Varsity Blog

Pitt recruit Donald was dominating

2009-11-07T05:47:00Z

By Mike White | Saturday, Nov. 7, 1 a.m.

Few quick thoughts from Friday night's first round of WPIAL playoffs.

Aaron Donald's performance against Upper St. Clair was one of the best I've seen from a defensive lineman in a long time.

Donald was absolutely superb against Upper St. Clair, despite being double-teamed throughout the night. The quickness he has at the snap of the ball is astonishing at times. I spoke with Penn Hills line coach Demond Gibson after the game. Gibson knows a thing or two about big-time linemen. He was a pretty good one himself, playing on the DLine at Pitt after graduation from Penn Hills. He believes Gibson has an awfully bright futre at Pitt.

Pitt might have a really good one in Donald. And it is hard to find big-time defensive linemen, especially in Western Pennsylvania. Sure, Donald will be going against much bigger and better linemen in college, but the quickness he has will always be valuable.

Someone asked me before the game who was the best senior player in the WPIAL this season? I couldn't really give an answer because I don't think there is a player who has been head and shoulders above everyone this season. I thought about Canon-McMillan linebacker Mike Hull, who was superb early in the season. I don't know how Hull performed later in the season, but it's kind of hard to say Hull is the No. 1 senior when his team didn't even make the playoffs.

I don't think Sto-Rox quarterback Paul Jones is hands-down the No. 1 player, either. At this point, I think you could put Donald up against anybody.

Elsewhere

The string of futility is over. The Keystone Conference got a playoff victory when Uniontown beat Belle Vernon. The Keystone was 0-32 over the past eight years and the object of some jokes. Greensburg Salem, another Keystone member, showed itself well in a tough loss to New Castle. And Derry lost to Hopewell by only 28-14. So the Keystone did OK.

It seemed the notion this year was that the Greater Allegheny Conference was a little weak. Well, forget that notion. Mars, Franklin Regional and Hampton all won tonight. Mars beat Trinity, Franklin Regional beat Montour and Hampton knocked off Chartiers Valley.

Another notion was correct. Many thought the Allegheny Conference in Class AA was weak. It was.

Live blog: Penn Hills wins; UPSET - North Hills beats McKeesport

2009-11-07T00:24:00Z

By Mike White | Friday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.

Live blog from Penn Hills at Upper St. Clair. Also, look for updates from other games.

10:10 - Final score, Penn Hills 14, Upper St. Clair 7. Penn Hills DL Aaron Donald (Pitt recruit) was tremendous.

10:05 - First upset. North Hills beat McKeesport, 19-7....

9:37 p.m. - 4:25 left and it's still Penn Hills, 14-7. USC ball at own 25.

9:32 p.m. - From colleague Michael "Reggie" Sanserino. Franklin Regional leads Montour, 28-7, after three.

9:24 p.m. - End of third quarter and Penn Hills still leads Upper St. Clair, 14-7. Not a pretty game. I knew this already, but Penn Hills defensive lineman Aaron Donald (Pitt recruit) is very good.

9:19 p.m. - Chris Adamski reports that Paul Jones looks much sharper in second half and Sto-Rox has gone ahead of Shady Side Academy, 16-7.

9:13 p.m. - Neither team still not able to generate much offense. Penn Hills still ahead, 14-7, midway through the third quarter.

8:58 p.m. - From Quiptown, West Allegheny leads Knoch, 21-3.

8:51 p.m. - This Penn Hills-USC game doesn't have much offense. Penn Hills has only 33 yards rushing and 55 throwing. USC has 82 yards rushing and 27 passing.

8:41 p.m. - From MSA Sports. Central Catholic 21, Seneca Valley 0 ... Bethel Park 34, Penn-Trafford 7 ...

In Class AAA, Montour and Franklin Regional tied, 7-7, at the half. New Castle and Greensburg Salem tied, 14-14; Mars leads Trinity, 7-0; Chartiers Valley 7, Hampton 0; Belle Vernon 20, Uniontown 14.

In Class AA, Greensburg Central Catholic 14, Freeport 0; Beaver Falls 21, Steel Valley 0; South Fayette 26, Beaver 7.

In Class A, Avonworth 14, Monaca 0; Springdale 7, Monessen 0 from Matt Myford.

8:40 p.m. - PG's Chris Adamski reports: Paul Jones only 1 of 10 in first half for Sto-Rox.

8:39 p.m. - Hopewell leading Derry by only 21-14. That's surprising... Shaler ahead of Mt. Lebanon, 14-6, at the half. Mike Zubasic reports Laurel leading Burgettstown, 21-0, end of the first quarter.

8:33 p.m. - Halftime and Penn Hills leads Upper St. Clair, 14-7. It looks like Penn Hills thought it could throw some deep balls down the sideline on USC defensvie backs. Limited success with it, though. Only one completion. But Penn Hills leads. Difference in game so far is Raymon Harris 72 yard INT return that broke 7-7 tie.

8:31 p.m. - Update from Mrs. Patty - Can North Hills pull off the upset? Leading McKeesport, 9-7.

8:30 p.m. - West Allegheny leads, 14-3. Mike Caputo supposedly running over a number of people.

8:20 p.m. - Gateway 42-0 second quarter. Sto-Rox has gone ahead of Shady Side Academy, 8-7. 42-yard TD run by Dontae Gilmore.

8:16 p.m. - Gateway has seven touchdowns. Wonder if Plum has tackled Gateway yet. Remember Connellsville a few weeks ago? Gateway had seven TDs before Connellsville made a tackle.

8:14 p.m. - Raymon Harris 72 INT return for Penn Hills and Indians lead, 14-7, early in second. Thomas Jefferson crushing Laurel Highlands, 30-0, end of one; Gateway crushing Plum, 35-0, middle of second; Woodland Hills leading Baldwin, 21-0;

8:01 p.m. - From Chris Adamski of P-Gazette. Shady Side Academy leads Sto-Rox, 7-0 after the first quarter. Paul Jones 0 of 2. Sto-Rox 3 and out on both possessions.

7:57 p.m. - One thing I've noticed over the past few years and it's evident again tonight. Many of these first-round games don't draw. This place might be half full at the most.

7:52 p.m. - I'm in the middle of the press box. It's funny to hear FSN Pittsburgh commentator Craig Wolfley and his comments all the way from the end of the press box. Wolf certainly is lively.

7:50 p.m. - USC answers with a six-play 59-yard drive. Jacob Siwicki caps it with a 5-yard TD run and it's now 7-7. ... Penn Hills defensive lineman Aaron Donald, a Pitt recruit, was impressive with his quickness on first drive. USC started double-teaming him some.

7:43 p.m. - Chris Washington scores on a 20-yard run. PAT good and Penn Hills on top early, 7-0.

7:42 p.m. - It looks like Penn Hills wants receiver Brandon Ifill to get the ball. 4 passes to him early on. One pass interference penalty hurts USC.

Shortly before game time. FSN Pittsburgh is doing the game live. Always good to see Meg Bulger, FSN's sideline reporter. The former Oakland Catholic star who played at West Virginia University, Meg has been doing sideline reporting the past two years. Now she's also doing some color commentary for womens basketball on ESPNU.

Meg Bulger

Oh-Oh. Look who's working the clock in the pressbox. I'm a little worried. Can Upper St. Clair's boys' basketball coach Danny Holzer really figure out how to turn the clock switch on and off?

Upper St. Clair basketball coach Danny Holzer (a.k.a. Frankie Avalon) on the clock.

The team that always "goes for it" on TV tonight; Live blog tonight

2009-11-06T04:47:00Z

By Mike White | Friday, Nov. 6, 12:05 p.m.

Please note: I'll have a live blog tonight from Penn Hills at Upper St. Clair game. If you have any scores or updates from any other games, email them to me at mwhite@post-gazette.com. I'll put them on.

If you're a high school football fan, then maybe you want to watch the Penn Hills at Upper St. Clair game live tonight (Friday) on FSN Pittsburgh in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs. But if you're a high school fan and get ESPNU, you also need to either tape or DVR a high school game from Arkansas.

Heck, if you're a fan of football at any level, you need to see this.

The Pulaski Academy Bruins from Little Rock, Ark., will play against Little Rock Christian at 8 on ESPNU. Pulaski Academy is one of the most interesting teams I have ever heard of in high school football. Why? Because they never punt.

A year ago, Pulaski Academy won a state championship in the third-largest classification in Arkansas - and never punted. Not once!!!! The entire season!!! This year, Pulaski is 7-2 and has punted once. The team already has been featured in a Sports Illustrated article.

Pulaski coach Coach Kevin Kelley has analyzed statistics that he says show that it just doesn't pay to punt. In an Associated Press story, Kelley said, "I’m really a contrarian thinker. When everybody thinks something is going to happen it often times doesn’t. It’s the same in football. When everybody thinks you should do something, maybe there’s a better way."

Kelley said the inspiration for his unorthodox, though he will tell you totally sound, strategy was from a documentary he stumbled across on television a few years back.

Between the data he jotted down from the show and facts from his own team's games over the years, he determined going for it on fourth down every time isn’t risky at all. According to Associated Press, Pulaski converts on about 50 percent of its fourth-down tries.

So check it out tonight.

More TV

Besides the FSN live game, Comcast will televise the Mt. Lebanon-Shaler game on tape tomorrow night.

And don't forget, MSA Sports will have every playoff game on its radio stations or internet site www.msasports.net MSA also has a scoreboard show afterward.

And we'll post the scores as we get them on our web site.

Hopewell's Shell suspended for first playoff game; Michigan recruit Wilkins out with mono

2009-11-05T03:20:00Z

By Mike White | Wednesday, Nov. 4, 10:25 p.m.

Hopewell running back Rushell Shell and Trinity tight end-linebacker Ken Wilkins won't play in Friday night's WPIAL playoff games, but for vastly different reasons.

Shell, a sophomore who led the WPIAL in rushing during the regular season, was suspended by the school for Friday's game against Derry for breaking a school rule. Shell confirmed tonight that he won't play and said in a text message that he was suspended because he had "chew tobacco" on him, which is against school rules. He said someone gave him the chew.

Although Hopewell won't be as strong without Shell, don't expect the Vikings to struggle. Remember, the opponent is Derry. The Trojans are the No. 4 team from the Keystone Conference and Keystone teams are 0-32 in the playoffs the past eight years.

Rushel Shell

Meanwhile, Wilkins, a senior and a University of Michigan recruit, is out for Trinity's game at Mars because he has mononucleosis. This is the second game Wilkins has missed because of mono. He didn't play last week, either.

"It's frustrating, but even moreso because I'm a senior," Wilkins said. "When you're a senior, any game can be your last game. You definitely want to get back and play."

When asked how he thought he has played this year, Wilkins said, "On defense, I wasn’t having as good of a year as I did last year. But I think some of that was due to a lot more people knowing who I was this year, and teams scheming more around me. I'm more involved in the offense this year, though. I was having an OK defensive year."

Shell won't play in first-round playoff game

2009-11-05T02:19:00Z

By Mike White | Wednesday, Nov. 4, 9:20 p.m.

Hopewell star running back Rushel Shell will not play in Friday night's playoff game against Derry because he broke a school rule. Shell confirmed tonight that he won't play.

Shell finished the regular season as the WPIAL's leading rusher and has more than 3,500 yards for his career. Although his absence will definitely hurt Hopewell, look for the Vikings to still roll. Derry isn't exactly a strong tream, finishing fourth in the Keystone Conference. Remember, the Keystone Conference is 0-32 in the playoffs the past eight years.

Comparing state rankings; Clairton makes big jump

2009-11-03T20:58:00Z

By Mike White | Tuesday, Nov. 3, 4:10 p.m.

Here are the state rankings from the Post-Gazette and Harrisburg Patriot-News.

It's interesting that Harrisburg made some big changes this week, despite teams not losing. For example, in Class AAAA, Harrisburg jumped Gateway from No. 3 to No. 2 this week, and dropped North Penn from No. 2 to No. 3, even though North Penn crushed Hatboro-Horsham, 35-0.

In Class AA, West Catholic jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 in Harrisburg, while West Catholic stayed at No. 5 in the Post-Gazette. The biggest change came in Class A, where Clairton went from No. 5 to No. 1 in the Harrisburg poll, even though none of the four teams in front of the Bears lost last week.

Clairton and talented running back Deontae Howard jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 in the Harrisburg Patriot-News Class A rankings. The Bears stayed at No. 5 in the Post-Gazette rankings.

POST-GAZETTE HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS

PIAA CLASS AAAA

North Penn 9-0 1. Bishop McDevitt 9-0
Bishop McDevitt 9-0 2. Gateway 9-0
Gateway 9-0 3. North Penn 9-0
St. Joseph’s Prep 7-1 4. St. Joseph's Prep 7-1
LaSalle College 7-1 5. LaSalle College 7-1

PIAA CLASS AAA

Thomas Jefferson 9-0 1. Thomas Jefferson
Selinsgrove 9-0 2. Selinsgrove 9-0
Manheim Central 9-0 3. Wilson Area
Wilson Area 9-0 4. Manheim Central
Hopewell 9-0 5. Hopewell

PIAA CLASS AA

Dunmore 9-0 1. Dunmore 9-0
Lancaster Catholic 8-1 2. West Catholic 7-2
South Fayette 9-0 3. Center 8-1
General McLane 9-0 4. Beaver Falls 8-1
West Catholic 7-2 5. Aliquippa 8-1

PIAA CLASS A

Rochester 9-0 1. Clairton 8-1
Farrell 9-0 2. Rochester
Bishop McCort 9-0 3. Farrell
Laurel 8-1 4. Bishop McCort
Clairton 8-1 5. Laurel

No real surprises in playoff pairings; explaining New Castle's seeding

2009-11-03T03:31:00Z

By Mike White | Monday, Nov. 2, 10:45 p.m.

The WPIAL was widely criticized a year ago when the league made Upper St. Clair the No. 14 seed for the Class AAAA playoffs and matched the Panthers against McKeesport in the first round. This year, everything was pretty quiet.

The WPIAL's pairings and seedings seem fair and can be understood. Some people might not understand New Castle's No. 12 seed in Class AAA and Uniontown's No. 6 in AAA. New Castle deserves to be higher, and Uniontown lower. But let's try to explain.

Some of the WPIAL's seedings are not "true" seedings because teams that finish first and second in their conferences get home games in the first round and usually have to be seeded in the top eight. But the WPIAL really did a smart thing in seeding New Castle 12th and Uniontown No. 6. Here's the scoop:

There is no way in the world the WPIAL believes New Castle is the No. 12 seed or Uniontown No. 6. New Castle is the third-place team from the Parkway Conference and many thought the Red Hurricanes would be the No. 9 seed and play Uniontown as the No. 8 seed. But if that happened, New Castle might win and have to face No. 1 seed Thomas Jefferson in the quarterfinals.

In order to keep New Castle away from Thomas Jefferson, or even No. 2 Hopewell, the WPIAL had to seed the Red Hurricanes lower. That's why the league put them at No. 12, and why Uniontown was moved up. Uniontown got no bargain, drawing a good Belle Vernon team.

Will No. 1 team face Quips in quarterfinals?

2009-11-02T18:33:00Z

By Mike White | Sunday, Nov. 2, 1:34 p.m.

Look for WPIAL playoff pairings on the Post-Gazette web site under breaking news later tonight. We'll also put them on this blog.

We'll have some thoughts on the WPIAL playoff seedings and pairings after they are announced tonight at a meeting. But where the WPIAL places Aliquippa will be interesting because the No. 1 seed in Class AA might have to play the Quips in the quarterfinals.

You could make a case for Aliquippa being one of the top five teams in Class AA. The Quips tied Center and Beaver Falls for the Midwestern Conference championship and the Post-Gazette ranks the Quips No. 5 in Class AA behind South Fayette, Center, Mount Pleasant and Beaver Falls. Although Aliquippa tied for the conference title, they finished as the No. 3 seed because of tiebreaker points and head-to-head competition.

First- and second-place teams play at home in the first round of the playoffs while third-and fourth-place teams go on the road. Because first- and second-place teams are at home, they are seeded in the top eight. Teams in third and fourth are seeded in the bottom eight.

No question Aliquippa is the best third-place team from a Class AA conference. That means the Quips will be seeded No. 9 and play the No. 8 team, most likely McGuffey or Keystone Oaks. The winner of that game then plays the winner of the 1-16 game. Thus, the No. 1 team in the Class AA field might play Aliquippa in the quarterfinals.

Oh well, that's the way the system works.

Predicted seedings and pairings

2009-11-02T00:17:00Z

By Mike White | Sunday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.

The WPIAL has a football committee that decides playoff pairings and seedings. But I'm going to be a one-man committee.

Here are my top five seedings for each class and some first-round matchups that I would make. It's hard to come up with all of the first-round matchups because you never know what the WPIAL is thinking sometimes with games involving seeds 5 through 8.

CLASS AAAA

Seeds - 1. Gateway. 2. Woodland Hills. 3. Bethel Park. 4. North Allegheny. 5. McKeesport.

Some first-round matchups - Gateway vs. Plum; Woodland Hills vs. Baldwin; Bethel Park vs. Penn-Trafford; North Allegheny vs. Latrobe; McKeesport vs. North Hills.

CLASS AAA

I think two second-place teams will be seeded No. 3 and No. 4 - and deservedly so.

Seeds - 1. Thomas Jefferson. 2. Hopewell. 3. Chartiers Valley. 4. West Allegheny. 5. This is where it gets interesting. You might want to pick Greensburg Salem as the No. 5 team, but the Lions play in the Keystone Conference and the Keystone is notoriously bad. The conference is 0-32 in the playoffs the past eight years. So, do you put Mars and Franklin Regional 5-6? They tied for first place in the Greater Allegheny. But I predict the WPIAL will go with Mars as the No. 5 seed.

Some first-round matchups -- Thomas Jefferson vs. Laurel Highlands; Hopewell vs. Derry; Chartiers Valley vs. Hampton; West Allegheny vs. either Trinity or Belle Vernon.

CLASS AA

The interesting thing in this class is who should be the top seed? South Fayette? Mount Pleasant? Both are undefeated Mount Pleasant played in the Interstate Conference, which might be stronger than South Fayette's Century. Both are undefeated. Or do you put Center at No. 1? Yes, Center has a loss but the Trojans come from the toughest conference (Midwestern). I'll go with these seeds: 1. South Fayette. 2. Mount Pleasant. 3. Center. 4. Beaver Falls. 5 Shady Side Academy.

First-round matchups: Either South Fayette or Mount Pleasant vs. Kittanning. Center vs. Steel Valley. Either South Fayette or Mount Pleasant vs. Beaver. Beaver Falls vs. Washington; Shady Side Academy vs. Sto-Rox; Freeport vs. Greensburg Central Catholic; Keystone Oaks vs. Burrell; McGuffey vs. Aliquippa.

CLASS A

Top seeds - 1. Rochester. 2. Laurel. 3. Clairton. 4. North Catholic. 5. Monessen.

Some first-round matchups - Rochester vs. Carmichaels; Laurel vs. Burgettstown; Clairton vs. South Side Beaver; North Catholic vs. Jefferson-Morgan; Monessen vs. Springdale.

First-round matchups: South Fayette vs. Kittanning.

Picture this: Pitt's Lewis and Saddler at Gateway-McKeesport game

2009-10-31T16:40:00Z

By Mike White | Saturday, Oct. 31, 2:10 p.m.

It's not unusual for a football player to come back and watch his alma mater play. So it was no surprise to see former Gateway star Cam Saddler on the sideline for last night's showdown between the Gators and McKeesport.

But Saddler brought a friend with him - Pitt running back Dion Lewis.

Cam Saddler, left, with Pitt teammate Dion Lewis. Photo courtesy of Post-Gazette photographer Matt Freed.

Saddler and Lewis watched the game from the sideline. What stuck out to me was Lewis' size. I knew he wasn't big, but Lewis and Saddler are about the same size in height, although Lewis is thicker. When I mentioned to the two that they were the same size, Saddler laughed and said, "See, I tell you all the time that I'm bigger than you."

Saddler is one of the most colorful speakers I've ever dealt with in 30 years of covering high school football.

At Lewis' size, it is somewhat amazing what he is accomplishing. But it's another example of how, it seems more and more these days, there is room for small people like Lewis - and Saddler - in major-college football.

Shell gets 2,000

Hopewell sophomore running back Rushel Shell went over 2,000 yards rushing for the season. He is only the third WPIAL running back in 30 years to rush for 2,000 yards in the regular season.

McKeesport will drop

I heard some people this week say if McKeesport lost to Gateway, McKeesport still might get the No. 2 or 3 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. No way now. McKeesport was handled by Gateway. I'm not saying McKeesport isn't good, but the Tigers didn't show much against Gateway.

Even if McKeesport gave Gateway a better game, I still think McKeesport would've gotten a No. 4 or 5 seed. But now I'm certain. Gateway will get No. 1, Woodland Hills No. 2 and Bethel Park No. 3. North Allegheny and McKeesport will get the 4-5 seeds, and it doesn't really matter much what order they are in because 16-team brackets are designed to have 4-5 play each other in the second round.

More Gateway stuff

* It says here that Gateway junior linebacker-tight end-receiver Armstead Williams will be pretty heavily recruited next year. He's that good.

* This is the first time in school history that Gateway had back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. The Gators' other undefeated regular seasons were 1965, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1980 and 1986.

Where Kalkstein stands

Someone sent me a comment, wondering what quarterbacks are in front of Rob Kalkstein on the WPIAL's all-time passing list. Kalkstein is now fifth with 5,800 yards. Pine-Richland's Jake Long is fourth with 5,830. The only three quarterbacks in WPIAL history who have thrown for 6,000 career yards are Sto-Rox's Adam DiMIchele (6,741), South Fayette's Andrew DiDonato (6,573) and Steel Valley's Luke Getsy (6,010). If Gateway would make it to the PIAA championship game, Kalkstein would seemingly have a shot at the record. That would give him six more games to get 941 yards. He could do that.

I think Gateway has an excellent shot to make it to the WPIAL final. This team is beginning to look maybe as good as last year's team that lost in the WPIAL final.

Should they be in?

I keep going back and forth about the number of teams that make the WPIAL playoffs. On one hand, taking four teams from each conference does create some more interest for a number of schools. On the other hand, there are some bad teams that make the playoffs.

The funny thing is it's the biggest classification that has the worst teams in the playoffs. Baldwin made it with a 2-7 record. Sorry, but no 2-7 teams should be in the playoffs. Plum and Penn-Trafford also made it with 3-6 records. All three of those teams are in Class AAAA.

But then you have a team like Springdale. The Dynamos are 7-2, but would not make the playoffs if the WPIAL didn't take four teams from each conference. But Springdale qualified as the No. 4 team in Class A.

All this being said, I think the WPIAL better start looking at some alternative playoff plans at some point in the near future. Because I truly believe that within five years, the PIAA will either shorten the season by a week, or there will be six classifications. That will put a kink in the WPIAL's postseason plans.

Photo of the year?

Take a look at the photo below from PG photographer Matt Freed. I think it's one of the best of the season. It is McKeesport's Julian Brown taking down Gateway's Dayonne Nunley - by the locks.

I was on the sideline when this happened. I wondered if a penalty would be called. It wasn't. Remember years ago when an opponent pulled Troy Polamalu by the hair. That's what this play reminded me of.