff games on both 11/15 and 11/16 throughout Western Pennsylvania with an eye toward the upcoming PIAA state playoffs.PIAA CLASS AAAA Preliminary Round:Erie McDowell Trojans 49 - Allderdice Dragons 19 (F)Mifflin County Huskies 41 - DuBois Beavers 21 (F)PIAA CLASS AAA Preliminary Round:Clearfield Bisons 21 - Somerset Golden Eagles 6 (F)Chicks Picks – Week 12 – 2013
Welcome to Week 12. We have reached the final stop on the Highway to Heinz. Keeping with tradition, Chick’s Picks stopped by her favorite uptown pizza shop, as she does each football season at this time. After placing her usual order for the college special, Chick’s Picks sat down to ponder her predictions over the delicious meal.Something caught her eye from across the way. Sure enough, it was The Fumbler—dining over the same meal, pondering his own picks. Chick’s Picks confronted her rival prognosticator, demanding an explanation.Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 12
November 13, 2013
Week 12 of the WPIAL 2013 football season arrives this Friday, and as a great man once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again”. We have the exact same final four teams alive in the smallest classification, a rematch of the championship game in AA, three of the final four from last year’s AAA tournament and a rematch in one of the AAAA semis from a year ago as well. Truthfully I could almost copy and paste last year’s Big Game Hunting for the semis right onto this page, but I only copy from the best, and since Don Rebel has not written anything yet regarding the 2013 semis. This will be a fresh edition of Big Game Hunting.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/10/2013
November 10, 2013
We are midway through our journey on the Highway to Heinz as the high school football playoffs share center stage with high school and college winter sports this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We continue our exclusive coverage of the District 7 football playoffs with all 8 WPIAL Semifinals games starting Friday with the expanded MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding with the one and only WPIAL High School Football Scoreboard Show. We also have Semifinals high school football playoff action in District 6 along with three college football games, men's and women's college basketball, women's college volleyball, plus This Week in the WPIAL with a preview of Semifinals Friday ALL here at MSAsports.netMonday, November 11th:District 10, 9, 8, 6 & 5 Playoff Football Scores – Nov. 9
November 9, 2013
While the Highway to Heinz has two rounds in the books, there was plenty of other high school football postseason in Western Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday. Here are ALL of the results from the playoffs in Districts 10, 9, 6 and 5 as we are two weeks from the start of the Road to Hershey and the PIAA Football Playoffs.DISTRICT 5/6/8/9 Class AAA Semifinals:Somerset Golden Eagles 28 - University Prep Wildcats 20Clearfield Bisons 42 - Johnstown Trojans 7DISTRICT 5/8 Class AA Semifinals:Chestnut Ridge Lions 55 - Westinghouse Bulldogs 20Bedford Bisons 41 - Everett Warriors 24----------------------------------------------------------------------------WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Eleven
In a span of back-to-back postseason Friday nights, we have gone from the Sweet Sixteen in each classification, down to the Elite Eight and now at the halfway point...The Final Four. Some of the performances from the second Friday night in November were flashy and record-setting while others were work-man-like and rock solid. No matter how you look at it, these ten showings were winning performances...which on the Highway to Heinz...is all that matters as we head down the playoff road to next weeks WPIAL football Semifinals.Joe Repischak - Upper St. ClairWPIAL Football Quarterfinals Recaps 2013
It was a night of great competition throughout all four classifications with only a handful of blowouts as the District 7 field of 32 shrunk to 16 as the Final Four are now set for the Semifinals. But before we start looking ahead to next week, its time to recap the outstanding action from Quarterfinals Friday with archive broadcasts of each contest only here on The Network.Thanks to Rob Matzie, Adam Hoerner, Mike Krcil, Mark Schaas, Bob Gregg, Steve Nagler, John Smathers, T.J. DiStefano, Mark Uriah, Bob Orkwis Don Conde, Paul Paterra, Matt Vandriak, Josh Rowntree, Adam Gusky and Jason Colangelo for their help on these recaps.WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:Scholastic Notebook – 11/08/2013
November 8, 2013
There are 10,000 reasons to like Lenny Williams at quarterback. Williams is a senior at Sto-Rox and it has been well-documented that he is the all-time leading passer in WPIAL history in yards and touchdowns. But what has been lost in the passing numbers and records is the fact that Williams now has over 10,000 yards offense.No other WPIAL player is known to have 10,000 yards offense in a career.Williams has 7,799 yards passing and his rushing yardage puts him over 10,000. Williams passed for more than 2,000 and ran for more than 1,000 last year. So far this season, he has thrown for 2,050 yards and rushed for 347.WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League Football Scores for Friday, November 8th
We have come to the second off-ramp as we hit the halfway point on this years journey on the Highway to Heinz. 32 teams had made it to this point where 16 have moved on while 16 other came to the end of their trip and dreams of district gold. Also, two of three Pittsburgh City League teams saw their season come to an end as well.All WPIAL games can be heard archived ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network.WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:Upper St. Clair Panthers 41 - North Allegheny Tigers 23 (F)Woodland Hills Wolverines 28 - Seneca Valley Raiders 14 (F)Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 27 - Gateway Gators 21 (F)Penn-Trafford Warriors 35 - McKeesport Tigers 20 (F)Chicks Picks – Week 11 – 2013
November 7, 2013
Welcome to Week 11. It is not unusual for Chick’s Picks to be flooded with requests for guest appearances around the WPIAL—a small part of the price of fame that has come along with her celebrity prognosticating career. A rather extraordinary request came in last week, however—one that Chick’s Picks could simply not refuse.The City of Pittsburgh reached out late last week seeking her availability to serve as a parade Grand Marshal—a role that Chick’s Picks had always aspired to be. Looking back at other famous Grand Marshals throughout history—Paula Deen, Mr. Rogers, Pele, and even Mickey Mouse himself—Chick’s Picks knew at that moment that she had made it.Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 11
November 6, 2013
Quarterfinals! They are all big now, makes my job a little more difficult but, don’t cry for me Argentina! I will keep my promise to bring you what I think will be the biggest game in each of the classifications. Exit number two on the Highway to Heinz is approaching. There were not a huge amount of upsets in the first round but certainly a couple and some games that were a lot closer than most thought they would be. That is just another of the reasons WPIAL playoff football is such a blast. Now you have to be extra careful about choosing where you will go, you don’t want to miss a great game. Take your smart phone so you can track the scores and listen to whatever turns into THE game of the week on the MSA Sports Network.
