WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for 10/17

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 18, 2014 | 9:35 AM

Some coaches will tell you that a win is a win is a win. But if you look closely at some of the victories on the eighth Friday of the WPIAL football season, you would see that is not true. Some triumphs kept undefeated seasons alive, some kept conference championships alive, some were key playoff positioning wins while others just kept playoff hopes alive while others were accomplished with a group of young men just playing for school pride. No matter how you label it, these players performed at the top of their games Friday while enjoying the sweet taste of victory after.

Ben DiNucci – Pine-Richland 

With the daunting task of going up against the top defense in the entire WPIAL, there are probably many people that didn’t expect to see the districts leading passer on the HighLights this Friday…WRONGO! Pine-Richland signal caller Ben DiNucci lit up the Station Square skies by hitting on 21 of 31 passes for 291 yards and two touchdown passes of 75 and 13 yards as well as a 10-yard scoring run as the Rams improved to 8-0 with a 48-28 victory over the host Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings to win the Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference title.

Devin Austin & Casey Aunkist- Penn-Trafford

With a lot of attention being made to Woodland Hills, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Pine-Richland over the last two weeks, Penn-Trafford has quietly kept racking up the victories in the Class AAAA Foothills Conference to move to 8-0. The latest win was not without a struggle, but running back Devin Austin rushed for 217 yards while female kicker Casey Aunkist booted a 24-yard field goal and two extra points while being named Penn-Trafford High School Homecoming Queen at halftime (ding) as the host Warriors beat the pesky Plum Mustangs 17-10.

Alex Minton – Bethel Park

Many folks looking at the WPIAL football playoff picture on the MSA Sports website this past week were probably scratching their heads as to why Bethel Park was in fourth place in the Class AAAA Southeastern Conference and had not clinched while Upper St. Clair was in fifth place and had clinched. Wonder no more after running back Alex Minton rushed for 189 yards and scored on four touchdown runs of 1, 15, 47 and 27 yards plus added a 60-yard pick six in the Black Hawks playoff clinching 41-14 win over the Peters Township Indians.

Chacar Berry – Ringgold

The two hottest teams in the WPIAL that are not undefeated are McGuffey and Ringgold after both improved to 7-1 with a seventh straight victory. for Ringgold, it was the Chacar Berry show Friday in a Class AAA Big Nine Conference battle at Elizabeth Forward as the junior running back scored four touchdowns on a 2-yard run, a 21-yard pass from Nico Law, a 20-yard fumble return to pay dirt and a 25-yard pick-six interception return in leading the Rams to a 35-0 whitewash of the Warriors.  

Brett Brumbaugh – South Fayette

Before the 2014 version of the ‘Game of the Century’ for the Class AA Century Conference championship, there was a lot of talk about who was NOT playing with Seton-LaSalle’s top playmaker Danzel McKinley-Lewis forced to sit out after getting ejected from last weeks game. Afterward, all folks could talk about was the WPIAL’s all-time leading passer who DID play and play well as Brett Brumbaugh hit on 17 of 32 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns as the South Fayette Lions claimed the title with a 41-14 win over the Rebels.

Dane Jackson – Quaker Valley

The 2014 Quaker Valley football season biography can be titled ‘Missing the Great Dane’ as QV might just miss out on back-to-back trip to the WPIAL postseason. Pitt recruit Dane Jackson has been absent with injury most of this season and Friday he showed what the Class AA Century Conference truly missed as the senior quarterback hit on 13 of 21 passes for 308 yards and four touchdown passes of 48, 44, 32 and 18 yards plus a 3-yard run to the house in the Quakers 59-23 destruction of the host East Allegheny Wildcats.  

Curtis Moore – South Allegheny

While there was nothing at stake but pride in a Class AA Century Conference battle of two teams combined for a 1-13 record through the first seven weeks, don’t tell the players from South Allegheny and Carlynton there was nothing to play for. In what we will describe delicately as a ‘spirited’ contest, SA running back Curtis Moore enjoyed a big night, rushing for 214 yards and scoring on runs of 13 and 1 yard plus hauling in a 72-yard touchdown pass from Mark Gobbie as the Gladiators outfought the Cougars 47-21.

Jackson Fitzgerald – Shady Side Academy

In this new age of high scoring spread offense, coaches are always looking for a new wrinkle that will cramp the style of opposing defenses. Shady Side Academy senior running back turned part-time wildcat quarterback has provided such a wrinkle and much more as he rushed for 229 yards and scored on a 25-yard touchdown run as the visiting Indians clinched a playoff spot and secured third place in the Class AA Allegheny Conference with a 28-14 win over the Kittanning Wildcats.

Andrew Romanchak – Freeport

With district playoff hopes fading into the breezy night by what was going on elsewhere in the Class AA Allegheny Conference, Freeport quarterback Andrew Romanchak kept his “singleness of purpose” as the late great Chuck Noll would say. Romanchak lit up the AK Valley skies by connecting on 19 of 28 passes for 443 yards plus adding five touchdown passes of 55, 40, 11, 13 and 75 yards and added a 1-yard scoring run to his impressive night in leading the Yellowjackets to a 50-10 rout of the visiting Burrell Buccaneers.

Nick Kusich – Avella

For teams that have not put that asterick (*) in front of their name in the MSA Sports standings heading into the final week of the regular season, you hope that at least you are alive and if possible, in control of your own destiny. That is what Avella is facing after eight weeks thanks in part to a big game Friday by Nick Kusich, who rushed for 193 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 11, 47 and 1-yard as the Eagles soared to a 54-13 Class A Tri-County South Conference victory over the visiting Carmichaels Mighty Mikes.

Tags: Avella, Bethel Park, Freeport