WPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz – Week Six

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, October 11, 2015 | 7:21 AM

Friday night from Week 6 around the WPIAL featured a plethora of big games. The sixth Saturday of the 2015 campaign saw a smorgasbord of District 7 gridiron action. A taste of high school football with teams from all FOUR classifications made up the busiest Saturday of the season with six football contests. McKeesport, Moon, Burgettstown and Freedom picked a postcard perfect day to celebrate Homecoming 2015. But who was wearing the crown at the end of the day for top performances?

Khaleke Hudson, Mark Cromerdie, Kyreek Sayles – McKeesport

Three McKeesport players were playing a game of ‘Whatever you can do, I can do better’ in order to catch the attention of head coach George Smith on his special day, as the school district named the field George Smith Field at Weigle-Schaffer Stadium after their legendary coach. Khaleke Hudson scored on a 19-yard run and a 50-yard interception return for a score, Kyreek Sayles scored on a 50-yard run and a 107-yard pick six and Mark Cromerdie scored on a 32-yard run and a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown as the Tigers mauled the visiting Hopewell Vikings 49-14 in a Class AAAA vs Class AAA Non-Conference matchup.

Jake Collins – Chartiers Valley

Chartiers Valley, known for winning big in basketball, is trying to build that reputation in football as they traveled to Moon for a key Class AAA Parkway Conference game. Win and move into a tie for second place, lose and fall back into the middle of the pack with postseason hopes very uncertain. But CV answered the big game call thanks to the guiding hands (and legs) of quarterback Jake Collins, who was 9 of 16 passing for 111 yards and a pair of scoring tosses, plus he rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns of 5 and 6 yards as the Colts turned back the Tigers 45-26.

Hunter Burns – Deer Lakes

For the first four weeks, the flame was bright for Deer Lakes as they raced to a 4-0 start. They were doused in Week 5 momentarily by Highlands, but the fire is back and burning anybody in its path. Feeding the heat is running back Hunter Burns, who rushed for 231 yards and scored two touchdowns on a 59 yard run and a 30-yard fumble return for a score as the Lancers scored four defensive touchdowns in a 41-16 take away victory over the host Summit Academy Knights in a Class AA Allegheny Conference contest.

Brad McLaughlin – Burgettstown

We all love a great turnaround story in high school football and here in 2015, there are a handful of teams that are living a dream after several nightmarish seasons. One of them is Burgettstown, where fans of the navy and white are glad they have Brad. Quarterback Brad McLaughlin was 10 of 20 passing for 212 yards and a pair of touchdown passes of 8 and 58 yards, plus he scored twice on a 1-yard plunge and a 48-yard interception return to the house as the Blue Devils rolled over the visiting Southmoreland Scotties 30-10 for a successful Class AA Interstate Conference Homecoming triumph.

Austin Scott – Bishop Canevin

The Class A Black Hills Conference chase for a championship was thought to come down to two teams, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic and Avonworth, which both entered Week 6 with perfect records. Well, Black Hills, there is a new sheriff in town. Bishop Canevin is part of the conference title mix thanks to quarterback Austin Scott, who only completed 5 of 11 passes for 123 yards, but two of those completions went for scores on throws of 27 and 43 yards, the latter coming midway through the fourth quarter that provided the winning points in the Crusaders 35-28 upset of the visiting Avonworth Antelopes.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Burgettstown, Chartiers Valley, Deer Lakes, McKeesport