Friday Night HighLights – 11/05/2011

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, November 5, 2011 | 11:55 AM

The spotlight always shines brighter in the WPIAL Playoffs. The pressure and the expectations mount in this lose and go home format. Thus when players get it done in Primetime, they earn another chance to shine on an even bigger stage the following week as the postseason field continues to shrink. Here are the players that turned in perfect driving records on their first trip in 2001 down the Highway to Heinz.

Jordan Brown – Seneca Valley
It has been a while since Seneca Valley last won a WPIAL football playoff game. OK, it’s been nine long years since the Raiders escaped the First Round, but whose counting. Quarterback Jordan brown led the way through the air at Plum High School, hitting on 23 of 38 passes for 254 yards and the game’s first touchdown on a 47-yard pass to Forest Barnes as the Raiders took the lead for good in what would be a 30-13 triumph over the Penn Hills Indians, setting up a Northern Seven Conference rematch for Seneca Valley against top-seed North Allegheny.

Damion Jones-Moore – Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Just what Peters Township wanted…an angry and undefeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic draw in the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs. Selected as the 2nd-seed instead of the top-seed, The Vikings are driven to prove the committee wrong, and the first step was guided by senior Damion Jones-Morre, who rushed for 186 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Vikings cruised to a 42-14 victory over the Indians and advance to face Mount Lebanon in Round Two.

Luke Hagy – Mount Lebanon
Luke Hagy has done it all on the ground for Mount Lebanon, so in a tie game in an opening round playoff battle against Woodland Hills, it was time for Hagy to make another big play. This time however it was not with his legs, but with his arm. Hagy rushed for 146 yards and scored three touchdowns, one on a run and two on a pair of scoring passes from Pat Goff, but turned gunslinger in the third quarter when he threw a 7-yard halfback option pass to Dan Graziano in what proved to be the winning score in the Blue Devils 28-21 victory over the Wolverines.

Rushel Shell – Hopewell
Record continue to fall for the great senior running back from Hopewell, but all he is worried about is the win and adavance. Rushel Shell rushed for 256 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Vikings eliminated the Indiana Little Indians 41-13. In the game, Shell moved into second place on the all-time rushing list in PIAA history with 8,787 yards and trails Jeremiah Young's all-time state rushing record by 240 yards. Shell also tied a national record with his 38th consecutive 100-yard rushing game, tying the mark set by former Oklahoma and Detroit Lions great Billy Sims back in 1975.

Shamar Greene – West Mifflin
In what turned into a dog fight between Mars and West Mifflin in a Class AAA First Round playoff game, Shamar Greene and his teammates had the bigger bite. Greene rushed for 232 yards and scored on a 65-yard touchdown run early as the host Titans were able to eventually pull away to a 21-8 victory over the Fighting Planets to life West Mifflin to 9-1 and a huge showdown next week in the Quarterfinals against the Montour Spartans.

Dom Presto and Ryan Ruffing – Thomas Jefferson
While the 37-game conference winning streak ended last week, Thomas Jefferson was able to continue another streak on Friday…barely. TJ is on its way to the Quarterfinals for the 16th consecutive season thanks to a mean 1-2 punch that powered them past Greensburg-Salem in Overtime. Quarterback Dom Presto threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns plus ran for the game ending score in OT while Ryan Ruffing rushed for 206 yards and scored twice as the Jaguars edged the Golden Lions 34-28.

Dillon Buechel and Julian Durden – Montour
Speaking of 1-2 punches, Montour has a pretty good one of their own and they were on display Friday night at home in the opening round of the Class AAA playoffs. Quarterback Dillon Buechel hit on 13 of 22 passes for 183-yards and SIX touchdown tosses while Julian Durden was getting it done on the ground with 178-yards rushing with a touchdown run and a touchdown reception as the Spartans cruised to a 55-20 rout of the Chartiers Valley Colts.

Reggie Mitchell – Shady Side Academy
He is the focus of every opponents defensive coaches and schemes, yet Shady Side Academy quarterback Reggie Mitchell continues to get it done. The Wisconsin recruit not only did the job on defense all night long, but he also rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns in a solid 35-21 victory over the Beaver Falls Tigers that even though the Indians were home and the higher seed, surprised some as the Allegheny Conference prevailed in this matchup against the Midwestern Conference.

Kevin Hart – Seton-LaSalle
Seton-LaSalle head coach Greg Perry said he can’t help but feel that when he takes the field with Kevin Hart, he has the best player in that game. Hart continued to show why his coach has great faith in him as he ran amuck in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs. Hart rushed for 224 yards and scored on runs of 54, 58, 4, and 42-yards as the Rebels remained undefeated in cruising past the East Allegheny Wildcats by a score of 48-12.

Sean Dugan and Chris Liberto–Springdale
This is our third one-two punch from the opening round of the playoffs, but these two Springdale players really lived up to the teams nickname as they exploded all over host Monessen. Sean Dugan rushed for 221 yards and scored on three long touchdown runs of 31 yards or more while teammate Chris Liberto gained 183 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Dynamos pounded the Greyhounds 65-30 to earn a shot at going Big Bear hunting next week in the Quarterfinals against top-seed Clairton.
 

Tags: Hopewell, West Mifflin