Highlands, Burrell to square off in high stakes showdown

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | 5:46 PM

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It’s the stretch run to the WPIAL playoffs, and for Burrell and Highlands, an Allegheny 7 Conference clash Friday at Burrell’s Buccaneer Stadium is rife with playoff implications.

While both teams’ players and coaches understand how important the game is in the conference standings and for the playoff picture in Class 3A, the focus, they stress, is squarely on winning this week and letting everything else around it take care of itself.

“The kids understand how big the game is and how good of a team Highlands is and how they are playing some really good football right now,” said Burrell coach Dom Girardi, whose Bucs have won two in a row in conference play — 29-28 over East Allegheny and 41-21 over Valley — to move to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

“It is a rivalry week, so there is that extra excitement. It is just a matter of them getting to focus on the task at hand. They are pumped coming off those two wins. They’ve built even more confidence. This whole year has been a building process for them, and I am happy and proud of where we have gotten, especially with some injuries and other things we have had to deal with. They are working hard and are doing what we are asking them to do. It is great for them to see the fruits of their labor.”

Highlands also comes into Friday’s game winner of two in a row in conference play.

The Golden Rams raced past Deer Lakes two weeks ago for a 35-0 victory and needed overtime last Friday to complete a dramatic 28-27 win over previously undefeated Freeport.

“With how last week’s game unfolded and finished, with all the emotions that came out of it, I knew it was going to be interesting to see how we regrouped and refocused for another big game this week,” Highlands coach Matt Bonislawski said.

“We had our way with (Burrell) last year (61-0 at Highlands), but they are a completely different team this year with a different coaching staff. We wanted them to focus in just as they have all season. We wanted to continue to work on ourselves and worry about what we can do to be a better football team and come out Friday ready to go.”

The top three teams from each of the three Class 3A conferences automatically qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. There are three other wild cards that will be selected by the WPIAL football committee.

Highlands is seeking its fifth consecutive trip to the WPIAL playoffs, and Burrell is hoping to make it back to the postseason after a one-year hiatus.

The Golden Rams have a 6-2 lead in the all-time series against Burrell, with the last Bucs win coming in 1999.

Bonislawski said Burrell is a dangerous team that still likes to run the ball a majority of the time but can open up the playbook with the passing of sophomore quarterback Antonio Perkins.

Last week against Valley, Perkins ran for 303 yards, 17 yards shy of the Burrell single-game record of 320 held by Brock White.

Junior Trey Coury, a 1,000-yard runner a year ago, added 159 yards against Valley. Coury and Perkins’ total of 462 rushing yards was a team rushing record for a single game.

“You can see that toughness in Burrell’s players,” Bonislawski said. “They are well-coached. They have different formations and schemes that have given defenses a lot of problems. They are fundamentally sound. It is a different look to them this year in terms of the way they play and their effort. From seeing different games this year, you can tell they have improved from week to week.

“(Perkins) is a great athlete. He’s all over the field on both sides of the ball. It’s going to be a great challenge trying to contain him and bottle him up. We’ve seen Coury before, and we know he is such a powerful runner.”

Highlands sophomore Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg again was featured prominently last week. He rushed for all four Golden Rams touchdowns, including the overtime score, and then blocked Freeport’s extra point after its OT touchdown to seal the win.

“That was a really big football game for us,” Bonislawski said. “Freeport was undefeated. It was their homecoming. It was just a great atmosphere. We made a lot of mistakes where we could’ve had it to where it didn’t have to go to overtime. But we’re working on correcting those things this week.”

Cratsenberg finished with 32 carries for 235 yards. He totaled 50 carries for 423 yards and eight touchdowns combined against Deer Lakes and Freeport.

Girardi knows that while Cratsenberg is a major force for the Golden Rams, there are others who can create havoc and make plays.

“(Cratsenberg) is such an explosive and athletic player,” Girardi said. “They are a really solid football team all the way around. There’s no weakness. They have size, strength and ability up front and have athletes all over the place. They are a well-rounded team that is playing really good football right now. We are focusing on the task at hand and not looking to anything past Friday.”

Friday’s game marks Girardi’s first against his former team. He coached at Highlands for five seasons through 2021. He went 21-26 with the Golden Rams and led them to the WPIAL playoffs in his final year.

“The focus is on the kids and their approach to the game,” Girardi said. “But does this game cause me to think back to my time at Highlands? Sure it does. I try to not think about it too much because I have other things to worry about with getting the team prepared to play Friday. But when I do think back, I do so with great memories of a lot of great relationships that I built there with the kids and the community. Nothing but good thoughts when it comes to that.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Highlands