PIAA Football Championship Notebook

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, December 19, 2010 | 12:00 AM

For once Mother Nature cooperated with the PIAA on the third weekend of December, No changes to the schedule were necessary due to weather and no snow storms were in the forecast for the weekend. Kickoff temperature for the opening game was 32 degrees and sunny, and not a flake of snow to be found. The night time kickoff on Friday was not as warm at 28 degrees with again no precipitation.

Saturday's weather was picture perfect, with bright sunshine and very few clouds, with a kickoff temperature of 30 degrees. It actually warmed up for the night game, with kickoff temperature at 32 degrees.

* Both teams were well represented for the Class A game, Riverside made their first trip to the championships since 1997, Clairton is making their third consecutive trip to the championships. In the Class AAA game, Bishop McDevitt filled almost three quarters of the visitors side, Allentown Central Catholic filled all but two sections of the home side. The attendance was 3,200 for the Class A game and 5,722 for the nightcap.

* Clairton quarterback Desmond Green confirmed that he will make some official visits in the near future. Green is looking at Michigan State, Cincinnati, Texas Tech and Michigan since backing out of his commitment to Pitt. Green added that Michigan State and Texas Tech are the front runners and that he has not talked with new Pitt coach Michael Haywood as of Friday afternoon.

* Rumors were flying fast and furious that Clairton coach Tom Nola was going to step down after the game. In speaking with Coach Nola on the field, he first wanted to know where that game from. Nola offered an official no comment but sure sounded like a coach that was going to go for his 32nd consecutive win next season.

* Despite the loss, Riverside had several new entries into the Class A title game record book. Corey Talerico broke the record for most passing completions and attempts, going 17 of 36. The previous records were 16 of 31, held by his coach, Harry Armstrong, who led the Vikings in their only other championship trip. Skylar Lavage had seven catches, the previous high was six, held by Gene Gallagher, also from that 1997 Riverside team. Talerico threw for 223 yards, breaking Southren Columbia's Matt Kaskie 198 yards in 1998.

* The Clairton title was the ninth for the WPIAL in Class A. Before the Bears claimed their back to back titles, the last WPIAL title was in 2001 with Rochester.

* After a 3 hour and 14 minute game in the Class A title game, PIAA officials backed up the kickoff of the Class AAA game to 7:30 so both teams had the proper time to warm up.

* The WPIAL was represented on the field by three teams and by a crew of officials, working the Class AAA title game, headed up by referee John Mynahan. Eric Hall, Thomas Maher, Martin Linn, Thomas DeMaria, Mark Emmerling and Matthew Grossman.

* District 10 also send a veteran crew of officials, who worked the Class AA game. Veteran referee Jack Thorn headed the crew. Thorn is one of a handful of officials that have worked both a state football and basketball title game. Joining Thorn were Riley Smoot, John Piatek, Pat DeGerlamo, Marc Gargano, Bob Latta and Terry Ruffo.

* Bishop McDevitt star Jameel Poteat also made a verbal commitment to Pitt in the summer. Poteat is listed by most services as a top 10 running back in the country. Poteat is also looking elsewhere, Cincinnati is now his top option with Rutgers, Tennessee and Michigan State among others.

* The Class AAA record book also took a hit as Brian Nosovitch of Allentown Central Catholic passed for 236 yards, breaking Tyler Palko's 202 yard performance in the 2001 title game.

* District 10 also send a veteran crew of officials, who worked the Class AA game. Veteran referee Jack Thorn headed the crew. Thorn is one of a handful of officials that have worked both a state football and basketball title game. Joining Thorn were Riley Smoot, John Piatek, Pat DeGerlamo, Marc Gargano, Bob Latta and Terry Ruffo.

* For South Fayette, star running back Jeff Davis played with a brace on his right knee. Davis was limited in mobility and only carried the ball five time. Davis was not much of a threat as a receiver as he caught one pass for zero yards.

* West Catholic coach Brian Fluck was asked if he was having flashbacks of two years ago when the Burrs lost to Wilmington in overtime. Fluck said it never entered his mind, as he was focused on this year's game.

* South Fayette's number one fan and inspiration for the season Bill Faraci was in atttendance, watching from the press box. Faraci was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma in June and missed the WPIAL Championship game. Faraci's son Ryan is an assistant coach with the Lions, another son Nick is a starting two way lineman. The senior Faraci underwent a stem cell transplant in early November. The team dedicated the season to Faraci in August.

* Attendance was down for the Class AA game, only 2,109 fans were in attendance.

* North Allegheny head coach Art Walker sounded like a coach that was confident in his team, no matter what the so-called experts predicted. Walker said he enjoyed the underdog role both in the WPIAL and PIAA title runs, not many people picked the Tigers after falling to North Hills in the regular season finale. That trend continued into the WPIAL championship game against Woodland Hills and into the state playoffs after the Tigers suffered several key injuries, including top rusher Alex Papson.

* Papson was one of the players called on to take the PIAA gold football during the championship ceremony.

* When thinking about North Allegheny's title wins, you can't help thinking that maybe someone was looking down on the Tigers during the playoffs. Don Vandergrift, the founder of the North Allegheny Sports Network, passed away after complications from surgery early in the regular season. Those who knew Don, can attest that he is grinning from ear to ear with the Tigers success.

* Speaking of the North Allegheny Sports Network, announcers Randy Gore and Rick Meister cut it close getting to the game site just minutes before the scheduled start of the broadcast and weaved their way thru the crowd to the press box with a little help from a member of the MSA family. The reason for the late arrival, the announcers were traveling on the same bus as the NA cheerleaders and we are betting that was a loud ride home. In all seriousness, great job by Randy and Rick taking over the NASN on a sad note.