Five things we learned in Week 4 of high school football

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 23, 2017 | 8:15 PM

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Notre Dame's Brian Kelly couldn't talk with him directly, but Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec did his best to impress his future coach Friday.

The Irish commit passed for 355 yards, two touchdowns and rushed for three more scores as No. 1-ranked Pine-Richland defeated No. 3 Bethel Park, 54-20. Kelly departed at halftime but surely left smiling. Almost anyone who has watched Jurkovec play this season says he's better than ever.

That even includes folks on the other sideline.

“He's really impressive,” Bethel Park coach Jeff Metheny said. “He's one of the best kids we've seen, for sure.”

It was one year ago next week that Jurkovec's junior season ended with a thumb injury to his throwing hand. But in five games this season, he has completed 74 percent of his attempts (89 of 120) for 1,472 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He completed 19 of 23 passes Friday while Kelly watched.

“There were a lot of people (on the sideline), so I couldn't see him,” Jurkovec said. “I was just focusing on the game.”

Pine-Richland scored eight first-half touchdowns and led 54-7 at haltime, so Jurkovec sat out the second half.

“He was pretty darn near perfect,” Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “… Coach Kelly was here, so he might have had a little motivation. I thought he had a pretty good showing.”

How does Jurkovec rank in WPIAL history? The 355-yard performance jumped him over his current coach and into the top 15 on the WPIAL all-time passing list. He has 5,705 career yards. Kasperowicz, a former North Hills star, was the WPIAL's first 5,000-yard passer with 5,595 in 1993.

South Fayette senior Drew Saxton (5,768 yards) and Gateway's Brady Walker (5,457) also joined the 5,000 club this season. The trio seems destined for the 6,000-yard club, which has only nine WPIAL members.

Seton LaSalle's Bill Stull (5,572 in 2004), Kasperowicz, Penn-Trafford's Tyler Huether (5,637 in 2005) and Sto-Rox's Paul Jones (5,667 in 2009) all dropped two spots on the list.

South Fayette's streak enters historic territory

When a team is mentioned with Braddock of the 1950s, that's a good compliment.

South Fayette defeated Knoch, 52-14, for its 52nd consecutive regular-season win, a streak that ties Braddock for the second-longest in WPIAL history. The Lions under coach Joe Rossi haven't lost in the regular season since Oct. 21, 2011, a 33-10 setback to Seton LaSalle.

Braddock won 52 in a row from 1953-60. The WPIAL's longest regular-season winning streak belonged to Aliquippa, which won 62 consecutive from 2009-16.

South Fayette has five Northwest Nine games left against Blackhawk (1-3), New Castle (3-2), Indiana (0-4), Highlands (2-2) and Montour (3-1) in the Class 4A conference.

Maybe Class 2A isn't as clear-cut as last season?

Defending WPIAL and state champion Steel Valley remains the favorite in Class 2A and ran its winning streak to 18 straight, but Friday's was a close one.

Steel Valley defeated South Allegheny, 31-27, after the score was tied at 21 in the fourth quarter. A year after forcing the mercy rule on every opponent, the Ironmen rallied Friday with a go-ahead catch by Amonte Strothers, who had three receptions for 108 yards and two TDs.

Also, No. 2 Washington scored just twice in a 12-0 victory over winless Frazier.

Interstate Conference has high-scoring EF leading

Elizabeth Forward missed the WPIAL playoffs last season but leads the Interstate Conference after a 56-21 victory over McGuffey. Quarterback Zachary Benedek passed for 357 yards and five TDs, and receiver Gavin Martik had eight receptions for 204 yards and four scores.

McKeesport shows why it was a preseason favorite

Layton Jordan, Carlinos Acie and quarterback Johnny Harper all are explosive runners, and they share a backfield in McKeesport's triple-option offense.

Acie had a 99-yard touchdown run Friday night against Plum, Harper had an 86-yarder and Jordan scored on runs of 76 and 75 yards.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.comor via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.