By Mike White | Friday, Nov. 20
Live blog from Thomas Jefferson-West Allegheny WPIAL semifinal, with reports from other games throughout the night.
10:35 p.m. - FINAL SCORE: ALIQUIPPA DEFEATS BEAVER FALLS, 17-10
WOODLAND HILLS AND BETHEL PARK HAVE GONE TO OVERTIME. TIED 35-35
9:53 p.m. - West Allegheny took the knee twice. FINAL SCORE WEST ALLEGHENY 28, THOMAS JEFFERSON 21
9:52 p.m. - West Allegheny went for it on fourth and 1 and Mike Caputo ran 46 yards to the 1-yard line. 1:07 left. Looks like the king is going to lose.
FINAL SCORE: ROCHESTER 14, NORTH CATHOLIC 7
9:49 p.m. - Woodland Hills scores and goes ahed of Bethel Park, 35-21.
9:47 p.m. - Gateway scores and goes ahead of North Hills, 35-20.
9:45 p.m. - INT for West A's Ben Simmen. West A. ball at its own 32 with 5:07 left.
9:44 p.m. - Woodland Hills leads Bethel Park, 28-21, after three.
9:41 p.m. - West Allegheny punts. Thomas Jefferson takes over at its 25-yard line with 6:27 left in the game.
9:39 p.m. - North Hills stops Gateway on fourth and 2 at 50. North Hills ball, down by only 28-20 with 8:24 to play.
9:37 p.m. - Three-and-out for TJ. West Allegheny with the ball at its 43 with 8:01 left in the game and leading, 28-21.
9:36 p.m. - Hampton scores and now trails Hopewell, 24-9. ... Woodland Hills got a fourth-down stop inside the 10-yard line against Bethel Park.
9:34 p.m. - North Hills won't go away. Scores a TD (Max Creighan and now trails Gateway only, 28-20).
9:32 p.m. - Mike Caputo is just too much for TJ. He scores on a 1-yard run and West Allegheny now leads Thomas Jefferson, 28-21. West A. scored on a seven-play 50-yard drive and Caputo carried the ball on every play out of the Wildcat formation. 10:01 left in the game and Caputo has 189 yards on 18 carries.
9:29 p.m. - West Allegheny on a drive. Second-and-seven at the TJ 32.
9:25 p.m. - End of the third quarter and West Allegheny-Thomas Jefferson are tied, 21-21.
9:24 p.m. - Clairton ahead of Laurel, 20-0.
9:21 p.m. - 14-play 80-yard drive for Thomas Jefferson. On fourth down, T.J. Matrascia scores on 1-yard run and PAT makes it 21-21 with 1:06 left in third quarter.
28-13 Gateway end of third. Ahead of North Hills.
9:15 p.m. - End of third quarter and Rushel Shell of Hopewell has 24 caries for 146 yards.
9:13 p.m. - Thomas Jefferson on a drive at West A. 23.
9:06 p.m. - Midway through the third quarter and West A. still leads, 21-14. TJ in West A. territory.
9:05 p.m. - Rushel Shell 4-yard run and Hopewell leads Hampton, 24-0.
9:03 p.m. - Rochester gets 65-yard touchdown pass from Jasson Adamson to Terry Gettings and Rams now lead North Catholic, 14-7
8:57 p.m. - This is an interesting one. North Catholic has tied Rochester, 7-7, on Julian Durden's 9-yard touchdown run.
8:52 p.m. - West Allegheny's Mike Caputo has been tremendous, but the Indians haven't used him that much in the first half. He has 123 yards rushing in the first half, but has carried the ball only seven times. He scored on a long kickoff return. Will be interesting to see if he carries more in the second half.
Jared Buck looked QB on drive at end of the half. If West Allegheny doesn't turn the ball over, they have a chance at pulling off the upset. The teams look fairly even. But Thomas Jefferson has had a history of wearing down teams in the second half. Could that happen in the second half?
8:46 p.m. - It's a wild one at West Mifflin. Woodland Hills leading Bethel Park, 28-21. And here I thought Woodland Hills had an outstanding defense. Then again, one of Bethel Park's TDs did come on an interception return.
8:45 p.m. - From colleague Ray Fittipaldo. Keystone Oaks is moving the ball on Greensburg Central Catholic, but has fumbled twice in GCC territory.
8:42 p.m. - Aliquippa is simply dominating Beaver Falls. Aliquippa is leading 17-0. Beaver Falls has only one first down in first half. And what is up with the number 17? Aliquippa has a field goal? What next? Pigs flying.
Also, Greensburg Central Catholic leads Keystone Oaks, 10-7.
8:36 p.m. - Gateway leads North Hills, 21-10, at halftime. Gateway QB Rob Kalkstein is 5 of 8 for 84 yards.
8:35 p.m. - Halftime and West Allegheny leads three-time defending WPIAL AAA champ Thomas Jefferson, 21-14. Mike Caputo has a 96-yard kickoff return and a 97-yard run for TDs for West Allegheny. West A. went 64 yards in nine plays at end of half to take a 21-14 lead. Jared Buck threw a 12-yard TD pass to Mitch Posel with 25 seconds left in the half.
8:31 p.m. - Hopewell leads Hampton, 17-0, at halftime and Rushel Shell has 76 yards on 18 attempts.
8:29 p.m. - Woodland Hills and Bethel Park in a good one. Woodland Hills leads Bethel Park, 21-14, midway through the second quarter.
8:24 p.m. - West Allegheny on a drive late in the half. Timeout with 36 seconds left in the half and West A. is on the Thomas Jefferson 32-yard line.
8:22 p.m. - Halftime and North Catholic is staying with Rochester. Rochester leads, 7-0.
8:17 p.m. - Thomas Jefferson is winning the battle in the trenches. Just went on 11-play, 67-yard drive in 4:42. T.J. Matrascia caps with a 2-yard TD run. PAT and it's all tied, 14-14, with 3:18 left in the half.
8:11 p.m. - From Cool Craig Nurmi. Bethel Park returns INT for TD. Matt Bliss on the play. PAT brings Bethel within 14-7 of Woodland Hills.
8:09 p.m. - Snap over punter's head. Hopewell recovers in end zone and now leads Hampton, 14-0. .... North Hills recovers onside kick against Gateway.
8:06 p.m. - Mike Caputo did it again. After a 94-yard kickoff return, Caputo ran 97 yards for a touchdown and West Allegheny now leads Thomas Jefferson, 14-7.
8:05 p.m. - North Hills gets 4 yd. TD pass from Taylor Schmidt to Max Creighan and it's now 21-10 Gateway ahead of North Hills.
8:02 p.m. - Rushel Shell scores on a 3-yard run and Hopewell leads Hampton, 3-0..... Woodland Hills is handling Bethel Park, 14-0.
8:01 p.m. - Clairton has gone ahead of Laurel, 14-0, in Class A semifinals.
8:00 p.m. - It's a blowout. Gateway leads North Hills, 21-3. From Chris Adamski of Post-Gazette.
7:58 p.m. - Mike Caputo is second-leading rusher in WPIAL, but he did it with a kickoff return. After Thomas Jefferson went ahead, 7-0, Caputo returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and it's now 7-7 between West A. and TJ.
7:57 p.m. - Hampton and Hopewell scoreless after one. Hampton doing a good job on Rushel Shell. From Brad Everett of Post-Gazette.
7:55 p.m. - Thomas Jefferson goes ahead, 3-0, on T.J. Matrascia 3-yard run. TD set up by Mike Terpin INT. So many times over the years, seen TJ just feast on turnovers.
7:53 p.m. - Devon Glass socres on a 1-yard run and Rochester leads North Catholic, 7-0, in the second quarter. Rochester doesn't give up many points. Will be tough for North to come back.
7:50 p.m. - Thomas Jefferson and West Allegheny scoreless after the first, although TJ is inside the 10-yard line. INT by Mike Terpin set up TJ. .... Woodland Hills has taken a 7-0 lead in the first quarter against Bethel Park..... North Hills went without a turnover in first two playoff games. But a fumble by Max Creighan, and Gateway recovers. Gateway leads, 14-3.
From Nick Tolomeo of Post-Gazette, Rochester and North Catholic is scoreless after first quarter, but North Catholic inside the 10.
7:47 p.m. - Gateway has taken a 14-3 lead. Dayonne Nunley two TDs. One on a catch and the other kickoff return. North Hills scored on 40-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
7:41 p.m. - No score from West A. and Thomas Jefferson. West Allegheny with the ball for the second time and having trouble getting its offense going.
TJ QB decides to play
Thomas Jefferson quarterback Sam Johnston is playing with a heavy heart tonight.
Johnston's father, Bob, died suddenly yesterday. But Johnston will still play for the Jaguars against West Allegheny in tonight's WPIAL Class AAA semifinal. Johnston found out about his father's death during practice yesterday, but he made the decision to play tonight.
"He said he wants to play and his family wants him to play," said Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak. "He believes his father would want him to play."
Johnston is having a big season. He has completed 81 of 145 passes for 1,896 yards.
Sam Johnston warms up before tonight's game.
Posted
Nov 20 2009, 07:11 PM
by
Mike White