Guido: Knoch’s Whalen wows in coaching debut

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 | 12:15 AM

What a way to begin a coaching career.

Knoch's Frank Whalen came up a winner in his coaching debut with the Knights last Friday in a 39-13 victory over Blackhawk.

What surprised some observers was not Knoch winning, but the margin by which it did.

Oddly enough, the game was played at Geneva College's Reeves Stadium. Blackhawk's new stadium on the high school campus is not finished.

After graduating from Valley in 1982, Whalen played for Geneva and was a Golden Tornadoes assistant coach the previous three seasons before taking over at Knoch.

“It was a lot of fun,” Whalen said about Friday's game. “Blackhawk's a very good football team, and it was good to get back to Reeves. Very enjoyable.”

Whalen has installed a triple option at Knoch, an offense run by Georgia Tech, Navy, McKeesport and few others. It's a difficult defense to prepare for, especially on the high school level, since not many teams employ it.

“It was clicking pretty well,” Whalen said. “It took us a series or two to get used to the defensive reads.”

Fullback Ivan Stapchack scored five touchdowns to lead the Knights.

The Knights will make their home debut Friday in a nonconference game against powerhouse West Mifflin. Knoch will play its first conference game at Highlands on Sept. 15.

Beaver County emptiness

Last Friday, it looked for a while like Burrell might win its first game in Beaver County.

The Bucs tied the game at Hopewell, 6-6, on an 86-yard run by Logan Bitar with 3 minutes, 58 seconds remaining. Hopewell proceeded to drive eight plays for the winning score with 1:01 to go.

Over the years, the Bucs have lost games at Ambridge, Beaver Area, Ellwood City, Blackhawk and, now, Hopewell.

It's tough for teams to win in Beaver County, but Apollo-Ridge has a chance to win a game there for the first time since 2000 when the Vikings visit Beaver Falls Friday.

Apollo-Ridge lost a playoff game against the Tigers two seasons ago in the waning seconds at Reeves Stadium.

Since a win at Riverside 17 seasons ago, Apollo-Ridge has lost games at Western Beaver, Monaca and South Side along with the 2015 setback at Beaver Falls.

PIAA to reduce sit time

The PIAA backed off a bit on its proposal to have athletes who transfer schools during the season sit out 21 days.

As of its last board meeting, the PIAA reduced the sit time to 14 days stating that presumptively eligible athletes transferring in season in the same sport sit out so district committees “have a chance to address situations.”

Under current regulations, let's say Johnny Juniper loses the starting quarterback job at School District X during training camp or early in the season.

Mr. Juniper then sees the school in the next town has quarterbacking problems, signs a 6-month lease on an apartment, and moves Johnny to School District Y, where he becomes the new starting quarterback.

Johnny satisfies the PIAA residency requirement and, presumably, had the grades at School X.

The PIAA can't really do much and has to allow Johnny Juniper to play because it's hard to prove the move is being made for athletic reasons.

The PIAA should have kept the sit-out period at 21 days to reduce the incentive to go school-shopping.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.

Tags: Knoch