WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Five 2015

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 3, 2015 | 3:43 PM

A little precipitation in the area before the real wet stuff driven by Hurricane Joaquin Andujar (look it up kids)…no problem. Temperatures dipping into the low 50’s with winds that made it feel more like the 40’s…again, no problem. Defenses geared to…wait, I’ll just stop there. In this wild and crazy season of video game like play on the field resulting in huge points here, there and everywhere, top performances around the WPIAL on a Friday night are no longer hard to find. They are now just difficult to whittle down. Doing our best Jed Clampett imitation (look it up kids), we have whittled down some of the top outputs to these ten.

Philip Jurkovec – Pine-Richland

You never want to be the person that follows ‘the guy’. Ideally you would be the man who followed the man who followed ‘thee man.” But this new cast of characters at Pine-Richland are making fans forget the the stars of ‘yesteryear’ who brought gold to the school way back in 2014. Super sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovec hit on 13 of 17 passes for 247 yards and two long first quarter touchdown tosses of 54 and 60 yards, plus he scored on a 4-yard run as the Rams improved to 5-0 with a 47-7 thrashing of the host North Hills Indians to remain in first place in the Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference.

Levi Metheny – Bethel Park

It was a near perfect game for the visiting quarterback in this Class AAAA vs Class AAA Non-Conference battle of top ten teams in their respective classification. Levi Metheny connected on 10 of 12 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns on scoring tosses of 80, 22 yards in the first half and 6 yards in the third quarter, plus he scored on a 1-yard run and was a big part of another strong effort on defense by Bethel Park as the Black Hawks registered a third straight victory with a 34-0 whitewash of the host Chartiers Valley Colts.

Dom Eannace – Canon-McMillan

For the first time in over a year, the team that perfected the ‘two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun’ were able to enjoy the sweet taste if victory. Canon-McMillan quarterback Dom Eannace completed 11 of 18 passes for 164 yards and threw a 54-yard touchdown pass that proved to be the game winning score as the Big Macs won for the first time since September 27th, 2013 as they blanked the visiting Fox Chapel Foxes 21-0 in a Class AAAA Non-Conference matchup.

Terence Stephens & Whiteney White – West Allegheny

A good one-two punch happens when one guys sets the opponent up while the other comes knocking them down. But West Allegheny has added a new wrinkle to that adage by having both Terence Stephens and Whiteney White knocking everybody down and out. Stephens did the dirty work early in this big Class AAA Parkway Conference showdown by rushing for 202 yards and scoring four touchdowns on runs of 70, 16, 18 and 75 yards while Whiteney White came in later and gained 103 yards with a pair of touchdowns as the top-ranked Indians rolled over the visiting Montour Spartans 47-14.

Jimmy Pierce – Laurel Highlands

For some folks perhaps just learning the game, a duel-threat quarterback is one who can hurt a defense with his throwing arm and also with his running ability. Color Laurel Highlands quarterback Jimmy Pierce a Grade-A duel threat. Pierce hit on only 5 of 12 passes for 110 yards through the air, but gashed the Yough defense with 194 yards on the ground and he scored five touchdowns on runs of 2, 79, 4, 7 and 20 yards as the Mustangs improved to 4-1 with a 70-42 Class AAA Big Ten Conference shootout win over the host Yough Cougars.

Conor Hinchey – Elizabeth Forward

Elizabeth Forward has struggled this year, finding themselves near the bottom of the Class AAA Big Ten Conference with a 1-3 record heading into its game with winless Uniontown. Now suddenly after registering the second win of the season, EF is back in the chase for one of at least five playoff spots thatnks in large paert to the efforts of Conor Hinchey, who rushed for 254 yards and scored all three of his teams touchdowns on runs of 5, 5 and 8 yards as the Warriors beat the host Red Raiders 20-12.

Alex Smith – Keystone Oaks

Seton-La-Salle has a reputation for a long string of great quarterbacks coming through the program. Part of the reason for success at the position goes to former head coach Greg Perry, who walked his reputation and whistle across the street to Keystone Oaks before the 2014 season. A year later, his prized pupil is soaring up the district quarterback charts as Alex Smith enjoyed another big game, hitting on 21 of 27 passes for 346 yards and four touchdowns passes along with a scoring run in the Golden Eagles 61-23 triumph over the host South Allegheny Gladiators in a Class AA Century Conference matchup.

Zach Chandler – Avonworth

He has thrown and completed less passes, but Avonworth quarterback Zach Chandler is hot on the heels of record-setting Jason Dambaugh of Riverside in the chase for the top tosser in the WPIAL. Chandler enjoyed another huge night in the air, connecting on 25 of 38 passes for 447 yards and four first half long touchdowns throws of 32, 58, 55 and 28 yards as the Antelopes remain perfect at 5-0 with a 28-6 victory over the host Fort Cherry Rangers in a Class A Black Hills Conference fray.

Dylan Rush – Mapletown

There are a lot of people, including yours truly who cannot stand what is called ‘rush hour’ commutes. All you do is sit there and accomplish a whole lot of nothing. That must be how defenders feel as Mapletown’s Dylan Rush lays the metal to the pedal. Rush carried the ball a mind-numbing 44 times and gained 387 yards on thr ground with EIGHT touchdowns on runs of 67, 23, 17, 6, 15, 18, 88 and 28 yards in only three quarters as the Maples literally ‘rushed’ to a 58-24 Class A Tri-County South Conference win over the host Avella Eagles.

Alvin Ross – Greensburg Central Catholic

In a tighter than expected Class A Eastern Conference contest Friday night, Greensburg Central Catholic turned to the player nicknamed ‘LA’ for a big second half comeback and a fourth victory in five outings this season. GCC’s Alvin Ross ended up with 369 yards on the ground while rushing for four touchdowns on long scoring runs of 67, 70, 55 and 70 yards again as the Centurions erased a 10-7 Serra Catholic lead at halftime to roll to a convincing 42-10 victory over the upset minded Eagles.

Tags: Avonworth, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Elizabeth Forward, Greensburg C.C., Keystone Oaks, West Allegheny