Highway to Heinz – Round One Recaps

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 6, 2010 | 12:00 AM

Home cookin was the rule of thumb in the opening round of the 2010 WPIAL Football Playoffs. 23 of the 32 teams that hosted First Round games were winners and are moving on to the Quarterfinals. Here are recaps from most of the eight games in each classification.

Thanks to Dennis Fischer, Matt Vandriak, Sam Hall, Randy Gore, Lou Rood, Adam Gusky, Rick Smith and Bob Orkwis for their help on the Class AAAA recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 37 – Pine-Richland Rams 10
The #1 seeded Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of the WPIAL football playoffs on Friday night with a convincing 37-10 win over the #16 seeded Pine-Richland Rams at Fox Chapel High School. The teams traded field goals in the 1st Quarter, Central Catholic's Jon Murphy's 32 yard kick opening the scoring and then Pine-Richland's Christian Howachak answering two minutes later with a 34 yarder of his own.  But the Vikings took control of the game in the 2nd Quarter as Damian Jones-Moore rushed for three touchdowns on runs of 9, 43, and 2 yards to give Central Catholic a 24-3 halftime advantage. Central Catholic added two more rushing touchdowns in the 3rd Quarter, the first by Jones-Moore on a 10 yard dash, and then from 4 yards out by Luigi Lista-Brinza to move the Vikings to a 37-3 lead.  Pine-Richland scored early in the 4th Quarter on a 3 yard Tom Berexa run to close out the scoring. Central Catholic (10-0) will meet Gateway, winners over Erie McDowell in another First Round game, next Friday night at 7:30 at a site to be determined.  Pine-Richland ends it's season at 3-7.

Gateway Gators 37 – Erie McDowell Trojans 21  
The Gateway Gators rode the arm and the legs of QB Thomas Woodson to a victory at Antimarino Stadium in Monroeville.  After a scoreless 1st Quarter, the Trojans broke through with the games opening points on the first play of the 2nd Quarter, as Colin Kimball hit John Dahlstrand with a 19-yard TD pass.  Ryan Mong's extra point put Erie McDowell up 7-0 with 11:54 left in the opening half.  Gateway would answer on the ensuing drive, as Thomas Woodson's 1yd run and Eric Fitchwell's PAT would tie the score at 7-7 with 7:47 left in the 2nd Quarter.  The Gators would take the lead for the first time on their next possession.  Darin Franklin's punt return set the Gators up in McDowell territory, and 3 plays later they would go up 14-7 on Demond Haynes 3yd TD run with 2:27 left in the half.  After the Gateway defense held the Trojans 3-and-out, the Gators would get the ball back with :58 seconds left, which was plenty of time for Gateway to add one more score.  Woodson found Davantae Butler from 10-yards out with a scoring pass to give Gateway a 21-7 lead with just :13 seconds left in the 1st Half. The Gators would score on their fourth consecutive possession to start the 2nd Half.  This time Haynes ran it in from 2yds out, the PAT was missed, but Gateway led 27-7 with 7:36 left in the 3rd Quarter.  McDowell would answer on the ensuing possession, as Jeremy Baronner would find the end zone on a 4-yard run to cut the Gateway lead to 27-14 with 2:16 left in the 3rd Quarter.  The Trojans would score on their next drive as well, this time it was Kimball's 1-yard run with 9:23 left in the 4th Quarter to cut the lead to 27-21.  The Gators would than take the final bite out of McDowell on the next drive, as Woodson's 43-yard TD run would put the Gators ahead 34-21 with 6:16 remaining.  Armstead Williams would than intercept Kimball and return it into Trojans territory, and Eric Fitchwell would convert a 34-yard FG with 3:51 left to close the scoring at 37-21. Woodson, Gateway's sophomore QB, had a great night, rushing for 161 yards and 2 TD's, and going 12-16 passing for 161 yards and another score.  Greg Garmon led the way for McDowell, carrying 13 times for 113 yards.  The Gators (6-4) now move on to take on top-seeded Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the Quarterfinals.  Erie McDowell finishes their first season as a member of the WPIAL at 7-3.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 24 – McKeesport Tigers 21
The Bethel Park Black Hawks overcame a 14-0 halftime defecit to defeat the McKeesport Tigers 24-21 in an opening round game in the AAAA football playoffs Friday night. The 13 seeded Hawks trailed 21-10 with 7:43 remaining in regulation but scored 14 unanswered points in the final frame to came away with the upset of the fourth seeded Tigers. Mckeesport's Sam Gooden scored the third of his three touchdowns on the night from 46 yards out with 7:43 left in the fourth quarter to put the Tigers up by that eleven point margin and it looked like that would be it for the upstart Hawks, but Bethel got a good return on the kickoff from Eric Malle and starting at their own 34 yard line, marched it 66 yards in 3:48 seconds, with Bre Ford taking it in from three yards out to make it 21-16. The Black Hawks attempt at a two-point conversion was no good and with 3:55 to play the Tigers lead was cut to five. After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Black Hawks defense forced a three-and-out, on the third down play McKeesport running back and punter Sam Gooden was injured and unable to punt. the Tigers were forced to send Delvon Simmons back to do the punting, Simmons punt took a Bethel Park bounce and ended up netting 19 yards, setting up Bethel Park at the Mckeesport 44 yard line with little more than two minutes to play. Bethel Park got a first down at the McKeesport 29 yard line after a pass interference call then a big run from Bre Ford to get deepe into Tiger territory. The Hawks had first and goal from the seven yard line but on three plays from scrimmage were only able to get a single yard, after a time out, and facing 4th and goal quarterback Anthony Cinello hit tight end Christopher Rizzo in the middle of the end zone with a six yard touchdown pass to give the Hawks their first lead of the game with 17.5 seconds remaining. Bre Ford ran in the two-point conversion to push the Bethel Park lead to 24-21, and the defense stood tall in the closing seconds to secure the win for Bethel Park as they improve to 5-5 on the year and move into the quarter finals to face North Allegheny. McKeesport sees their season come to a close at 8-2. Sam Gooden ends his high school football career with another impressive performance for the Tigers rushing for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well as catching a 45 yard screemn pass for a touchdown, before exiting the game late with what appeared to be a shoulder injury of some sort. Bethel's Bre Ford carried 27 times for 52 yards and a touchdown in the win. Hawks' junior quarterback Anthony Cinello completed five of nine passes for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns including a 25-yarder to Lewis Dibble and the game winner to Rizzo.   

North Allegheny Tigers 38 – Peters Township Indians 7
The North Allegheny Tigers advance to the quarterfinals of the Quad-A playoffs with a 38-7 win over Peters Township on Friday night.  It was Peters Township who had the early momentum however, as Andrew Erenburgs 19-yard touchdown run with 5:30 left in the first quarter quieted the crowd at Newman Stadium and put the Indians in front at 7-3.  Once the game moved into the second quarter, North Allegheny flipped the switch and struck for three quick touchdowns.  The Tigers got two touchdown runs from Alex Papson and a 12-yard touchdown pass by Michael Buchert to receiver Dan Slivka to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.  To start the second half, North Allegheny continued their onslaught with a three-and-out stop on defense and a six-play, 46 yard drive on offense that was capped on a one-yard touchdown run by Papson to up the Tigers advantage to 31-7.  After a Slivka interception, Buchert threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this time a 57-yard strike to Brandan Coniker to bring the game to its eventual final score, 38-7.  North Allegheny advances to face Bethel Park next week.  

Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 35 – Plum Mustangs 14
The # 2 seeded Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils advanced with a relatively easy 35-14 victory over the Plum Mustangs Friday evening.  Mt. Lebanon controlled the game throughout starting with a 6 play 65 yard drive to open the game topped by Luke Hagy's 34 yard touchdown run at the 8:22 mark of the first quarter.  Bill Postufka added the first of his 5 extra points on the night and the Blue Devils led 7-0.  Plum muffed the ensuing pooch kickoff which was recovered by Tim Briercheck at the Mustang 27 yard line.  8 plays later Briercheck was the recipient of a 3 yard touchdown pass from Pat Goff to give Mt. Lebanon an early 13-0 lead.  Postufka's kick made it 14-0 with almost 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter.  That marked the end of the scoring in the first half as Plum headed to the locker room down two touchdowns. They got what they needed to start the 2nd half when CJ Lutz retuned the kickoff to the Mustang 47 yard line, but Mt. Lebanon's defense stiffened and forced a 3 and out.  Eddie Stover's punt forced Luke Hagy back to his own 15 yard line, but he did the rest from there stunning the Mustangs with an 85 yard punt return to make it 21-0 Mt. Lebanon at the 10:51 mark of the 3rd quarter.  Plum answered the Blue Devil score with a 6 play 72 yard drive of their own finished off by a Chris Zdinak 43 yard touchdown pass to CJ Lutz at the 8:04 mark of the 3rd.  Stover's kick made it 21-7 and it looked like Plum had come up with a big play when Corey Meyer intercepted a Pat Goff pass at the Mustang 10 yard line to thwart a Blue Devil drive at the 3:58 mark of the 3rd.  However Plum running back Demetrius Wellington fumbled on the next play and Devon Lauer recovered for Mt. Lebanon at the Mustang 16 yard line.  Luke Hagy again made thempay as he took it in from 16 yards out for his 3rd TD of the game at the 3:46 mark to make it 28-7 after Postufka's kick.  Jake Alberts closed out the Blue Devil's scoring at the 5:20 mark of the 4th quarter with a pick six 34 yard interception return of a Chris Zdinak pass.  Down 35-7 Plum's Tarique Ellis ran the ensuing kick back 51 yards and a 15 yard personal foul penalty tacked on to the end of the play set up Plum at the Blue Devil 20 yard line.  Bob Sekerka finished out the scoring on the night with a 4 yard run and Stover's kick made it a 35-14 final. Hagy ended up with 170 yards rushing on 27 carries  and added 97 yards on punt returns to go with his 3 touchdowns.  Mt. Lebanon outrushed Plum 226 to 51 and dominated the time of possesion 33:05 to 16:55.  Chris Zdinak threw for 108 yards for Plum with 1 TD but also an interception that was returned for a TD.  Plum finishes the season at 6-4 while Mt. Lebanon improves to 10-0 and advances to play Woodland Hills in the next round of the WPIAL AAAA Playoffs.

Woodland Hills Wolverines 45 – Norwin Knights 7
The theme for Woodland Hills in week 1 of the WPIAL Playoffs was the "Pitts Parade". Senior RB Lafayette Pitts racked up 228 yards on 11 carries and scored 4 touchdowns, all before the halfway point of the 2nd Qtr.  The Wolverines got the scoring started early. WH Linebacker, Mike Caprara, recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff at the Norwin 22 yard-line. A few plays later, Lafayette Pitts scored his first TD. With just under 7 minutes remaining in the 1st Qtr, Woody High got the ball at their on 4 yard line and marched 96 yards for their second TD of the game. This time it was a 3 yard Pitts plunge. With just over 2 minutes to go in the 1st frame, Woodland Hills got the ball at their own 46. A couple of downs later Lafayette Pitts raced 47 yards for his third TD of the affair. With just about 10 minutes remaining in the 1st half, the Wolverines got the ball at their own 22. Less than 2 minutes later, Lafayette Pitts rambled 55 yards for his fourth and final TD. At this point, Woodland Hills Head Coach, George Novak, began to call off the dogs. With six and a half minutes to go in the 2nd Qtr, WH got the ball at the Knights' 48 and drove to the Norwin 14. That is when All-State Kicker, Sam Scifo, booted a 31 yard FG. Fast-forward to the 3rd Qtr. The stingy Woody High defense forced a turnover-on-downs, and gave the offense the ball at the Norwin 45. On the ensuing play, QB Patrick Menifee found FB Terry Champine along the sideline, and Champine bolted 45 yards for a TD. Moving to the 4th Qtr, the Knights finally cracked the scoreboard with about five and a half minutes to go. A reverse and flea-flicker led to the 31 yard TD pass from Derek Frye to Andy Carter. The Wolverines scored for the last time on the ensuing drive. This time it was a 22 yard TD scamper on an end-around by Chris Thompson. With the victory, Woodland Hills faces Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Quarterfinals next Friday.

North Hills Indians 20 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 3
Relying on a typical stifling defensive effort, third-seeded North Hills (9-1) cruised to a 20-3 first round WPIAL Class AAAA playoff win over Penn-Trafford (4-6) tonight at Martorelli Stadium. The Indians caused three Penn-Trafford turnovers, while committing none themselves, and held one of the WPIALs top running backs, Manny Simpson, to just 39 rushing yards on 21 carries. Simpson, a Penn-Trafford junior with a very bright future, entered the game with 1,195 yards rushing on the season, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. The North Hills defense has now allowed opponents just 93 points in ten games this season. North Hills senior quarterback Taylor Schmidt scored two touchdowns on runs of one and six yards to lead the way for the Indians offense. Senior running back Josh Neurohr chipped in with 79 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries to bolster the Indians offensive effort. The victory marks the fifth straight time North Hills has defeated the Warriors in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs since 2003. The Indians advance to the quarterfinals to play Upper St. Clair (8-2) in a marquee matchup that will feature two of the WPIALs most storied head coaches. North Hills Jack McCurry and the Panthers Jim Render have combined for 601 career victories.

Upper St. Clair Panthers 37 – Penn Hills Indians 21
The Panthers used a strong rushing attack lead by Connor Scott and Dakota Conwell to power past the Indians and into the WPIAL AAAA Quarterfinals. Upper St. Clair rushed for over 300 yards and in the process avenged last years first round upset against Penn Hills. Scott rushed for 152 yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 4 and 22-yards. Conwell added 121-yards and scored his 16th touchdown of the season on a 37-yard run in the first quarter. Mitch Fawcett scored the games first touchdown on a 58-yard punt return. Corey Jones had a great night for Penn Hills in a losing effort. Jones caught an 80-yard TD pass from Phil Morford and added a 71-yard touchdown run. Jones rushed for over 120-yards and caught 4 passes for 108 yards. Penn Hills season ends at (5-5). Upper St. Clair, seeded 6th in the tournament, advances into the quarterfinals to face 3rd seeded North Hills (9-1).

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Thanks to Rob Matzie, Don Rebel, Bob Gregg, Adam Hoerner, Dan Zangrilli, Brian Mroziak, Scott Briggs and Dow Carnahan for their help on the Class AAA recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round:

Montour Spartans 21 – West Mifflin Titans 13
The number one seed Montour Spartans had a hard time getting in gear tonight, mostly because the West Mifflin Titans played with them toe to toe and led for much of the first half.  The Titans got on the scoreboard first at the 3:13 mark of the first quarter and led 7-0 until just before the half when the Spartans finally got going offensively scoring on a 13 yard pass play from Dillon Buechel to Darren Masey with 1:34 to go in the 2nd quarter.
After the half, the Spartans got there first lead of the night at the 7:30 mark of the third quarter when Devin Willson reeled in a 9 yard pass from Buechel.  The score gave Montour a 14-7 lead.  Montour wasn't finished scoring as they increased their advantage at the 7:38 mark of the 4th quarter when Julian Durden finally got into the endzone from 3 yards out giving the top seed a 21-7 lead.  The Titans however still had fight left scoring with 4:38 left in the game as quarterback Jordan McClung hooked up with fullback Jamar Adams from 11 yards out.  The PAT failed and the score stood at 21-13.  West Mifflin had one last chance to potentially tie as their defense held Montour while utilizing good time management using their timeouts to give them the ball back  after a Spartans punt with just under 2 minutes to go.  The Montour defense however had other plans blitzing and holding the Titans to 4 downs and out getting the ball back to down the football enroute to the win ending the possibility of a a David vs. Goliath 16 vs. 1 upset. With he victory Montour improves to 10-0 and West Mifflin finishes the season at 4-6.

Indiana Little Indians 42 – Belle Vernon Leopards 38
At Belle Vernon High School, Indiana quarterback Kyle Edgar was 7 of 12 passing for 242 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winning score on a 56-yard strike to Tyrel Venay in the fourth quarter as the Little Indians knocked out the Belle Vernon Leopards 42-38. Ian Dobbins, who earlier returned a kickoff 85-yard for a touchdown, scored on a 6-yard run in the fourth to put Belle Vernon up 38-35 before the Edgar to Venay hookup lifted Indiana, now 8-2, to the Qaurterfinals where they will face top-seed Montour. Anthony Piccolinni rushed for 114 yards with two touchdowns for the Little Indians. Leopards quarterback Matt Naylor was only 12 of 27 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown as Belle Vernon finishes with a 5-5 record.

Mars Fighting Planets 52 – Hollidaysburg Golden Tigers 20
Austin Miele stole the show and nearly broke a WPIAL rushing record in the process as host Mars blasted Hollidaysburg 52-20. Miele missed the WPIAL single game rushing record by only seven yards as he gained 448 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns for the Fighting Planets. Jacob Wright added a pair of touchdowns, including a 52-yard interception return for a score. Golden Tigers quarterback Chad Barton finished 16 of 36 passing for 191 yards and a touchdown as Hollidaysburg completed their first season as a member of the WPIAL with a 6-3 record. Mars, the 4th-seed, improves to 9-1 and will battle defending champion West Allegheny in the Quarterfinals next week.

West Allegheny Indians 35 – Trinity Hillers 14
Aaron McKinney ran for 163 yards and three touchdowns as West Allegheny opened defense of its WPIAL Class AAA championship with a solid 35-14 win over visiting Trinity Friday night.  The senior halfback found paydirt on runs of 15 and three yards on the Indians' first two possessions, then scored from a yard out to open the third quarter and put the game out of reach.  West Allegheny will face Mars in the WPIAL Quartefinals next weekend. The Indians (7-3) took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on a dozen plays, McKinney capping the drive with 5:12 left on the first-quarter clock. Trinity tried to convert fourth and nine at the WA 43 but failed and the Indians took over.  Nine plays later McKinney powered in over the right side and Steve Amic's PAT made it 14-0 early in the second. Trinity (6-4) was set to receive the second half kickoff, but the kick hit off the shoulder pads of Tyler Yocca, West Allegheny recovering at the eight yard line.  On third down, McKinney ran left to the endzone, building a commanding 21-0 lead early in the third period.  Trinity got on the board on Patrick Frey's 21 yard run on the ensuing possession, the first of two TD's for the Hillers' freshman.  But Alex Sinclair caught a 6-yard scoring pass from Dylan Bongiorni and Nick Halbedl ran in from 33 yards out to put the game out of reach.  Halbedl ran for 50 yards on eight carries, Sinclair added 42 yards on 10 runs. Frey finished with 93 yards rushing on 12 carries, Yocca added 8 carries for 52 yards. The wide-spread thought is that this game marked the end of Ed Dalton's coaching stint at Trinity.  After many early struggles in his tenure, Dalton was able to bring his coaching record at Trinity to nearly .500.  Bobby Jones was named to replace Dalton as Athletic Director earlier this year.

Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 42 – Highlands Golden Rams 7
Despite a couple of big offensive plays, it was really the defense which propelled Thomas Jefferson (9-1, 7-0) into the 2010 WPIAL Quarterfinals with a 42-7 victory at home over Highlands (5-5, 3-3). After the two teams traded punts early in the first quarter, quarterback Dom Presto hooked up with wide receiver Nick Raimondi on a 48-yard bomb which put the Jaguars up 7-0 after Mike Wainauskas' extra point. About 2:30 later, it was T.J. Matrascia intercepting the Golden Rams' signal caller Seth Goheen and returning it 70 yards to put the home team up 14-0 after one. Just 37 ticks into the second, Angelo Natter recovered a Highlands fumble off a botched handoff exchange, and running back Ryan Ruffing would break off a 58-yard touchdown romp on the ensuing play to put the Jags up 21-0. Presto would find Tom Greives in the end zone from 18 yards out with 1:17 to go in the half before Ruffing took back the second pick-six of the night, this a 35-yard return, with under 30 seconds on the clock for a 35-0 halftime score. The third quarter would see Ruffing cap his 110-yard rushing night with a 10-yard touchdown before the Rams would spoil the shutout midway through the fourth on an 11-yard strike from Goheen to Alan Crise. Mike Masarik's kick would be the final tally of the night as Thomas Jefferson advances to face Hopewell next Friday night.

Hopewell Vikings 24 – Franklin Regional Panthers 14
The Hopewell Vikings won their fifth straight game to defeat the Franklin Regional Panthers in Murraysville on Friday night, 24-14.   After Hopewell jumped out to a 7-0 edge by way of a fourth down, 19-yard touchdown from pass to Rushel Shell, Franklin Regional would score 14 unanswered points using big special teams plays to grab a 14-7 edge.  Shell's second touchdown of the evening would tie the game midway through the second quarter to knot the score, 14-14 and it would be deadlocked until the fourth quarter.  The Vikings tallied 10 unanswered points using a field goal drive and Shell's third touchdown of the game to prevail 21-14.  Shell was held to 36 first half rushing yards, but tallied 70 yards in the third quarter alone to finish with 135 total rushing yards on the night along with the three scores.  The Vikings (6-4) will meet the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars int he quarterfinals while Franklin Regional finished the 2010 season with a 6-3 record.

Central Valley Warriors 21 – Ringgold Rams 13
The 14th seeded Central Valley Warriors picked up their 1st playoff win in school history upsetting the 3rd seeded Ringgold Rams 21 to 13 on Friday Night at Joe Montana Stadium. Central Valley controlled the game on the ground rushing the ball 52 times for 237 yards.  Lucas Turley lead Central Valley on the ground with 125 yards rushing.  Ringgold scored first 2:30 into the game as Dylan Patch found Nick McPherson on a 25 yard touchdown pass to give Ringgold a 7-0 lead.  Less than a minute later Central Valley answered back as Matt Bradford hooked up with sophomore Robert Foster on a 61 yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.   Matt Bradford's 1 yard touchdown run gave Central Valley 14 to 7 halftime lead.  Derrick Fiore pulled Ringgold back to within 1 of Central Valley on an 88 yard touchdown run midway through the 3rd quarter, but a blocked extra point kept Central Valley in the lead 14 to 13.  Lucas Turley's 3 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter capped the scoring giving Central Valley the 21 to 13 win.  The Warriors will face Knoch in the quarterfinals next Friday.    

Knoch Knights 21 – Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions 14
RECAP A:  The Knoch Knights advanced on to the quarter-final round of the WPIAL Playoffs with a 21-14 win over the Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions in Saxonburg Friday night. The penalty-filled first half ended in a 7-7 draw (5 holding calls between the two teams). The Knights scored first on a 39 yard TD pass from Ky Kenyon to Dakota Bruggeman near the end of the first quarter. However, Greensburg-Salem evened things up with a TD pass from Josh Falatovich to Tanner Hahn on 4th and goal from the 3 yard line late in the second quarter. In the second half, the Knights offense came alive after Knoch head coach Mike King inserted injured senior captain and fullback Adam Tuzikow (ankle).  Tuzikow, who did not play in the first half,  ripped-off a 39 yard run to the Golden Lions 1 yard line on Knochs second possession of the second half – that set-up a Kenyon TD run that put the Knights up 14-7. The Golden Lions would not go quietly and put together a 14 play – 69 yard drive, capped off by Mike Kizzies 7 yard run to tie the game with 8:28 to play.  But on the next series, Tuzikow bolted into the clear and on a bad ankle ran 47 yards (but an illegal block call reduced it to 36 yards) and set up the Knights for the go-ahead TD. With 4:45 to go, Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin followed a block by Bruggeman into the endzone from 8 yards out to finish the scoring.  Knochs defense finished out the night with an interception by Rumburg-Goodlin – and now advance on the Highway to Heinz. The excitement of the night was tempered at the start of the 4th quarter when Knoch captain and defensive end James Zellhart had to be taken from the field on a stretcher.  No word on the extent of his injury.  

RECAP B:  The Knoch Knights opened up the WPIAL AAA playoffs with a 21-14 win over the Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions.  Knoch scored first in the first quarter Ty Kenyon threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Dakota Brugamann.  Corey Wood added the extra point and the Knights led 7-0.  The Golden Lions drew even in the second quarter when Josh Falatovich tossed a 3-yard pass to Tanner Hahn.
Dane Magari tacked on the extra point to tie the score at 7-7.  In the third quarter Ty Kenyon scored on a 1-yard run and corey wood added the extra point to give Knoch a 14-7 lead.  Greensburg-Salem tied the game in th fourth stanza when Mike Kizzie scored on a 7-yard run.  Dane Magri added the extra point to make it 14-14.  Knoch then scored the winning touchdown when Andrew Rumberg-Goodlin took the ball in from 8-yards out.  Corey Wood added the extra point to make the final score 21-14.  Knoch outgained GS 328 TO 265.  Knoch is now 9-1 and will take on Central Valley in the AAA quarter finals.  Greensburg-Salem ends the season at 7-3.

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Thanks to Jim Frederick, Josh Rowntree, Larry Porterfield, Don Rebel, Mike Mallory, Bob Barrickman, Mark Schaas and Jonathan Whaley for their help on the Class AA recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AA FIRST ROUND:

Aliquippa Quips 41 – Shady Side Academy Indians 0
Aliquippa combined suffocating defense with a quick-strike offense in disposing of Shady Side Academy in a first round WPIAL AA contest….41-0. The Quips allowed just 27 yards to the Indians by halftime including minus 5 yards rushing in building up a 21-0 cushion.  Evidence of the big play came in two of the three scoring drives which took just 3 plays.  Freshman tailback Dravon Henry burst thru the Shady Side defense for an 83 yard TD run and the first quarter ended with a 7-0 Aliquippa advantage.  Add to that a 92 yard drive in just two plays and the game was well in hand for the Midwestern Conference champions…winners of 10 straight without a loss.  That drive started with a Henry 46-yard gallop followed by a 46 yard TD pass from Mikal Hall to Haetaun Mathis.  Henry's 2nd scoring run with 5:34 left in the 3rd quarter turned the game into a mercy-rule contest.  Hall threw for 117 yards and two scores while Henry carried the ball 14 times for 180 yards and Senior Ben Cobb added another score plus 102 yards rushing.
Shady Side could manage just 60 total yards for the game and finished 5-5 for the year.  11-0 Aliquippa will meet 8-2 Beaver in the 2nd round next week.  Those two played into overtime at Beaver just three weeks ago with the Quips prevailing 20-14.  Both are members of the MAC Conference.

Beaver Bobcats 34 – Deer Lakes Lancers 21
They say all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, for the Deer Lakes Lancers, that came to fruition Friday night as The Year of the Deer was cut short by a stellar all-around effort by the Beaver Bobcats. The Lancers, who were playing in their first playoff game in their 42-year history in front of a great crowd in Russerton, would get behind early and not be able to dig their way out of the hole, falling 34-21. On Deer Lakes first possession, they fumbled the ball on their own 3 yard-line. The fumble would lead to a Sam ONeill 2-yard touchdown run at the 5:47 mark of the first quarter. That would remain the score until the 7:49 mark of the of the second quarter when Nathan Mick was good on a 24-yard field goal, extending the Bobcats lead to 10-0. Just over five minutes later, Christian Herstine would find Justin Sosnowski wide open, down the middle for a 55-yard touchdown pass, extending the Beaver lead to 17-0 at the 2:12 mark in the 2nd. Deer Lakes would finally get a drive going after a 64-yard catch and run bubble screen from Pat Jones to Zac Capan. However, Jones would throw a costly interception in the endzone, taking the 17-0 score to the half. Deer Lakes would only put up 75 yards of total offense in the first half, with 64 of those yards coming on the pass to Capan. Things would stay the same until the 5:57 mark in the third, when Mick would again hit on a 33-yard field goal, making it 20-0 Beaver. Deer Lakes would finally get on the board though, scoring on an 18-yard pass from Jones to Jordan Fragapane at the 4:02 mark of the 3rd quarter, cutting the lead to 20-6 after a missed extra point. This came after a fumble by Beaver, their only turnover of the game. However, after the ensuing kickoff, Darian Bradley would rumble 72 yards down to the 3 yard-line. Bradley then put the ball into the endzone on the next play, making it 27-6 Beaver and scoring only 27 seconds after Deer Lakes had finally found some life. Midway through the 4th quarter, the Lancers would drive and, believe it or not, run a double-reverse to Capan inside of the Beaver 5 yard line. Capan would run into the endzone and, after a successful 2-point conversion, the Beaver lead was down to 27-14. The Beaver defense would stiffen though from there on. Deer Lakes would run a halfback pass across the field. Mark Wesolek took the pitch and threw back to across and downfield to Jones. However, the throw was wild, intercepted by Darian Bradley and returned for a 34-yard touchdown, making the score 34-14 and sealing the win for the Bobcats. Deer Lakes would get a score in the final minute on a Jones pass to Mitch Martin form five yards out, producing a final score of 34-21 and advancing the Bobcats to the WPIAL Quarterfinals where they will get a rematch with Conference foe and top-ranked Aliquippa, who they took to overtime earlier this season. For Beaver, Darian Bradley finished with 18 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown. Christian Herstine was only 2 for 5 passing, for 72 yards, including the 55-yarder to Sosnowski. Deer Lakes got a nice game from Brian Palmiere, who rushed 13 times for 84 yards. Pat Jones finished 10 for 22 for 133 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Lancers would turn the ball over four times, which proved to be the difference in the end.

Ford City Sabers 21 – East Allegheny Wildcats 14
The first half was a game of punt returns setting up good field positions for touchdowns.  Kent Commodore returned a punt to the East Allegheny 19. Devan Willyard scored on a 5 yd run.  Carlos Sloan returned a punt to the Ford City 40. Jody Harris hit Carlos Sloan for A 22 yd TD pass. Both teams missed the extra point. The score was tied at 6-6 at halftime. In the second half Mike Krochta scored on two 2-yard runs. They were sandwiched around a 92yd kickoff return by K J Marshall.  Carlos Sloan had a 4th down pass slide through his fingers in the endzone with 11 seconds left to play. Allowing Ford City to hold on for a 21-14 victory

Tags: Bethel Park, Erie McDowell, Gateway, McKeesport, Montour, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, North Hills, Norwin, Penn Hills, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Plum, Upper St. Clair, West Mifflin, Woodland Hills