Scholastic Notebook – 10/16/2015

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 16, 2015 | 1:32 PM

Aliquippa is the only school in the WPIAL to have four running backs rush for more than 4,000 yards in their careers.

There will likely be one for the thumb by the end of the season.

Aliquippa senior running back Kaezon Pugh went over 3,000 yards two weeks ago and now has 3,210. Barring injury, Pugh should get 4,000 this season. He has three regular-season games left and Aliquippa should play at least two playoff games. The Quips are undefeated and played in the WPIAL Class AA championship seven years in a row.

What’s impressive about Pugh is his yards-per-carry average. It’s almost 10 for his career. Pugh has 3,210 yards on 324 carries (9.9 average).

Pugh also is a standout linebacker and has Division I scholarship offers, mostly for defense. Pitt and West Virginia are two of his top choices.

The other four Aliquippa running backs who have rushed for 4,000 yards are Dravon Henry (2014 graduate with 5,454), Chico Williams (1993 graduate with 5,417), Pudgy Abercrombie (1985 graduate with 4,603) and Terry Swanson (2014 graduate) with 4,333. Henry is the eighth-leading rusher in WPIAL history and Williams ninth.

Aliquippa’s Streak

South Fayette’s 38-game winning streak is a hot topic in WPIAL football these days. But Aliquippa also is on a pretty impressive streak.

The Quips have won 57 regular-season games in a row. The last time Aliquippa lost was to Beaver Falls in 2009.

Ford Picks Pitt

The Pitt football team landed a big star from the WPIAL Friday.

Paris Ford, a standout junior receiver-defensive back for Seton-LaSalle, tweeted that he has made a verbal commitment to Pitt. Ford is a junior and ranked among the top 100 juniors in the country by scouting services.

“I had no idea he was going to decide so soon,” said Seton-LaSalle coach Damon Rosol.

Ford had scholarship offers from many schools, including Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCLA and Tennessee. Ford is a big-play receiver for Seton-LaSalle. The Rebels only throw 13 times a game and Ford has 19 catches for 417 yards, an average of 21.9 yards a catch. But he was recruited by Pitt to play safety.

For Seton-LaSalle, Ford is now playing linebacker because the Rebels need him mostly there.

Sanders Will Play

Miles Sanders, Woodland Hills’ standout running back, has missed the past two games with a heel injury. But he will play in Friday night’s big game against West Allegheny.

Blood Drive for Bronaugh

Central Blood Bank is having a blood drive to raise awareness for Aliquippa football player DiMantae Bronaugh and others like him.

Bronaugh is a senior running back who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, but was diagnosed with leukemia shortly before the season. Bronaugh is not playing this year.

Central Blood Bank and Bronaugh’s family have teamed up for a blood drive on Tuesday, from noon to 7 p.m., at Beaver United Methodist Church in Beaver. The drive is being called Replenish the Need Community Blood Drive.

According to Central Blood Bank, each collected unit of blood can support up to three lives.

Cartwright Moving Up

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer team has two of the top five leading goal scorers in WPIAL history. Before long, Greensburg Central could have three in the top five.

Bailey Cartwright, a junior at Greensburg Central Catholic, keeps scoring goals at a rapid pace. She heads into today’s game against St. Joseph leading the WPIAL in goals this season with 53. She now has 136 career goals, which places her sixth on the WPIAL’s all-time list.

Cartwright has a good chance to move into fifth by the end of the season. The No. 5 scorer in WPIAL history is Brianna Liebold of Chartiers-Houston with 146 goals.

The other two Greensburg Central graduates in the top five are Frannie Crouse and Malea Fabean. Crouse is No. 1 with 208 and Fabean No 4 with 152.

New Castle Without 13 Players

New Castle is trying to make the WPIAL Class AAA football playoffs and has a big game tonight against Ambridge. But New Castle will be without a bakers dozen of players.

Thirteen players will not play in the game because of their roles in a fight on the field before last Friday’s home game against Central Valley. Also, head coach Joe Cowart and one assistant will not coach because of the suspensions.

Originally, seven players and Cowart were ejected by game officials before the start of last Friday’s contest. Under PIAA rules, that made them ineligible for this week’s game. But after reviewing tape of the incident, New Castle school officials went ahead and also suspended six other players and an assistant for the game and

Game officials did not eject any Central Valley players last Friday. But Central Valley has suspended one player for this week’s game for his role in the fight.

Unusual Repeat

The Peters Township boys golf team won the WPIAL Class AAA championship Thursday for the second consecutive year. History says it’s a rare feat.

Peters Township became the first team to repeat as champion in the largest classification since Upper St. Clair won four in a row from 1998-2001.

Perretta to Penn State

Beaver Falls’ Dom Perretta is an outstanding distance runner. He has won the Class AA 800- and 1,600-meter runs the past two years at the state track championships. Next year, Perretta will run at Penn State. He committed to the Nittany Lions Thursday.

Tags: Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Greensburg C.C., Woodland Hills