WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Six

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 5, 2013 | 9:28 AM

Some of these names we have seen before this year while some of them are newcomers to our kudos spotlight. These are the WPIAL football players that stood out…sometimes even in the thick fog…with victory leading performances as the second half of the regular season kicked into full gear with a taste of October Friday night football.

Miles Sanders – Woodland Hills

The slow start by George Novak's Woodland Hills football team is a distant memory now. I guess you could say the 0-2 start was many Miles ago. Miles Sanders, the talented young running back for the Wolverines continues to run 'down hill' as they say, rushing for 235 yards and scoring on three touchdowns run, including a 75-yard scamper that helped Woody High pull away to a 42-21 triumph over the visiting Baldwin Highlanders in a Class AAAA Southeastern Conference fray.

Riley Redman – Pittsburgh Central Catholic

Depth is something many high school coaches yearn for, especially as we hit the second month of the season. Some how, some way though, the elite teams fid an able body to plug in and not miss a beat. Such is the case of Pittsburgh Central Catholic running back Riley Redman, who subbed for the injured Luigi Lista-Brinza by rushing for 223 yards and three touchdowns, including an 80-yard second quarter score that helped the Vikings remain undefeated and pull away to a 49-14 Class AAAA Northern Eight Conference victory over the host Pine-Richland Rams.

Jimmy Moore – Gateway

Last week, Gateway needed a last minute drive to remain undefeated as they came back to beat the Hempfield Spartans. Friday nighty, they found themselves on the flip side as they held off host North Allegheny to improve to 6-0 overall. In a back-and-forth Class AAAA Non-Conference tilt, quarterback Jimmy Moore hit on 14 of 23 passes for 284 yards and three touchdown tosses of 32, 47 and 63 yards as the Gators held off a furious fourth quarter comeback attempt to hand the Tigers their second loss of the season 35-32.

Dom McKinley – Greensburg-Salem

When you lose four of your first five games, the hole that your team has dug itself seems like a hiker looking up, up and further up at what it will take to scale the mountain in front of him. But you have to start somewhere, which is what Greensburg-Salem did Friday night thanks to the climbing…errr, the running of Dom McKinley, who rushed for 214 yards and scored three second half touchdowns to help the Golden Lions come-from-behind to knock off the visiting Indiana Little Indians 28-21 in a Class AAA Greater Allegheny Conference adventure.

Tyler Mellors – Mount Pleasant

The trap was set, but Mount Pleasant wasn't jumping on the bait. With a big showdown against undefeated Washington for the Class AA Interstate Conference championship headlining Week Seven, the Vikings took care of business against a good Jeanette team thanks to the running of soon to be all-time school leading rusher Tyler Mellors, who ran for 258 yards on 24 carries and scored on touchdown totes of 1, 2 and 16 yards in a 35-21 victory over the visiting Jayhawks.

Brett Brumbaugh – South Fayette

For a second straight week, South Fayette faced an undefeated opponent in a clash of Top Ten teams with first place at stake in the Class AA Century Conference and for the second straight week, they cruised thanks to their 'hit man' signal caller. Junior quarterback Brett Brumbaugh was dead on again, hitting on 15 of 24 passes for 290 yards (20 yards a pop) and three touchdown throws of 29, 34 and 39 yards as the Lions roared to 6-0 with a 49-15 rout of the host and now 5-1 Quaker Valley Quakers.

Koltan Kobrys – Fort Cherry

Everybody is talking about how Gerrit Cole lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game Two after a thumping in the series opener, Fort Cherry fans can relate after the HUGE performance by their star running back. After losing their perfect season and sole possession of first place in a loss last week to Clairton, Koltan Kobrys led the Rangers back to the Class A Black Hills Conference victory column by rushing for 311 yards and three long touchdown runs in a 42-6 whooping of the host Bishop Canevin Crusaders.

Eli Owens – Neshannock

Since losing a Class A Big 7 Conference heartbreaker in Week Three to top-ranked Sto-Rox by one point, Neshannock has quietly gone about their business…that is until their third straight victory Friday night. Hard not to notice the game Eli Owens enjoyed as he rushed for 291 yards and scored on long runs of 39, 22, 90 and 35 yards as the host Lancers ran for nearly 500 yards as a team in a 52-20 thrashing of the struggling Rochester Rams. 

Dalton Rosta – Laurel

With third place at stake in the Class A Big 7 Conference with the hopes of landing a spot in the top two a possibility, Laurel flexed their muscles and turned what was expected to be a tight one into a laugher. Dalton Rosta led the way on the ground with 200 yards rushing and scored on jaunts of 30, 36, 12 and 38 yards as the Spartans improved to 5-1 overall with a 49-6 whacking of the Western Beaver Golden Beavers as Laurel keeps their hopes of a conference title alive two weeks before hosting a showdown with Sto-Rox.

Mitchell Athey – Vincentian Academy

To say Mitchell Athey of Vincentian Academy had a big night is like saying…well…Mitchell Athey had a big night. The Vincentian running back rushed for 214 yards and scored the games only five touchdowns on runs of 45, 49, 61 and 62 yards, plus he caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Michael Tappe…all in the first half in a 35-0 victory over the visiting Bentworth Bearcats in a Class A Non-Conference contest that helps the second year Royals even their record overall at 3-3.

Tags: Fort Cherry, Gateway, Greensburg Salem, Vincentian Academy, Woodland Hills