WPIAL high school football don’t-miss matchups for Week 3

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 13, 2018 | 8:30 PM

Class 6A

No. 3 Mt. Lebanon (2-1, 2-0) at No. 5 Seneca Valley (2-1, 1-1)

7:30 p.m. Friday, NexTier Stadium, Harmony

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com.

Last week: Mt. Lebanon 44, Butler 21; Seneca Valley 31, Canon-McMillan 0

Coaches: Mike Melnyk, Mt. Lebanon; Ron Rutschle, Seneca Valley

Top players: Seth Morgan, Mt. Lebanon (Sr., 6-3, 170, QB); Gabe Lawson, Seneca Valley (Jr., 6-2, 190, QB)

Keep an eye on: Josh McLean, Seneca Valley (Sr., 6-1, 185, WR/DB)

Momentum: Mt. Lebanon. After starting the season with a 31-8 loss to Gateway, the Blue Devils have scored 43 and 44 points in conference wins.

Four downs: 1. Mt. Lebanon’s Morgan is the top passer in Class 6A, with 697 yards and six touchdowns. He also has run for 216 yards and two scores. 2. Lawson also is a dual threat quarterback. The Seneca Valley signal caller has thrown for 331 yards and five scores and run for 106 yards and two TDs. 3. McClean leads the Raiders in touchdowns, with four, including a 16-yard reception last Friday. 4. Lucas DeCaro and Mike Palmer each returned interceptions for touchdowns last week for the Blue Devils.

Extra point: Nine players had carries for Mt. Lebanon in last week’s win over Butler.

Class 5A

Allegheny Eight Conference

No. 5 Peters Township (2-1, 1-1) at West Allegheny (2-0, 2-0)

7 p.m. Friday, Joe P. DiMichela Stadium, Imperial

Last week: Peters Township 20, Woodland Hills 0; West Allegheny 36, Bethel Park 35

Coaches: TJ Plack, Peters Township; Bob Palko, West Allegheny

Top players: Adrian Williams, Peters Township (Jr., 5-9, 170, RB); Dante Flati, West Allegheny (Sr., 5-9, 170, RB/DB)

Keep an eye on: Josh Casilli, Peters Township (Jr., 6-1, 175, RB)

Momentum: West Allegheny. Bolstered by Palko’s decision to go for the two-point conversion, West Allegheny is coming off a momentous overtime win over Bethel Park.

Four downs: 1. Peters Township has shown balance in the running and passing game. Quakerback Logan Pfeuffer has thrown for 278 yards and three touchdowns. Casilli is his top target with five catches for 131 yards and three scores. 2. West Allegheny’s Flati has rushed for 279 yards and five scores in two games, including a 189-yard output with three scores in last week’s one-point win. 3. West Allegheny also has relied on quarterback Kam Kruze, who has completed 21 of 31 passes for 289 yards and two scores. 4. The Peters Township defense held Woodland Hills to just over 100 yards last week and came through with six sacks and two interceptions.

Extra point: West Allegheny senior Mateo Vandamia, a preseason Trib HSSN all-star, is a versatile option as a tight end, H-back, receiver and defensive end with an offer from Delaware.

Class 4A

Northwest Eight Conference

New Castle (1-2, 1-1) at Beaver (2-1, 1-1)

7:30 p.m. Friday, Pat Tarquinio Field, Beaver

On the air: 1200 AM, 1230 AM; TribHSSN.triblive.com

Last week: South Fayette 36, New Castle 0; Beaver 35, Knoch 21

Coaches: Joe Cowart, New Castle; Jeff Beltz, Beaver

Top players: Josh Thomason, New Castle (Sr., 5-8, 200, RB); Brodie List, Beaver (Sr., 6-2, 200, QB)

Keep an eye on: Gino Mavero, Beaver (Sr., 5-7, 155, RB)

Momentum: Beaver piled up 385 yards on offense against Knoch last week to bounce back from a blowout loss to No. 2 South Fayette.

Four downs: 1. After sitting out a 35-7 loss to South Fayette in Week 1, List returned to the Beaver lineup last week and threw for 210 yards and two scores. 2. Thomason has paced the Red Hurricanes’ ground game with 159 yards and two scores on 32 carries. 3. New Castle scored a 17-11 win over Montour in Week 1, as Trenton Kimbrough returned an interception 75 yards for a score. 4. Mavero carried 17 times for 127 yards last week and has 229 yards this season. He is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

Extra point: New Castle was held to just 103 yards against South Fayette last week, including two on the ground.

Class 3A

Tri-County West Conference

No. 5 Quaker Valley (1-1, 1-1) at Beaver Falls (3-0, 2-0)

7 p.m. Friday, Reeves Field, Beaver Falls

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com.

Last week: Aliquippa 59, Quaker Valley 6; Beaver Falls 41, Central Valley 7

Coaches: Ron Balog, Quaker Valley; Nick Nardone, Beaver Falls

Top players: Ethan Moore, Quaker Valley (Sr., 6-0, 175, QB); Amen Cottrill, Beaver Falls (Sr., 5-11, 170, RB)

Keep an eye on: Dayln Brickner, Beaver Falls (Sr., 6-1, 170, WR)

Momentum: Beaver Falls is off to a 3-0 start behind blowout wins over Ellwood City and Central Valley and a 48-31 win over South Park.

Four downs: 1. Brickner scored a pair of touchdowns against Central Valley last week, one on an 82-yard punt return and the other on a 23-yard run. He also threw a pair of touchdown passes. 2. After defeating Aliquippa, 2-0, in the WPIAL title game last season, the Quakers were on the wrong end of a blowout loss last Friday. 3. Beaver Falls’ Cottrill has four touchdowns this season, including an 84-yard TD reception last week. 4. Ethan Moore has thrown for 183 yards this season.

Extra point: Beaver Falls is outscoring opponents 130-38.

Class 2A

Allegheny Conference

No. 2 Shady Side Academy (2-0, 1-0) at No. 1 Steel Valley (2-0, 2-0)

7 p.m. Friday, Campbell Field, Munhall

On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com

Last week: Shady Side Academy 43, Valley 14; Steel Valley 31, Avonworth 24

Coaches: Chuck DiNardo, Shady Side Academy; Rod Steele, Steel Valley

Top players: Skyy Moore, Shady Side Academy (Sr., 5-10, 190, QB/DB); Todd Hill, Steel Valley (Sr., 5-9, 230, RB/LB)

Keep an eye on: Dino Tomlin, Shady Side Academy (Sr., 6-0, 170, WR/DB)

Momentum: Steel Valley has risen to a No. 1 rankings after a 41-12 win over East Allegheny and last week’s triumph over Avonworth.

Four downs: 1. Shady Side Academy’s Moore, who got a scholarship offer from Rice earlier this week, has thrown for 310 yards and three scores and also run for 281 yards and two touchdowns. 2. Hill and Kam Williams form a solid 1-2 punch in the backfield for Steel Valley. Hill has 352 yards on 17 carries, and Williams has 321 yards on 39 carries. 3. Tomlin leads SSA with five touchdowns and has four catches for 141 yards. His brother, Mason, had an interception last week. 4. Steel Valley racked up 331 rushing yards in the win over Avonworth.

Extra point: Dino Tomlin returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown in last week’s win for Shady Side Academy.

Class A

Big Seven Conference

No. 4 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (3-0, 2-0) at No. 5 Rochester (3-0, 1-0)

7 p.m. Friday, Rochester Stadium, Rochester

On the air: 92.1 FM; TribHSSN.triblive.com

Last week: OLSH 56, Northgate 0; Rochester 42, Leechburg 6

Coaches: Dan Bradley, OLSH; Gene Matsook, Rochester

Top players: Tyler Bradley, OLSH (Sr., 6-3, 210, QB); Noah Whiteleather, Rochester (Sr., 5-11, 180, RB/DB)

Keep an eye on: Andrew Schnarre, OLSH (Sr., 5-10, 165, WR/FS)

Momentum: OLSH is off to a 3-0 start with dominating wins over Westinghouse, Sto-Rox and Northgate.

Four downs: 1. OLSH’s Bradley is among the WPIAL’s leading passers with 656 yards and eight touchdowns. 2. Rochester’s Whiteleather is averaging 8.2 yards per carry, as he has accumulated 617 yards on 75 carries and scored six times. 3. Schnarre has been Bradley’s top target with 19 catches for 259 yards and two TDs. He also has 14 extra points. Richard Banks has 15 catches for 179 yards and three scores. 4. In addition to Whiteleather’s three touchdowns last week, Darius Goosby foudnt eh end zone twice for the Rams.

Extra point: OLSH is averaging 47.7 points while allowing just 4.0 this season.

Tags: Beaver, Beaver Falls, Mt. lebanon, New Castle, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Peters Township, Quaker Valley, Rochester, Seneca Valley, Shady Side Academy, Steel Valley, West Allegheny