Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Muzzy Colosimo expects call from WPIAL

By: Alec Italiano
Saturday, September 30, 2017 | 11:16 PM

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The repercussions for the game-ending brawl between Valley and Ellwood City on Friday night have yet to be fully realized, but that likely will change in the coming days.

Valley coach Muzzy Colosimo said Saturday he hadn't yet heard from the WPIAL about a potential hearing after a bench-clearing brawl led to the early end of the Vikings' 20-18 loss to Ellwood City with 1 minute, 41 seconds remaining. Two Valley players were ejected.

Colosimo said he expects to hear from the WPIAL sometime Monday.

The situation began after Valley tried an onside kick after cutting Ellwood City's lead to 20-18. Ellwood City recovered the kick, and the fight began shortly afterward. In addition to pushing and shoving, punches were thrown. Both coaching staffs attempted to break it up, and eventually police officers took the field to settle the situation.

Colosimo said he told the officials and Ellwood City coach Nick Hand to end the game. The game, which Colosimo called “chippy,” had a few occasions of offsetting penalties.

As of Saturday evening, Colosimo said he hadn't viewed the film and wanted to do so before he fully commented, but he defended the character of his players.

“It's very embarrassing,” he said. “It's not what we stand for at Valley, and until we know what happened, we're not going to comment on anything that happened. You haven't seen this kind of (stuff) since I've been there because I won't accept it. That's not what we're about.

“The whole game was — I think chippy is the right word. Both ways.”

Colosimo declined to identify the two Valley players who were ejected. Per WPIAL rules, they must sit out the Vikings' game next Saturday at Shady Side Academy.

It marked the second time in seven days a WPIAL game was cut short by an on-field fight. A similar situation broke out in Jeannette's game at Imani Christian on Sept. 23. Five Imani players were suspended as a result of that brawl.

Harmon injured

One of Apollo-Ridge's top two-way players left Friday's home loss to Seton LaSalle with an injury, leaving his status for Friday's game at Freeport uncertain.

Freshman running back/linebacker Logan Harmon injured his right leg as he was tackled while scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 35-21 loss. He was twisted awkwardly as he went to the ground and was ultimately carried off the field.

Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said he was uncertain about the specifics and severity of the injury, but he didn't believe it was to Harmon's knee. The freshman has rushed for more than 480 yards and nine touchdowns and also leads the team in tackles.

“He's a great player,” Skiba said. “He works his tail off.”

Nick of time

Fox Chapel closed 2016 on a five-game winning streak, and the Foxes might need that again to qualify for the WPIAL postseason. Which made quarterback Nick Gizzo's performance Friday against Moon all the more important.

Gizzo set a Fox Chapel record by rushing for 312 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns in the Foxes' (2-4, 2-3) 42-6 win.

The senior has 762 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season, plus 574 passing yards and three scores.

D.J. Vasil contributed. Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Ellwood City, Fox Chapel, Valley