Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 12

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 | 2:12 PM

Week 12 of the WPIAL 2013 football season arrives this Friday, and as a great man once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again”. We have the exact same final four teams alive in the smallest classification, a rematch of the championship game in AA, three of the final four from last year’s AAA tournament and a rematch in one of the AAAA semis from a year ago as well. Truthfully I could almost copy and paste last year’s Big Game Hunting for the semis right onto this page, but I only copy from the best, and since Don Rebel has not written anything yet regarding the 2013 semis. This will be a fresh edition of Big Game Hunting.

Class AAAA:
#4 Woodland Hills Wolverines (9-2) vs. Upper Saint Clair Panthers (11-0) Friday November 15^th at 7:30 PM @ Baldwin Stadium on the campus of Baldwin high school broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and KQV-1410 AM by Lanny Frattare and Bob Orkwis, also Broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and the Woodland Hills Sports Network by Adam Gusky and Fred Guy

This will be the fourth game between these two storied programs since week one of the 2012 program. The Panthers have won two of those games in the “Battle at the Back of The Aphabet Bowl” but, those wins have come during the regular season. Woody High won this game when it mattered most last year in week 12 by a margin of 42-20.

Woodland Hills has rattled off nine wins in a row since starting off 0-2 here in the 2013 campaign. The Wolverines have been able to do so despite having to deal with a bunch of injuries to some of their top players as well. The Wolverines are battle-tested now with good wins over good teams in rounds one and two defeating Pine-Richland in the 1^st round 35-14 and last Friday got a pair of touchdown runs from Harry Randall and returned two interceptions for touchdowns in a 28-14 win over the Seneca Valley Raiders.

Upper Saint Clair is averaging 42.5 points per game offensively in the playoffs with wins over Kiski in round one 44-13 and the defending champions North Allegheny 41-23 in the quarterfinals. Panthers quarterback Joe Repischak ran for a pair of scores and also threw for two touchdowns in the win over North Allegheny.

Injuries and the potential recovery from injuries will play a huge part in this game, USC played without their fullback and linebacker Mac Pope against North Allegheny and they lost tailback Trevor Morrow during the game. Woody High has played their last two games without running back Miles Sanders.

Early word from the Wolverines camp has the likelihood of Sander’s return at about 50%. Early word from the USC folks is, well hard to come by.

Morrow and Pope are big parts of a very deep rushing attack for the Panthers. Morrow has rushed for over 1000 yards on the season and Pope got the tough yards for USC. Pope also was a huge part of the very tough Panther defense. If neither of them plays they will be sorely missed by USC. Stephen Mackowick will be called on to spearhead the rushing attack for the Panthers along with quarterback Joe Repischak. Repischak has completed 70 of 111 passes for 1243 yards and six touchdowns he has also rushed for nine scores on the year.

Woody High meanwhile will rely heavily on Harry Randall and the option play Randall rushed for 172 yards in the quarter finals win over Seneca Valley bringing yearly total to 655 yards on the ground. If Sanders remains on the sideline look for Art Thompkins and Jo – El Shaw to contributors in the Wolverines ground game as well.

These two teams also bring some serious defense into this meeting. USC has posted a 2^nd best in the classification 6.0 points per game allowed number while Woody High is right behind them allowing just 13.4 points per game the third best number in the classification. This could turn into a defensive battle for the ages.

CLASS AAA:
#3 Central Valley Warriors (10-1) vs. #2 Thomas Jefferson Jaguars (11-0) Friday November 15^th at 7:30 PM @ Chartiers Valley Stadium on the campus of Chartiers Valley high school broadcast on the MSA Sports Network by Troy Clardy and Steve Nagler

There are a lot of good defensive football teams in AAA this year. Four teams are allowing less than ten points per game on the season. These two teams represent the best of a good lot. Together they have pitched 10 shutouts on the year, five each through 11 games. The Jags are allowing a classification low 6.36 points per game, while the Warriors are a hair behind them in 2^nd place allowing just 6.73 points per game.

Central rolled over Belle Vernon in round one 40-7 but got a nice test from Mars in the quarters before prevailing 35-21. Jordan Whithead returned a kickoff 94 yards for a score and also scored on a 75 yard touchdown run in the win.

Chase Winovich rushed for 228 yards and three touchdowns in the quarter-finals for the Jags who needed every bit of it to beat Highlands 23-14. The Jaguars advance to the semi-final round for the 15^th time in the last 16 years. I have to say that is a remarkable number, in fact aside from Clairton’s 66, I think it might be the most remarkable number associated with WPIAL football this season.

The Jaguars will look to pound the football with a huge, skilled, offensive line and a combination of WInovich out of the wildcat, Austin Kemp and Ricky Daley. Kemp leads the Jags with 1090 yards on the ground and he has scored a team-high 17 touchdowns. Winovich though has picked up a lot more carries in the last few weeks with Kemp a little banged up and the Michigan linebacker recruit has 842 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season. Daley has added 368 yards and ten touchdowns largely in short yardage situations.

If the Jags look to throw it will usually be Christian Briesinger throwing it. Briesinger has completed 42 of 75 passes for 734 yards and nine scores. It is one thing to know who is likely to be throwing but, with the Jags, you also kind of know who will be doing the catching as well. Dalton Dietrich has 43 catches for 798 yards and has scored eight touchdowns. Dietrich’s receiving yardage is 84% of the Jags passing yards for the season as a team. No other Jaguar has caught more than six passes.

The Warriors offense will stay ground focused as well for the most part, though quarterback John George was 5 for 5 passing for 79 yards in last week’s win over Mars.

JaQuan Pennington and Jordan Whitehead are a tremendous one-two punch on the ground. Whitehead lines up usually as a receiver but runs the jet sweep and will also take some snaps in the Wildcat. The duo has combined for nearly 1500 yards rushing on the season and they make things happen on defense and special teams as well. Preston Johnson contributes the tough to get yards and the trio has combined for 40 touchdowns altogether.

George has completed 30 of 52 passes on the season for 494 yards and five touchdowns. He will also run the ball for the Warriors with nearly four hundred yards rushing.

Watch Ryan Roberson in the Warrior defense he will always be where the ball is.

Class AA:
#6 Beaver Falls Fighting Tigers (9-2) vs. South Fayette Lions (11-0) Friday November 15^th at 7:30 PM at Birko Stadium on the campus of Montour high school broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and WBVP-AM 1230 by Bob Barrickman and Jason Colangelo, also broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and WJPA-AM 1450 by Bob Gregg and Nate Regotti

The Lions and Tigers meet for the fourth straight season in the playoffs, if you are looking for the Bears (oh my) you have to drop down to single A. South Fayette won in the semis in 2010 55-28, the Lions won in the first round in 2011 by a 24-14 margin and last year in the quarters by a margin of 35-21. There are not too many teams that the Tigers are trying to stop a three game losing streak against.

Beaver Falls arrives here after controlling the 11 seed Summit Academy 50-26 and throttling the upstart Yough Cougars 43-7 in the quarterfinals. The Lions have cruised literally all season long rolling GCC 49-0 in round one and defeating rival Seton in the quarters 31-7. The 24 point victory was the closest game the Lions have played in all season. Beaver Falls meanwhile lost a close game to the Quips in week eight 34-28 and took a whoopin from AAA semi-finalist Central Valley in week nine.

The names have changed over the last couple of years but the things these two teams want to do has not Beaver Falls will focus on the run while the Lions will take to the skies on the arm of quarterback Brett Brumbaugh. But neither team is at all one-dimensional. The Lions can and do run, and the Tigers can and do throw.

Brumbaugh has been fabulous in his junior year for the Lions completing 156 of 242 passes for 2529 yards and 29 touchdowns while only throwing five interceptions. Conner Beck and Justin Watson are the main targets for Brumbaugh, the duo has combined for 99 catches for 1742 yards and 22 touchdowns scored on the year.

The Lions can get it done on the ground as well, senior running back Grant Fetchet has piled up 1096 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground for South Fayette so you cannot just gear up to stop the pass or he will burn you.

In addition to all the offensive firepower the Lions oh by the way have allowed the fewest points in the WPIAL on the year allowing 53 total points including tossing five shutouts for Joe Rossi.

Beaver Falls meanwhile has eight players who have rushed for more than a hundred yards on the 2013 campaign. Leading the way on the ground for the Tigers is senior Damian Rawl with 1130 yards on 138 carries, he has scored 14 touchdowns for the season. Kahlil Caracter and Neshaud Akins have combined to rush for 1012 yards and a dozen touchdowns on the ground for Ryan Matsook’s team.

But again you cannot just focus on the run game as a defense because senior quarterback Dan Stratton has been splendid through the air hooking up on 79 of 127 passes for 1357 yards and 17 scores, he has also rushed for 215 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

Class A:
#6 Neshannock Lancers (9-2) vs. #2 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans (11-0) Friday November 15^th at 7:30 PM @ Planet Stadium on the campus of Mars Area high school broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and WJST-AM 1280 by Mark Schaas and Lee Mohn

A rematch of one of the best regular season games of the 2013 season takes place in this game. These two teams battled it out in week eight at J.C. Stone Field with North Catholic hanging on for a 21-14 win. In that win the Trojans suffered a serious loss as their outstanding quarterback Adam Sharlow was lost for the year with an injury. The Trojans though have responded in a big way with P.J. Fulmore moving from running back to quarterback and a defense that is downright ferocious. North blanked Western Beaver 24-0 in round one and then knocked off rival Avonworth in the quarters 14-7 with one of the most impressive defensive efforts you will ever see from Ronnie Meder and the Trojans.

Neshannock has suffered two losses on the 2013 season, falling to the top two seed in this bracket by a combined total of ten points. They have responded to the week eight loss to North by rattling off three straight wins including knocking off Brentwood in the opening round 40-9 and handling Monessen easily 35-6 in the quarterfinals.

North Catholic will feature P.J. Fulmore out of the wildcat and his elusiveness, power and speed are frankly a very rare combination, he breaks so many tackles it is really breathtaking. Fulmore missed five weeks during the early part of the 2013 season due to injury but he has really rounded into tip-top form in the second half of his junior year. Fulmore rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown in the Trojans’ quarterfinal win, he also threw a 46 yard touchdown pass to Ryan Kirby. Eric Timbers, Jerome Turner and Jared Fragapane will also get some touches in this offense which tends to stay pretty ground orientated in the absence of Sharlow.

Tight end Ronnie Meder is a big target with great hands for Fulmore and a force when blocking as well. The Trojans offensive line is tremendous Ryan Long, Josh Churchin,  and Mike Blackwell are the anchors and they give Fulmore and company lots of room to roam.

Neshannock has tremendous offensive firepower and balance. Quarterback Ernie Burkes is the rare 1000 yard rusher and 1000 yard passer for the Lancers. Burkes has completed 90 of 163 passes for 1054 yards and 16 touchdowns, he has carried the football 106 times for 1041 yards and another 18 touchdowns. Eli Owens is tremendously explosive athlete any time he touches the ball the potential is there for a score for the Lancers. The junior has carried the ball 163 times for 1460 yards and scored 13 touchdowns on the season.

The key receivers for Burkes are Jimmy Medure, Rocco Fazio and Steven Jeffries.

The Lancers play a very physical brand of defense. Fazio along with senior linebacker Gianni Oliva are flying to the football with abandon and the Lancers as a whole are fast to the ball and gang tacklers. Look for this to be the same fantastic game it was in week eight when all that was on the line was a seed. Now with a trip to Heinz Field weighing in the balance the intensity will only make things better.

Tags: Beaver Falls, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Central Valley, North Catholic, Upper St. Clair, Woodland Hills