WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Ten

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, November 5, 2017 | 12:48 AM

The lights are always brighter in November. The nerves are always higher on The Highway to Heinz. The stakes are always bigger on The Road to Robert Morris. With those things all coming into play, the WPIAL raised the curtain on the 2017 WPIAL Football Playoffs on Friday with 31 of 32 Quarterfinals and First Round contests. Here are the players that raised their games as well in helping their teams continue their postseason ride.

Hollis Mathis – Penn Hills

Penn Hills at Bethel Park in a WPIAL Class 6-A Quarterfinals playoff game was like the old Rock-Em Sock-Em Robots, throwing mighty lefts and rights in the hopes that the opponent’s head would be separated from his shoulders. In a physical battle for a Final Four spot, it was the arm of PH quarterback Hollis Mathis that helped determine the victor as he connected on 12 of 19 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns of 55, 46 and 50 yards as the Indians outlasted the Black Hawks by a score of 30-28 in an opening night thriller in the South Hills.

Phil Jurkovec – Pine-Richland

He may have been stopped trying to get into a district field hockey championship match, but a pretty good Norwin defense could not stop Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec from lighting up the scoreboard. The Notre Dame recruit hit on 13 of 17 passes for 236 yards and four touchdown tosses of 18, 53, 30 and 19 yards to go along with an 84-yard scoring jaunt as the top-seed and undefeated Rams cruised to a 49-14 victory over the Knights in a WPIAL Class 6-A Quarterfinals onslaught.

Brady Walker – Gateway

September, October, November…it really doesn’t matter what time of the football season it is, Brady Walker is going to rack up the tosses, the yardage, the points and most importantly, the wins. Gateway improved to 10-1 after Walker connected on 24 of 40 passes for 394 yards and a touchdown pass of 74 yards to go along with a scoring run of 8 yards as the Gators eliminated the Woodland Hills Wolverines 40-28 in a WPIAL Class 5-A Quarterfinals playoff contest.

Drew Saxton – South Fayette

On a night when they probably didn’t have to be perfect, South Fayette quarterback Drew Saxton came close. Saxton connected on 11 of 14 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns on passes of 23 and 39 yards to Noah Plack and a 33-yard scoring strike to Peyton Tinney as the top-seed and unbeaten Lions cruised to a 35-0 whitewash of the West MIfflin Titans in the 1 vs 8 game in the WPIAL Class 4-A Quarterfinals as the Green Machine moves on after losing on opening weekend last fall.

Avante McKenzie – Aliquippa

Because of the ease Aliquippa has beaten its opponents over the years, you don’t see gaudy statistics from players you might see in other programs. The only stat Mike Zmijanic is ever worried about is wins and losses. But the regular season is over and the postseason challenges increase, thus a better chance for a little black and red gaudiness. Avante McKenzie rushed for 220 yards and scored five touchdowns as a close WPIAL Class 3-A Quarterfinals game turned one-sided as the Quips rolled over the South Park Eagles 48-12.

Ricky Guss – Quaker Valley

Going into the opening night of the district high school football playoffs, the one matchup that jumped out to many was the Class 3-A Quarterfinals game matching a pair of 9-1 teams as Quaker Valley hosted Derry. But after a back-and-forth first half, QV hit the gas and leaned on Ricky Guss to help seal the deal on a Final Four berth. Guss was 11 of 24 passing for 205 yards and two touchdown throws, plus he rushed for 109 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Quakers eliminated the Trojans 51-29.

Lionel Deanes – Seton-LaSalle

There are many ways you can cruise on the Highway to Heinz. Some teams like a bike, some prefer a car, some will go with a truck and others will jump on the bus. But a train??? Seton-LaSalle rode The Train to an Allegheny Conference championship and now to a spot in the WPIAL Class 3-A Semifinals next week as Lionel ‘The Train’ Deanes rushed for 282 yards and five touchdowns as the Rebles down the Freeport Yellow Jackets for a second time in less than a month with a 35-18 triumph.

Ryan Lounder – Burgettstown

Before we give Ryan Lounder his deserved tip of the helmet, kudos to Burgettstown place kicker Seth Phillips for booming a game winning 37-yard field goal. But they don’t get there without the efforts of Lounder who hit on 9 of 14 passes for 128 yards and three touchdown tosses, plus he rushed for 157 yards and scored on a 28-yard jaunt as the Blue Devils won their first playoff game since 1977 with a 31-28 WPIAL Class 2-A First Round thriller over the host Neshannock Lancers.

Turner Grau – Avonworth

Avonworth with tied with several other teams with the fewest wins in the playoff field as they stumbled into the postseason after a 3-5 regular season. But like 31 other winners on Friday, they are now 1-0 in the playoffs. The ‘Lopes are headed to Round Two thanks in part to the receiving numbers put up by Truner Grau, who had eight catches for 136 yards with first half touchdown catches of 7 and 32 yards as the Antelopes stunned the 5th-seed and host Charleroi Cougars 21-12 in a WPIAL Class 2-A First Round eye-brow raiser.

Tyler Bradley – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

Last year was a big turnaround season for Our Lady of the Sacred Heart qualified for the district football postseason for the first time in school history. But after a one-and-done performance in the playoffs this season, OLSH was looking for success in the second season and a deep run into November. The programs first playoff win came in large part to the right arm of quarterback Tyler Bradley, who was 12 of 18 passing for 275 yards and five touchdowns as the Chargers jolted the Springdale Dynamos 52-26 in a WPIAL Class 1-A First Round fray.

Tags: Aliquippa, Avonworth, Burgettstown, Gateway