Shady Side Academy’s Skyy Moore named Trib HSSN Football Player of the Week

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, September 16, 2018 | 10:54 PM

It would be easy to make puns like “the Skyy’s the limit” or “Skyy is bright” when talking about this week’s TribLive High School Sports Network Football Player of the Week.

Let’s just say the quarterback play for Shady Side Academy on Friday was through the roof.

Skyy Moore did damage with his arm and his legs in leading Shady Side Academy to a 56-36 victory over Steel Valley, ending the Ironmen’s 22-game WPIAL regular-season winning streak.

The victory also left the top-ranked Indians all alone in first place in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference with a 2-0 mark, 4-0 overall.

Shady Side Academy coach Chuck DiNardo said while his QB’s numbers were very good, there was more to his winning performance Friday.

“The most impressive thing about Skyy on Friday’s game at Steel Valley was his leadership,” he said. “There was a point where we had lost momentum and went a little flat, and Skyy stepped up as a leader and willed our team to raise its play. That made the difference in the game. There was a point of contention where our guys made a conscious choice to step up and take control.”

Moore connected on 7 of 13 passes for 274 yards, an average of just under 40 yards a connection with four of those completions going for touchdowns.

Moore hit Dino Tomlin on scoring passes of 72 and 46 yards and hooked up with Billy Frohlich on a pair of 35-yard scoring throws.

The senior signal caller also did damage on the ground with 160 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

DiNardo says beating then-top-ranked Steel Valley was huge for Moore and the Indians.

“This was a great win for our program,” he said. “It validated the efforts of our guys who have worked so hard to redevelop the culture of football at Shady Side. Our student-athletes, our seniors especially, have put in an incredible amount of time to an effort they believe to be bigger than them. These are the same kids that just two years ago were 0-9 and didn’t have enough healthy bodies to finish the season. So to come from where we were then to this point, I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

WPIAL Week 3 honorable mentions

Mason Stahl, Baldwin

Purple power is alive and well In the South Hills thanks to the play of Baldwin quarterback Mason Stahl. In an overtime Class 5A Allegheny Eight Conference thriller at Moon, Stahl hit on 13 of 29 passes for 326 yards and five touchdowns. But the junior was money in the second half when the Highlanders trailed 42-22 and rallied with two scoring tosses by Stahl and a 15-yard fourth quarter touchdown run that tied the game at 42. A 25-yard game winning toss to Naseer Penn from Stahl gave the Highlanders a 48-42 win, Baldwin’s third victory in four games.

Logan Pfeuffer, Peters Township

In a battle of Tribes, Peters Township jumped out to a big early lead on the road and then held on for a Class 5A Allegheny Eight Conference win over West Allegheny. Peters Township quarterback Logan Pfeuffer was 11 of 15 passing for 195 yards with a pair of touchdown strikes to Josh Casilli as Peters Township won the battle of the Indians by scoring early and then answering late when West A tried to comeback to win 42-28 to improve to 3-1 overall.

Dustin Shoaf, Yough

With Derry, North Catholic and Elizabeth Forward all off to undefeated starts, everybody else in the Class 3A Big East Conference must put together winning efforts when going head-to-head. Yough did just that on the road at Deer Lakes Friday thanks to the large efforts of Dustin Shoaf. The senior running back carried the ball 41 times for 401 yards and scored five touchdowns to wipe out a two-touchdown deficit as the Cougars beat the Lancers, 32-13.

Jake Botkin, South Side Beaver

There are now 16 WPIAL football teams with 4-0 records through one-third of the regular season. One of them is South Side Beaver after another busy night by running back Jake Botkin. A special spot in the hot tub should be reserved for the senior who carried the pigskin 40 times for 323 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 16 and 4 yards as the Rams rolled past Carlynton, 54-33, to remain tied for first place with Burgettstown and South Allegheny in the Class 2A Three Rivers Conference.

Tyler Bradley, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

The contest set to determine the team to beat in the Class A Big 7 Conference featured pass-happy OLSH taking on run-happy Rochester. On this night, passing won out thanks to the right arm of Tyler Bradley, who hit on 15 of 33 passes for 350 yards and four long touchdowns of 58, 53, 24 and 17 yards as the Chargers remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place with a convincing 37-8 triumph over the Rams.

Bonus Mention — North Hills and Hampton

On another night of big blowouts or exciting offensive shootouts, in an era when the spread offenses are leading to lot of points on scoreboard throughout Western Pennsylvania, North Hills and Hampton played an old school defensive battle with no rain, snow or mud involved as the Indians edged the Talbots, 3-0, on a Dan Wagner 23-yard second-quarter field goal.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Shady Side Academy