WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for 10/3

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 4, 2014 | 10:18 AM

While forecasts for stormy weather fortunately were off, some of the performances on the first wet Friday of the 2014 campaign were spot on terrific. While one super star put his name on top of two district passing records, another made a big announcement on where his future splash plays will take place before going out and enjoying another big night. On a cloudy evening, the stars were shining bright as we check out the best of the best on the first Friday night of WPIAL football in October.

Jordan Whitehead – Central Valley

Central Valley senior Jordan Whitehead spent Friday afternoon announcing his college plans before spending the evening torturing another Class AAA Parkway Conference opponent. Whitehead made a verbal commitment to the University of Pittsburgh, pleasing many local fans of the Panthers, before displeasing many Lawrence County fans by rushing for 145 yards on 10 carries and scoring the first time he touched the ball on an 81-yard run and later on a 21-yard jaunt as the Warriors remained undefeated with a 35-12 triumph over the visiting New Castle Red Hurricane.

Brett Brumbaugh – South Fayette

There is no doubt that the ‘hitman’ is the new King of Kings in the WPIAL passing world. Not only did South Fayette quarterback Brett Brumbaugh set the all-time district passing record Friday in hitting on 15 of 26 passes for 304 yards, but he also broke the career touchdown passing record by tossing three of them of 5, 68 and 51 yards…giving him 8,728 career yards and 103 scoring strikes…while leading the undefeated Lions to a 22nd consecutive victory in a 42-14 Class AA Century Conference pasting of the visiting Steel Valley Ironmen.

Ben DiNucci – Pine-Richland

What does our ProGrass September Football Player of the Month have to do to crack the HighLights now that we have turned the calendar into October? Well it doesn’t hurt to have a perfect night tossing around the pigskin on a wet evening. Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci threw 15 passes Friday and completed all 15 of them for 334 yards four touchdowns on tosses of 17, 93, 12 and 39 yards as the Rams remained perfect at 6-0 with a 64-35 thrashing of the host Seneca Valley Raiders in a Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference blowout.

Billy Urso – Fox Chapel

While it may not mean much come Championship Friday, or Final Four Friday, or even Quarterfinals Friday, but Fox Chapel is in position where one more conference victory could have them playing postseason football on First Round Friday. Quarterback Billy Urso completed 13 of 21 passes for 273 yards four touchdowns of 22, 7, 12 and 15 yards as the Foxes sit alone in fifth place in the Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference with three weeks and only two conference games remaining (top 5 make the playoffs) following a 43-10 victory over the host Shaler Titans.

Eli Mencer – Altoona

As mentioned above, in Class AAAA, the top five teams in each conference qualify for the second season plus the carrot of the one sixth place wild card team. Now in their fifth year of playing District 7 football, Altoona is in good shape to make the WPIAL playoffs for the second time and possibly even host a game at Mansion Park thanks to the play of Eli Mencer. The senior running back rushed for 248 yards and and scored three touchdowns on runs of 8, 76 and 23 yards as the Mountain Lions roared to a 24-14 Foothills Conference win over the visiting Latrobe Wildcats.

DeAngelo Mitchell – West Mifflin

While South Fayette may be known as Quarterback High, perhaps we should lend credence to West Mifflin being Running Back High for all of the great backs Ray Braszo and company have churned out. The latest find is senior DeAngelo Mitchell who nearly shattered a district rushing record Friday when he ran for 403 yards (giving him 1,306 yards through six weeks) and scored SIX 6-point jaunts on runs of 36, 33, 55, 5, 60 and 49 yards in the Titans 48-27 triumph over the visiting Laurel Highlands Mustangs in a Class AAA Big Nine Conference clash.

Tyler Perone & Danzel McKinley-Lewis – Seton-LaSalle

It seems while Brett Brumbaugh and undefeated South Fayette garner most of the Century Conference spotlight on Friday nights (and deservedly so as they sit on the champions pedestal), it’s easy to forget there is another standout signal caller in the conference who has a pretty darn good target. Quarterback Tyler Perone hit on 22 of 30 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns, two of which went to Danzel McKinley-Lewis who ended up with 10 receptions for 135 yards as the Rebels improved to 6-0 with a Class AA 36-0 whitewash of the visiting East Allegheny Wildcats.

Jake Pisula – Southmoreland

Last year, Avella broke the longest district playoff drought by making it to the postseason for the first time since 1976. That brought Southmoreland from the on-deck circle to the batter box in trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 1979. They may be one win from doing that after Jake Pisula set a school record by rushing for 305 yards, breaking his old record set last year of 303 yards. Jake also scored two touchdowns of 67 and 59 yards in leading the Scotties to a 40-14 Class AA Interstate Conference victory over the visiting Burgettstown Blue Devils. 

Lamont Wade – Clairton

Yes, undefeated Clairton did not score 70 points in a game for the first time this season, but considering they were missing several starters out with injuries or suspensions, Friday’s win over 5-0 Jeannette was pretty special. Sophomore running back Lamont Wade exploded for 284 yards on just 14 carries and scored three touchdowns on runs of 82, 33 and 17 yards as the Bears sent a message loud and clear with a 58-14 drubbing of the Jayhawks at Neil Brown Stadium in Clairton in a battle for first place in the Class A Eastern Conference.

Jamal Hughley – Avonworth & Jerome Turner – Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

One of the marque matchups in Week 7 is Avonworth at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in a battle of undefeated teams with the Black Hills Conference championship likely on the line. But both teams did a nice job avoiding the ‘trap’ of looking ahead. Jamal Hughley of Avonworth rushed for 217 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Antelopes 39-13 victory over the visiting Bishop Canevin Crusaders while Jerome Turner gained 200 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns as the Trojans pounded the host Fort Cherry Rangers 42-6. 

Tags: Altoona, Avonworth, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Central Valley, Clairton, Fox Chapel, North Catholic, West Mifflin