Trib HSSN football players to watch in Week 9
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Thursday, November 5, 2020 | 3:05 PM
Pine-Richland quarterback Cole Spencer carries past Upper St. Clair’s Joseph Houck during the third quarter Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
North Catholic’s Joseph Prentice avoids Freeport Area’s Zach Clark in the first quarter Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 at Mars Area High School.
Serra Catholic’s Terrell Booth runs against Shady Side Academy on Oct. 2, 2020, at Shady Side Academy.
Here are four WPIAL football players to watch for during Week 9:
Terrell Booth
Serra Catholic, jr., WR/OLB
Booth (5-11, 175) caught seven passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns to help No. 7 Serra Catholic upset No. 2 McGuffey, 21-14, in the WPIAL Class 2A opening round last week. Booth has 17 catches for 378 yards this season as part of a talented WR tandem with Jayvon Campbell-Holt (17-338 yards). The Eagles (5-0) will head to No. 3 Sto-Rox (7-1) for a WPIAL semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday.
Nico Pate
Peters Township, jr., RB/LB
Pate (6-0, 205) rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries in helping No. 3 Peters Township defeat No. 6 Woodland Hills, 39-6, in the opening round last week. He has run for nearly 400 yards this season on 61 carries and is averaging more than 6.3 yards per tote. The Indians (7-0) will play at No. 2 Gateway (5-0) in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday.
Joey Prentice
North Catholic, jr., QB/FS
Prentice (6-1, 200) completed 10 of 15 passes for 149 yards and two scores and also ran for 68 yards as No. 2 North Catholic defeated Mt. Pleasant, 35-14, in the WPIAL Class 3A opening round last week. Prentice has thrown for more than 1,100 yards and run for 550 this season for the Trojans (8-0), who will host No. 3 Elizabeth Forward (7-0) at Mars at 7 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Cole Spencer
Pine-Richland, sr., QB/SS
Spencer (5-10, 180) completed 14 of 18 passes for 170 yards for three touchdowns and also ran for a score as the No. 1 Rams defeated South Fayette, 47-7, in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals last week. He also became the program’s all-time leader in touchdown passes with 73, surpassing the Cowboys’ Ben DiNucci (72) and Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec (71). The Rams (7-0) will host Penn-Trafford (6-1) in the WPIAL semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday.
Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.
Tags: North Catholic, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Serra Catholic
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