WPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz for 9/6

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, September 7, 2014 | 10:06 AM

It was a very quiet Saturday in Week Two, made louder by those wild and crazy zebras. Somehow, someway, there was a miscommunication with the game officials for the California at Avella Class A Tri-County South Conference contest on Friday night. Thus the stars that we gladly point out in the skies from this Second Saturday of the 2014 season go from two to three. Just gazin.

Noah Rullo and Lavelle Rush – Monessen

Monessen went old school against Riverview on their opening drive, coming out with a full house backfield and pounding the ball into the end zone in a long, time consuming drive that saw only one pass. But after that, the modern game kicked in as Greyhounds quarterback Noah Rullo hit on 13 of 21 passes for 179 yards and three touchdown tosses to Lavelle Rush (5 receptions for 119 yards)  of 10, 11 and 67 yards as the Greyhounds evened their record at 1-1 with a 35-26 victory over the host Raiders in a Class A Eastern Conference fray. 

Rocco Fazio and Jeff Sanflippo – Neshannock

Sure, offense grabs all of the headlines and dominated these kind of articles, but how about a little love for the defense, in this case, the Neshannock D which was out in full force Saturday night at Bob Bleggi Stadium. Rocco Fazio set the tone early when he picked a fumble out of the air and returning it 95 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Later, safety Jeff Sanflippo intercepted a pass and took it 37 yards to the 3 yard line setting up a short  touchdown run as the Lancers blanked the Shenango Wildcats 33-0 in a Class A Big 7 Conference tilt.

Santino Paris – Avella

The ‘Another Great Night in Paris’ show was delayed 24 hours because of the referee miscommunication snafu, but it was well worth the wait for Avella fans. Quarterback Santino Paris connected on 6 passes for 233 yards for a juicy average per completion of 38.8 yards. Paris also tossed two long touchdown passes of 95 and 49 yards, plus he had two short scoring runs as the Eagles evened their Class A Tri-County South Conference record at 1-1 with a 33-24 victory over the visiting California Trojans.

Tags: Avella