Scholastic Notebook – 11/26/2012

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, November 26, 2012 | 2:11 PM

A year ago, Clairton was the only WPIAL team to make it to a PIAA football championship game. This year, the toughest road to the PIAA championships is certainly in Class AAA.

The Class AAA western side of the bracket has two powerhouse teams, and WPIAL champion West Allegheny will meet one of them in a quarterfinal game Friday night.

West Allegheny will play Erie Cathedral Prep at Veterans Stadium in Erie. Cathedral Prep has one of its strongest teams in a while and has been ranked as one of the best Class AAA teams in the state all year by the Pennsylvania Football News and Post-Gazette. The Pennsylvania Football News currently has Cathedral Prep ranked No. 2 in Class AAA behind Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg.

Bishop McDevitt, a perennial power, also is in the western half of the bracket.

Cathedral Prep has a strong offense that features quarterback Damon Terry, who is the all-time leading passer in District 10 history. He surpassed 6,000 career yards passing a few weeks ago. Terry has committed to Michigan State, as has Cathedral Prep running back-receiver Delton Williams.

Cathedral Prep has scored 40 points in all but two games this season. But in those two games, the Ramblers scored 37 and 34 points.

But West Allegheny isn’t exactly a slouch. The Indians haven’t allowed more than eight points in eight consecutive games.

Close to Dad

After North Allegheny won the WPIAL Class AAAA title this past Friday at Heinz Field, one of the first people to congratulate Art Walker on the field was his father, Art. The two have never been so close, at least in terms of championships.

With the victory against Woodland Hills, the younger Walker won his fifth championship – three at North Allegheny and two at Pittsburgh Central Catholic. He is now only one behind his father, who won six. The elder Walker won five at Mt. Lebanon and one at Shady Side Academy.

By the way, just to clarify. The younger Walker is NOT Art Jr. He has a different middle name than his father.

Before this year, the only other coaches besides the older Walker to win six championships were New Castle’s Phil Bridenbaugh, George Novak (Woodland Hills and Steel Valley) and Braddock’s Chuck Klausing, But West Allegheny’s Bob Palko and Clairton’s Tom Nola joined the club by winning their sixth titles Friday.

Five or More

There has never been a year when the WPIAL championship coaches had won so many titles. The coaches of the four winners this year have a total of 22 WPIAL titles.

Clairton’s Nola has six, Aliquippa’s Mike Zmijanac five, West Allegheny’s Palko six and North Allegheny’s Walker five.

A Hairy Situation

Nola wore a hat during the WPIAL title game, so hardly anyone knew of the “close call” he had the day before.

It wasn’t a “mohawk” haircut or total shaving of the head for Nola, but he did have most of his hair cut off in preparation for the championship. It was at his players’ request.

“They talked me into it,” Nola said with a laugh while pointing toward his players. “Some of them did it, so I told them I would do it, too.”

Wounded Bear

Clairton won its fifth consecutive championship, but the Bears might have lost a two-way starting lineman for the rest of the season. Devontae Harvey was injured in the fourth quarter on defense when a Sto-Rox player blocked him near the knees during a running play. Harvey sustained a knee injury, but the extent of the injury won’t be known until today or later this week.

“That’s a loss,” Nola said. “Someone else will have to step up.”

No Rematch

Many thought the PIAA Class A championship this year might end up as a rematch of last year’s title game. But it won’t happen. Dunmore made sure of it.

Dunmore defeated Southern Columbia, 35-29, in the District 2-4 final. Southern Columbia lost to Clairton in last year’s PIAA final and is a perennial power in eastern Pennsylvania. Dunmore used to be a Class AA team and lost to Jeannette and Terrelle Pryor in the 2007 final.

Clairton and Southern Columbia had been ranked 1-2 in the state rankings in Class A.

Top 10 Material

Sto-Rox quarterback Lenny Williams threw for 106 yards and moved into the top 10 on the WPIAL all-time passing list with 5,632 yards. Williams, a junior, has a decent shot at the W PIAL passing record next season. The record was set by Christian Brumbaugh, a 2011 South Fayette graduate who threw for 7,162 yards.

Williams needs only 1,530 yards to reach Brumbaugh.

Getting Defensive

You can bet Washington star running back Shai McKenzie would be happy if he never ran into the Aliquippa defense again. Two years in a row, Aliquippa knocked Washington out of the playoffs and shut down McKenzie. Last year, Aliquippa defeated Washington in the quarterfinals and held McKenzie to no yards rushing. This season, the Quips defeated McKenzie in the WPIAL final and held McKenzie to 33 yards.

Championship Friday Attendance

Exact numbers aren’t in yet, but WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said attendance for the four championship games at Heinz Field was about 17,000.