Saturdays Scholastic Starz – 10/23/2011

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, October 23, 2011 | 9:38 AM

A busy Friday night of high school football action in Week Eight left only four WPIAL games to be played on the next to the last Saturday of the regular season. Two teams were looking to secure the top-seed in their conference while another was trying to secure a playoff berth. That left five teams to play the role of spoiler or to just play for pride. Here are the top five performances from Saturday around Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Josh Beverly – Sto Rox

The senior running back for Sto-Rox carried just three times for 68 yards, but scored on all three carries. Josh Beverly’s first score came on the opening play of the game going 49 yards down the sidelines to paydirt. With the three scores, he now has 17 touchdowns on the season. The only down note for the Vikings and Beverly, he suffered an ankle injury late in the first quarter and did not return as Sto-Rox defeated the Shenango Wildcats 38-12 to give the Vikings the Big Seven Conference championship.
Lenny Williams – Sto Rox

Without Beverly (injured early, see above), Sto-Rox turned to their sophomore quarterback. Lenny Williams went 6 for 10 for 156 yards, with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Marzett Geter. Williams also ran for 46 yards and a score as the Vikings move closer to securing a second-seed in the upcoming WPIAL Class A playoffs.

Kevin Mechas –Bishop Canevin

Bishop Canevin didn’t need quarterback Kevin Mechas to do much in order to stay undefeated through eight weeks, since they were up 20-0 before their second possession. However Mechas still shined bright Saturday afternoon at Riverside Park in Oakmont. The senior signal caller connected on 5 of his 8 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns as the Crusaders cruised to a 54-8 triumph over the Riverview Raiders that clinched a share of the Class A Eastern Conference championship and the top-seed in the conference.
Dustin Creel – Western Beaver

After losing their first two games at home, the season could have fallen apart before conference play even started for Western Beaver. However thanks to strong senior leaders like Dustin Creel, WB is playoff bound after beating their rivals from Hookstown on Saturday. Creel did his part, rushing for 135 yards and scoring three first half touchdowns on runs of 33, 75 and 28-yards as the Golden beavers blanked the South Side Rams 36-0 to clinch a playoff spot out of the Class A Big 7 Conference.

Rasheed Howard – Wilkinsburg

With both teams at or near the bottom of the standings in their respective conferences, Mapletown and Wilkinsburg met Saturday afternoon at historic Graham Field with the love of the game in the air and pride as their goal…well, that and a victory. Wins have been few and far between lately for the hosts, but thanks to Rasheed Howard, who rushed for exactly 100 yards and scored on a 45-yard touchdown run plus he tossed a 30-yard scoring pass to Lamar Washington as the Tigers picked up their first win of the season in a 33-6 triumph over the Maples.

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Western Beaver, Wilkinsburg