CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Black Hills Conference Preview

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, August 23, 2012 | 4:09 PM

The Black Hills Conference already was pretty good. But after the WPIAL’s realignment of conferences for this season, the Hills are alive even more.

A few changes to the Black Hills made it a 10-team conference – and also made it stronger. One of the conference’s new members is Bishop Canevin, a team that is always more than competitive. Coach Bob Jacoby’s team was 11-1 last year and made the WPIAL semifinals. Monessen, which always has some talented players, moved into the Black Hills from the Tri-County South.

California and Imani Christian also are new additions to the league. California comes from the Tri-County South while this is Imani’s first year in the WPIAL.

Dropping out of the conference is Bentworth and Avella. They were the two bottom teams in the conference last year.

While the Black Hills is more competitive than ever this year, everyone will be chasing one team. Clairton is the three-time defending PIAA Class A champion and a prohibitive favorite to win the conference title.

Here is a look at the Black Hills Conference:

BISHOP CANEVIN CRUSADERS:

Bob Jacoby enters his 40th season as the Crusaders’ coach, one year after losing to Sto-Rox in the WPIAL semifinals.

Bishop Canevin has one of the top players in the conference in Mike Dunn, a 6-4, 225-pound senior who was the defensive MVP of the Eastern Conference last year. Dunn also plays offensive tackle. Jim Tersak, a fullback-defensive back, is one of the other top returnees.
Other starters back are tight end-defensive end John Bridge, running back-defensive back Nico DiPaolo, and linemen Jim Dlugos and Tanner Richardson.

Graduation hit the Crusaders hard at the skill positions, as the quarterback, leading rusher and top two receivers graduated. How well players develop at those positions will be a big key. But there is potential. Matt DeCello and Mike Tambellini might have made significant contributions last year at receiver, but suffered torn ACLs. They are back and ready to go.

But the defense could be very good again. It was tremendous last year, giving up only 78 points all season.
 

BRENTWOOD SPARTANS:

Brentwood finished 9-2 last season, and things are looking up again for the Spartans in 2012.

Many are ranking Brentwood among the top five teams in Class A – and for good reason. A total of 15 lettermen return from last season, including three first-team all-conference members. They are junior running back Justin Vickless, senior lineman John Schmitt and senior defensive lineman Michael Andrews.

Vickless is a versatile player who had a big sophomore season, rushing for 970 yards on 153 attempts and tying for the team lead in receptions with 17 for 160 yards.

Also returning is senior quarterback Chris Shortley, who completed 75 of 144 for 980 yards. He also rushed 64 times for 254 yards.
Other returning starters are linemen Robert Hoguer, Mike Kish and Jeremy Cenci, fullback-lineman Justin Bauer, and running back-linebacker Ryan Shortley. Kish figures to be one of the best linemen in Class A. He has made a verbal commitment to the University of Akron.
 

CALIFORNIA TROJANS:

California played for years in the Tri-County South, definitely considered the weakest conference in Class A. But the Trojans always seemed to be one of the best teams in the Tri-County South, making the playoffs on an annual basis. But how will they fare in the much tougher Black Hills is a good question.

California is lacking on experience, especially on offense, where only two starters return. Five starters return on defense.

The biggest loss to graduation was quarterback-linebacker T.D. Conway, who is now playing at California, Pa. Six other starters graduated who made the coaches all-conference team. One all-conference player returns in running back Lester McGriff, who rushed for 442 yards on 68 attempts last year as a sophomore.

A few other top players are linebacker Cory Adams, running back-linebacker Patrick Short, defensive backs Nathan Harris and Demetri Clements, and linebacker Austin Hunter.
 

CARLYNTON COUGARS:

After winning only two games in two consecutive seasons, the Cougars took a step forward last year, going 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference. The progress might continue this year as six starters return on both offense and defense.

Injuries have been a problem for Carlynton, though. Nick Lang rushed for 1,005 yards last season, but is coming back from a torn ACL. Carlynton has a few other players coming back from injuries.

Last year’s quarterback, Trevor George, son of coach Terry George, has graduated. That means either Freddie McKissick or Kevin Schuster will be the new QB.

Other returning starters are Joe Martin, Mike Walkowiak and Michael Griffin..
 

CHARTIERS-HOUSTON BUCCANEERS:

Coach Terry Fetsko’s team made the playoffs last year as the fourth-place team in the conference and finished with a 6-4 record (4-3 in conference).

The Bucs are thin on experience this year. They will look to senior running back-linebacker Garrett Vulcano for plenty of leadership. He was all-conference last season, led the team in tackles and rushed for 233 yards on 22 carries.

Also back is Jevone Hariston, who ran for 384 yards. Returning on the lines are Walter Lober, Jimmy Saieva and James Orbich.
 

CLAIRTON BEARS:

It has been a historical run for the Bears. Last season, they won a third consecutive PIAA Class A title and set a WPIAL record for longest winning streak with their 47th win in a row. They carry that streak into this season and have the longest current winning streak in the country.

The Bears easily have enough to add a lot more to the streak. They feature one of the best players in the state in senior do-it-all Tyler Boyd. He is being recruited by many Division I colleges as a receiver, but he rushed for more than 2,000 yards last season. He plays running back, some at receiver, and will even see some plays at quarterback this season. He also is a talented defensive back.
The biggest key to this team will be developing some linemen. Most of the linemen graduated, with the exception of Dyran Davenport and Devonte Harvey.

Another key will be quarterback play. Bryon Clifford and Armani Ford will both see time at quarterback, along with Boyd. “They’re all a little different,” said Clairton coach Tom Nola.

But there is still plenty of talent at the skill positions. Receiver-defensive back Titus Howard already has made a verbal commitment to Pitt. Receiver-defensive back Terrish Webb is being recruited by some Mid-American Conference schools.

Will this team be as strong as last year’s? That’s hard to say because of the question on the lines. But with Boyd leading the way, the wins will continue to come.
 

FORT CHERRY RANGERS:

For the first time in the history of Fort Cherry, there will not be a Garry coaching the Rangers.

Jim Shiel is the new coach. He is a 1981 Fort Cherry graduate, a former Fort Cherry player who most recently was Fort Cherry’s junior-high coach. He takes over for Tim Garry, who resigned after nine seasons. The first 43 seasons of the Fort Cherry football program, Tim’s father, Jim, was Fort Cherry’s coach.

Shiel inherits a team that lost a number of key players to graduation. The most notable loss was quarterback Tanner Garry, the all-time leading passer at the school. He also rushed for more than 600 yards last season, and his cousin, Corey, led the team in rushing last year. Corey also has graduated.

This sason, Kolton Kobrys, who caught 20 passes last year, moves from receiver to running back. Tyreke Brown also is back at receiver, but the Rangers have to develop a quarterback.

Lineman-linebacker Adam Diamond is one of the other top returnees.
 

IMANI CHRISTIAN SAINTS:

This is Imani Christian’s first year of WPIAL football. The school, located in the East Hills section of Pittsburgh, played some games last year, but not against WPIAL teams. They will play home games at Chadwick Field in Homewood, but some home games have already been switched to the road.

The team’s coach is former Gateway and West Virginia University player Harvey Smith, the brother of Gateway coach Terry Smith. Imani is thin on linemen, but Smith believes he has some good skill-position players, including receiver-defensie back Brendan Edwards.

Khari Hicks has shown promise at quarterback. Sean Williams will be the featured running back while Mike Wright and Eric Scott have potential at receiver.
 

MONESSEN GREYHOUNDS:

The Greyhounds were a perennial contender for the Tri-County South Conference title, so it will be interesting to see how they fare in the Black Hills. A very interesting game will be Monessen vs. Clairton on Sept. 20. It will be televised by Root Sports.

Monessen has one of the best players in Class A in senior quarterback Chavas Rawlins. He already has made a verbal commitment to West Virginia University, although he had a number of scholarship offers from Division I colleges. Rawlins completed 71 of 153 for 991 yards last season, but admits he must improve his accuracy some. He threw 12 interceptions last year, compared to 10 touchdowns.
Rawlins is 6-4, 195 pounds and rushed for 623 yards on 107 attempts last season. He also is a talented safety.

One of the other top players on the team is Rawlins’ younger brother, Justice, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. Justice is a standout junior linebacker who is 6-3, 235 pounds and already has scholarship offers from Pitt and Rutgers.

Other top players for the Greyhounds are RB-DL R.J. Small and RB-LB Keith Davis. Davis carried 45 times for 180 yards last season.
 

SERRA CATHOLIC EAGLES:

This has to be one of the youngest teams in the WPIAL. Second-year coach Jamie Eckels has only six players who are not sophomores or freshmen. That doesn’t bode well for the Eagles, considering they were 2-7 last year.

The only two seniors on the team are running back Zack Varga and tight end Jason Albring. Much of the offense will be made up of sophomores, including quarterback Zach Quattrone. Marty Slovonic and Wyatt Hamdan are sophomore running backs to watch.

Overall, it could be another long season for the Eagles.

MSA Sports Predicted Order of Finish:

10. Serra Catholic Eagles

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Brentwood, California, Carlynton, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Fort Cherry, Imani Christian