Straight talk from The Birdie as he makes his Week Zero picks in the A-K Valley

By: The Birdie
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 | 5:36 PM

If you count the City League, independents and Kiski School, Trib HSSN produced 128 high school football team preview stories to get ready for this season.

The Birdie read every one of them.

Not for editing or proofreading purposes, of course. No one trusts the feathered fella to do actual work that requires diligence or an attention span.

Just for the love of the game.

There’s something he noticed.

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful to the fine folks in the coaching fraternity, but they do tend to say a lot of the same things when talking about their teams in the preseason,” the Birdie said diplomatically. “Just once I’d like to give these guys some truth serum and see what they really think about their teams.”

With that, a harp played in the newsroom, and the old bird stared off into the distance.

“I’ll tell you what, Bird Man,” Imaginary Coach A said, kicking off the dream sequence. “Our weight room this offseason looked like the second deck at PNC in September. Sparse. Week Zero, first snap, our offensive linemen are going to look like they’re on roller skates.”

“Well, we’ve got seven starters back, Birdie Boy, which would normally be good news,” Coach B said. “But five of them stink.”

“I like to tell people I’m optimistic because of how good we looked in 7-on-7 this summer, Bird Bro,” Coach C said. “But let’s be honest. That’s like saying you’re going to win Wimbledon because you’re good at ping pong.”

With that, The Birdie snapped back to attention.

“No time for daydreams,” he said sternly. “It’s time for my Week Zero picks, which are the hardest ones of the year.”

Leechburg at Apollo-Ridge: What a fun opener. The Blue Devils bring back five starters on the offensive line, but Apollo-Ridge is exactly the type of team that won’t be fazed by that. The Birdie liked to say the Vikings deserved better than they got in the standings last year. Now it’s time to show it. Apollo-Ridge, 20-13

Allderdice at Fox Chapel: The Foxes should be better this year, but the Dragons are strong at the skill positions. Allderdice, 19-9

Burrell at Avonworth: Coach Dom Girardi gets welcomed to Burrell by the defending WPIAL champs. Avonworth, 35-13

Deer Lakes at Keystone Oaks: Winning seasons have become the norm for the Lancers, which is no easy standard to establish. Deer Lakes, 27-14

Highlands at Armstrong: Hard to predict what’s in store for the Golden Rams. Roster looks solid, but Menage Lucas did so much last year. These two played an OT barnburner to start last season. Highlands, 22-21

Indiana at Freeport: Coming off a solid season, the Yellowjackets will start to build some new momentum. Freeport, 34-6

Knoch at Kiski Area: Both programs underwent significant facelifts in the offseason. Kiski Area, 27-7

Plum at Franklin Regional: A matchup with a Panthers team that lost a ton to graduation is a chance for the Mustangs to get a bounce-back season off the ground. Plum, 21-20

Southmoreland at Valley: Two rebuilding teams looking to start the season on the right foot. Southmoreland, 20-12

Beth-Center at Riverview: Taking a cue from the Riverview coaches, the Birdie’s not going to talk about the big picture for the Raiders. He’s going to predict one game at a time, and this one looks promising for the home team. Riverview, 26-7

Tags: Allderdice, Apollo-Ridge, Armstrong, Avonworth, Beth-Center, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Freeport, Highlands, Indiana, Keystone Oaks, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Plum, Riverview, Southmoreland, Valley