Football teams gearing up for Saturday scrimmages

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | 11:09 AM

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After nearly nine months of waiting, WPIAL and City League football teams are ready to put on the pads and collide with players in a different colored jersey.

The first set of scrimmages, and the only one for those playing a Week Zero game, are Saturday morning throughout western Pennsylvania.

It’s a full-speed chance for coaches to see if the offseason work, time spent in heat acclimation workouts and the first week of official practices have paid off.

There are several interesting scrimmage matchups to behold, including Penn Hills, newly minted in 5A, hosting 6A North Allegheny and Ringgold, under the direction of former Aliquippa boss Mike Zmijanac, at home against fellow 4A member Montour.

Other scrimmages include Steel Valley at West Mifflin, Central Catholic at McKeesport, Pine-Richland at Woodland Hills, Mt. Lebanon at West Allegheny and University Prep at Clairton.

Defending WPIAL 5A champion Gateway will pay a visit to 4A heavyweight Belle Vernon on Saturday at 10 a.m.

A number of scrimmages feature teams that had been conference rivals for many years. With the change to six conferences and moves up and down the classification ladder, those rivalries remain alive in the scrimmages.

Below is the list of the scrimmages. The start time is 10 a.m. unless otherwise noted.

Aliquippa at Blackhawk

Allderdice, Westinghouse at Shady Side Academy

Altoona at Upper St. Clair

Ambridge at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

Armstrong at Sharon

Avella at Cornell

Beaver Falls at New Brighton

Bentworth at Carlynton

Berlin Brothersvalley at Ligonier Valley

Brashear at Keystone Oaks

Brentwood at Southmoreland

Burgettstown at Yough

Burrell at East Allegheny

California at Charleroi

Canon-McMillan at Baldwin

Carmichaels at West Greene

Carrick at Imani Christian

Connellsville at Shaler

Deer Lakes at Riverview

Ellwood City at Laurel

Farrell at Union Area, noon.

Fox Chapel at Bethel Park

Franklin Regional at Norwin

Frazier, Bishop Canevin at Monessen

Freedom at Fort Cherry

Freeport at Apollo-Ridge

Gateway at Belle Vernon

Greensburg Central Catholic at Derry

Greensburg Salem at Greater Latrobe

Grove City at New Castle

Hempfield at Penn-Trafford

Highlands at Hampton

Indiana at Mt. Pleasant

Jeannette at Valley

Jefferson-Morgan at Beth-Center

Kiski Area at Butler

Leechburg at Northgate

Mapletown at Brownsville

Mars at Knoch

McGuffey at Hopewell

Montour at Rinngold

Morgantown, W.Va. at Laurel Highlands

Mt. Lebanon at West Allegheny

Neshannock at Sharpsville

North Allegheny at Penn Hills, 9:30 a.m.

North Hills at Plum

Peters Township at Seneca Valley

Pine-Richland at Woodland Hills

Pittsburgh Central Catholic at McKeesport

Rochester at Beaver

Serra Catholic at OLSH

Seton-LaSalle at Central Valley

Shenango at Wilmington

Slippery Rock at Mohawk

South Allegheny at Elizabeth Forward

South Fayette at Chartiers Valley

South Park at Thomas Jefferson

South Side at Quaker Valley

Springdale at Chartiers-Houston

Steel Valley at West Mifflin

Sto-Rox at Perry, Cupples Stadium

Summit Academy at Riverside

Trinity at Moon

University Prep at Clairton

Washington at Uniontown

Waynesburg Central at Albert Gallatin

Western Beaver at Avonworth

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.