WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Seven – 2015

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 17, 2015 | 10:27 AM

On the seventh Friday of the high school football season, there was a chill in the air throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. Or maybe based on the below performances, there was a thrill in the air. Friday marked the start of the ‘Stretch Run’ of the 2015 campaign, where the pressure starts to mount over the final three weeks as we inch closer to the on-ramp to the Highway to Heinz…much like real life, where we hope that on-ramp is not closed due to construction. Anyway, here are those players that shined in victory on a mid-October eve.

Ronnie Jones – Pittsburgh Central Catholic

This had the makings of a classic trap game for Pittsburgh Central Catholic. It would have been easy to look ahead to THEE Game of Week Eight in the WPIAL when Central battles a PIne-Richland team the horned helmets lost to last year…twice, including in the title game at Heinz Field. But Ronnie Jones and company did not overlook visiting Seneca Valley, setting the stage for a dandy next week. Jones rushed for 243 yards and three long touchdowns on runs of 68, 86 and 26 yards as the Vikings rolled to a 38-14 triumph over the Raiders in a Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference contest.

Phil Jurkovec – Pine-Richland

This had the makings of a classic trap game for Pine-Richland. It would have been easy to look ahead to THEE Game of Week Eight in the WPIAL when PR battles a Pittsburgh Central Catholic team the horned helmets beat last year…twice, including in the title game at Heinz Field. But Phil Jurkovec and company did not overlook host Butler, setting the stage for a dandy next week (love the copy and paste). The super sophomore hit on 23 of 29 passes for 321 yards and one touchdown toss plus a pair of scoring runs as the Rams remained unbeaten with a 67-30 win over the Golden Tornadoe in a Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference game.

Miles Sanders – Woodland Hills

There was a lot of hype for the very rare top-ranked vs top-ranked showdown between the top team in Triple-A in West Allegheny and the #1 team in Quad-A in Woodland Hills. But the bottom line was it was still a non-conference game, so a banged up Miles Sanders wasn’t expected to do much for Woody High. So all he did on Friday was relax and run with the pigskin for 234 yards and scored two touchdowns on runs of 73 and 28 yards as the host Wolverines remained undefeated with a thrilling 22-15 victory over the Indians.

Isaiah Johnson – Mars

Some how, some way, long time Mars head football coach Scott Heinauer seems to find a running back that is out of this world when it comes to racking up yards, touchdowns and most importantly, wins. This years version is Isaiah Johnson, who eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the season on Friday with 282 yards on 29 carries with two first half touchdowns on runs of 75 and 1 yard as the Fighting Planets remain in second place in the Class AAA Greater Allegheny Conference with a 21-0 whitewash of the visiting Knoch Knights.

Joey Koroly – Trinity

There are plenty of great stories in the Class AAA Big Ten Conference this season like…Belle Vernon is having a season as bright as their gold turf…Thomas Jefferson’s slow start is becoming a distant memory as the team seems to have righted the shift…and the slow start followed by a long climb up the hill toward a possible playoff spot for Trinity. Joey Koroly rushed for 234 yards and four touchdown runs of 7, 9, 61 and 13 yards as the Hillers romped past the host Yough Cougars 62-20 for their fourth victory in the last five weeks.

Darius Wise – Beaver

A wise man once said that if you hand the rock to a player who can average a first down on every touch, then you keep the pigskin in his precious hands. Actually, I just made that up, but the wise man would be Beaver quarterback Darius Wise, who rushed for 335 yards on only 16 carries (a thrifty average of 20.9 yards per carry) and had five touchdown rusn of 91, 44, 26, 12 and 89 yards, plus he tossed a 74-yard touchdown to Oliver Neish as the visiting Bobcats eliminated the Laurel Spartans 41-20 to clinch yet another playoff berth from the Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference for Beaver.

Josh Hughes – Bentworth

In this pass happy era in high school football, that bar has been raised to what constitutes a great game by a quarterback. Throwing for over 200 yards in a game is pretty good. If you break the 300 yard barrier, then you’ve had a great game. Tremendous is set a side for those who toss the football for more than 400 yards. So what colorful discriptive word do you use for a QB who passes for more than 500 yards in a single game. How about YIKES! Bentworth quarterback Josh Hughes hit on 21 of 29 passes for 501 yards, an average of nearly 24 yards per completion, plus he threw SIX touchdown passes in the Bearcats 42-14 Class A Tri-County South Conference triumph that clinched a playoff berth for the host ‘Cats.

Aaron Mathews – Clairton

There was no let down for the top-ranked team in Class A after winning against possibly their toughest regular season hurdle last week. Clairton quarterback Aaron Mathews and his teammates did all their heavy lifting early so they could let mercy do its thing in the second half. Mathews hit on 9 of 12 passes for 298 yards and five touchdown tosses of 50, 42, 56, 35 and 45 yards, plus he added a 2-yard run for good measure as the Bears dropped 30 points in each of the first two quarters as they cruised to a 60-0 whitewash of the visiting Serra Catholic Eagles in a Class A Eastern Conference blowout.

Erick Taylor – Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

Zach Chandler of Avonworth has received a lot of accolades for his play this season and rightly so, as he led the district in passing through the first six weeks. However Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic signal caller Erick Taylor said don’t forget about me over here after last nights yearly clash between these two giants in Single-A. Taylor hit on 15 of 23 passes for 219 yards and a 46-yard scoring pass combined with a touchdown run in leading the Trojans to a 7-0 start following a 26-14 victory over the host Antelopes in a Black Hills Conference showdown.

Frank Antuono – Neshannock

A powerhouse from the past was eliminated from the postseason chase while a recent power in Class A clinched another trip on the Highway to Heinz. Neshannock quarterback Frank Antuono made plays with his arm and his legs as he hit on 11 of 18 passes for 113 yards and a 9-yard touchdown toss, plus he rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns on runs of 79 and 13 yards as the Lancers scored 26 unanswered points, then held on to eliminate the visiting Rochester Rams by a count of 26-20 to earn another Big 7 Conference playoff berth.

Tags: Beaver, Bentworth, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Clairton, North Catholic, Woodland Hills