3 things to watch: Saturday’s Class A conference matchups in WPIAL football

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 14, 2018 | 8:49 PM

The late David Bowie once sang about Ch-ch-ch-changes. He probably wasn’t thinking about these two Greene County schools, but more than just the date for Mapletown at West Greene is changing.

This Tri-County South game slated for Friday was pushed back 24 hours and changed to Waynesburg Central High School because of flooding issues from heavy rains earlier in the week at West Greene.

But more than just the date and site have changed for these two rivals.

In 2016, Mapletown beat West Greene, 15-6, on their way to the playoffs behind the running of Dylan Rush, who finished fifth in rushing in the WPIAL with 1,852 yards.

Then last year, the Pioneers turned the tables by beating the Maples, 42-12, as West Greene earned a postseason berth behind star running back Ben Jackson.

Jackson is back and entered Week 3 as the second-leading rusher in the district with 711 yards as the Pioneers are off to a 2-1 start while the Maples 0-3 overall.

Two for high noon

Back in the day, an Eastern Conference battle between Clairton and Riverview was going to be a physical clash that was one of the highlights that week in Class A.

In the heyday of the conference, the Bears won a WPIAL championship in 1989, and the Raiders answered with a title run eight years later in 1997.

Those days are long gone however.

Since returning to the Eastern Conference in 2014, Clairton has won all four meetings with Riverview by a combined score of 242-6.

Clairton visits Riverview at noon Saturday.

Also at noon, Union visits Northgate in a Class A Big 7 Conference fray. Both the Scotties and Flames are in search of their first conference win and are a combined 1-5.

Saturday soccer showdowns

There are a handful of WPIAL boys soccer matches Saturday with first place or a share of the section lead up for grabs.

In Section 1-4A, Pine-Richland visits Seneca Valley; the Rams have a half-game lead over the Raiders.

Also in 4A, Canon-McMillan is at Upper St. Clair as the Big Macs enjoy a half-game lead over the Panthers in Section 2.

Half of the four sections in 3A have battles for first place on the Saturday slate, as Greensburg Salem visits Laurel Highlands in Section 3 and Chartiers Valley hosts Franklin Regional in Section 4.

Elizabeth Forward battles Keystone Oaks in a Section 1-2A match as the Golden Eagles are 4-0 and the Warriors check in at 3-0.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Clairton, Elizabeth Forward, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Keystone Oaks, Laurel Highlands, Mapletown, Northgate, Pine-Richland, Riverview, Seneca Valley, Union, Upper St. Clair