Familiar foes Valley, Shady Side Academy to face off in Allegheny Conference showdown

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 | 7:18 PM

Tyler Green played football with his cousin Skyy Moore all throughout their childhood in New Kensington, until it came time for high school. Green went to Valley, Moore to Shady Side Academy.

Friday night the cousins will meet on the football field for the first time since, when Moore brings Class 2A No. 3 Shady Side Academy to Valley’s Memorial Stadium for a pivotal early Allegheny Conference game.

“We grew up with him, and we have yet to be able to play him in high school just because so many different things have happened,” said Green, Valley’s senior quarterback and linebacker. “This year will be the year. It should be a big game on Friday.”

Green and Moore stay in touch frequently, and Green acknowledged some trash talk would be exchanged before Friday’s contest — all in good fun.

“I already know it’s going to be so electrifying,” said Moore, a standout QB/DB. “I went to the barbershop (last weekend), and everybody — everybody — was talking about it. Everywhere I go — it doesn’t matter if I go to the store, if I go out to eat, everybody’s talking about this game.

“I can tell you that they feel the same way. They’ve got this game circled on their schedule just like I do.”

Valley (1-1, 0-1) has more reasons than Moore to have Friday’s game circled.

The Vikings lost 54-16 to Shady Side Academy last season, a game that five of the Vikings’ players and coach Muzzy Colosimo missed for suspension reasons after a late-game brawl against Ellwood City the week before. Moore torched Valley for seven touchdowns in the rout.

“Missing that game last year and my team losing the way we did, me and the guys that got suspended kind of feel like we let them down in that way,” Green said. “We’ve got to get it back this Friday.”

It won’t be easy. Shady Side Academy comes into the game as one of the top contenders for the WPIAL Class 2A title, with playmakers all over the field.

It starts with Moore, last season’s Allegheny Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year, who holds more than a dozen Division I scholarship offers. Then there’s WR/DB Dino Tomlin, whose own lengthy scholarship list includes offers from Pitt and Maryland, and his younger brother Mason. Former Burrell star Alex Bellinotti is in his first year at Shady Side and brings physicality at tight end and linebacker.

“The first thing you’ve got to do is stop (Moore),” Colosimo said. “You stop Skyy and make all those other guys beat you, you’ve got a chance. I’ve done it before. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen or it’s going to be easy. It’s something you’ve got to work for.”

Shady Side Academy (1-0, 0-0) will have to contend with a Valley team that includes all of its playmakers, including Green, Noah Hutcherson, Deonte Ross and Vaun Ross, all of whom missed last season’s game.

Deonte Ross has nearly 250 yards rushing and three touchdowns through two games as the focal point of Valley’s run-heavy offense.

“You see a lot of familiar faces, and that means they return a lot of guys that have a lot of playing experience for them,” Shady Side Academy coach Chuck DiNardo said. “They’re a big team, they’re a physical team, they’re experienced up front. A lot of those guys have been playing together on the line for a long time now, and they have a big, physical tailback that isn’t fun to tackle when he gets a head of steam.”

Valley and Shady Side Academy have met 12 times since their series began in 2004, with SSA holding a slight 7-5 advantage. The Vikings beat the Indians in 2015 and 2016, the latter game one that Moore missed with a fractured ankle.

“It’s a deal where there’s not going to be a great deal of surprises, really, because we’ve been playing these guys for a long time now,” DiNardo said. “We’re pretty familiar with what they do, and I think they have a good idea of what we like to do, as well. When those kind of things happen, it’s not going to be a matter of X’s and O’s but a matter of who can execute the best.”

Shady Side Academy began the season with a 58-6 blowout of nonconference foe Brownsville, a game that was over early.

The Indians expect a bigger test against Valley, and a different experience than the 2017 game against the Vikings; DiNardo said they would “burn the film” from that 54-16 win because of the difference in personnel.

“For us to win and keep winning, we’ve got to keep doing what we’ve got to do,” Moore said. “It’s really not about the other team, it’s about what we do. If we play at our pace, I feel like we’ll be in control of the game.”

Valley knows the importance of this game on its schedule, especially after opening conference play with a 33-12 loss to Avonworth. The Vikings were within two points at halftime of that game but were outscored 19-0 in the second half.

A second loss to begin conference play would put Valley in an early hole as it attempts to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2013.

“We realize how big the beginning of this season will be, so we’ve got to really pull it together,” Green said.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.