WPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz – Week One

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, September 2, 2012 | 9:22 AM

What better way to conclude opening weekend of the 2012 high school football season than for the WPIAL to put on a massive light show spectacular on Saturday night.  Wait, what's that? It wasn't District 7 officials, rather Mother Nature that took center stage? Mmmm. Oh well, the Saturday list shrunk from five to four games because of the storms that rolled through Saturday night, but those four standouts were able to shine bright, even on a cloud-filled day.

Kyle Whipple & Kevin Faulk – East Allegheny

Big plays were the story of the day in Herman as both East Allegheny and Summit Academy came out throwing haymakers (not literally) in this Class AA Allegheny Conference opener. Kyle Whipple hit on 12 of 17 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns of 66 and 5 yards, the latter coming with 33 seconds left in the first half, while Kevin Faulk followed that score with a back-breaking 65-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half as a 6-6 game turned into a 19-6 halftime lead in what would be a 29-12 victory for the Wildcats over the host Knights.

Darian Bradley – Beaver

To use baseball terms, Darian Bradley delivered a couple of singles early on, then came back with a pair of long balls later on to lead Beaver to a one-sided victory in one of the few non-conference games in Week One. Bradley, who ended up with 130 yards rushing, scored a pair of first quarter touchdowns on short runs of 9 and 2 yards, then followed up with a second quarter scoring run of 38-yards and a 44-yard touchdown run for the only points of the second half as the Bobcats rolled at Burgettstown 42-0 over the Blue Devils.    

Ernie Burkes – Neshannock

To say that Ernie Burkes debut at quarterback with a new coaching staff may have launched a new era of Neshannock football may not be an overstatement. The sophomore signla called has 10 carries for 95 yards and two touchdown runs of 13 and 39 yards while completing 6 of 8 passes for 88 yards and four touchdowns (three to John Conglose) of 28, 15, 30 and 10 yards as the Lancers crushed the host Western Beaver Golden Beavers 55-8 in a Class A Big 7 Conference opener.

Lenny Williams – Sto-Rox

Despite a series of storms passing through Western Pennsylvania Saturday evening, lightning wasn't the only thing lighting up the skies of Lawrence County. Sto-Rox quarterback Lenny Williams hit on 13 of 23 passes for 223 yards with touchdown tosses of 37 and 52-yards, plus the junior signal caller ran the ball 13 times for 112 yards and a 5-yard touchdown that got the ball rolling on the Vikings 38-20 Class A Big 7 Conference victory over the host Shenango Wildcats.

Tags: Beaver, East Allegheny