WPIAL Football Plays of the Week – 10/18/2011

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 | 12:02 PM

You’ll hear a “ding” and then see a fasten seat belts sign.  Your driver will address you shortly.  If the voice sounds familiar (and has a deep, velvety purr to it), that’s because you’ve heard it before.  You know, the one you hear in your car driving home after watching a Friday night football game.  That driver, Don Rebel, has just told you it’s going to be a bit of a wild ride.  You’re about to hop on the to the on-ramp.  This on-ramp will lead you to The Highway.  But it’s not just any highway.  It’s the Highway to Heinz.  We call this ramp the “Stretch Run” and it never disappoints with it’s merge points, yield signs or rumble strips.  Week Seven sure provided to be a bumpy ride for some, and a downright thrilling ride for others.  There were nail biters and upsets.  There were buzzer beaters and eyebrow raisers.  Some teams found it to be hell, others thought this could be Heaven.  Without further adieu, here are the MSA Sports Network’s Plays of the Week — Week Seven!

“The Second Coming?” 

While this play didn’t happen on the field, heck, it may turn out to be one of the biggest “plays” in what is a very important chapter to what could be a magnificent book (that will be turned into a movie, perhaps…thinking ahead, I know).  While the Pitt Panthers wound up taking it on the chin in a big way on the field over the weekend, earlier in the week they scored big and had a winning week in the eyes of many Panther faithful.  Scoring one of their biggest recruits in years — a blue chipper in their own back yard — Hopewell Viking Rushel Shell announced that he intended to follow in the footsteps of the great Tony Dorsett

“And I am the Falconer!”
Connellsville 17 – Hempfield 16

To which team do we designate our weekly “Huzzah!”?  This simple writer would like to propose the weekly Huzzah goes to the Falcons of Connellsville.  Why?  Well, for starters they hadn’t won a conference game since 2005 until this year.  This year alone, they’ve won three.  The third conference win of the season came in dramatic fashion on Friday night over rival Hempfield.  With under three minutes left in regulation, Jade Maher had a 43-yard touchdown run that proved to be the play that not only secured a win for the Falcons, but it propelled Connellsville to the aforementioned Highway to Heinz.

“‘Lopes Lovin’ Life”
Avonworth 20 – Beth-Center 19

Billed as one of the best games of the year to date in Single-A, the matchup between the Antelopes and the Bulldogs lived up to all of the hype.  Ranked No. 7 heading into the week, the Avonworth Antelopes would have their hands full in a non-conference showdown against the No. 5 Bulldogs.  Favored to win, Beth-Center appeared to be on their way to a somewhat easy victory to keep their perfect record pristine.  However, the Antelopes were able to rally after they trailed 13-0.  After forcing overtime and both teams exchanged touchdowns, it was the Antelope ‘D’ stopping a Bulldogs two-point conversion attempt that preserved the win.

“Well I’ll Be Cow Kicked”
Erie McDowell 23 – North Hills 22

The Erie McDowell Trojans found themselves on the outside looking in at the outset of last week when it came to the MSA Sports Network’s Top 10 Rankings.  Apparently, they took it personally.  While Greg Garmon continued to become one of the most dominant players in the 814 with his customary big game – 148 yards rushing – it came down to a late-game field goal for the Trojans to pull off a paramount victory in the Northern Seven Conference.  With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, Zack Baker kicked McDowell to a 3-2 conference record (5-2 overall) with a 30-yarder against visiting North Hills.  It was a swing game, as the Indians fell to 2-2 in conference play.

Tags: Avonworth, Beth-Center, Connellsville, Erie McDowell, Hempfield, Hopewell