Big Game Hunting for Week One 2012

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 | 3:17 PM

The hot, hot summer of 2012 is winding down and that is great for fans of high school football. If you’ve been keeping up to date with the MSA Sports Countdown to Kick-off articles, you should be in mid-season form and ready to roll for week one of the 2012 WPIAL football campaign, if you haven’t, shame on you. But hey we forgive you and everybody gets a clean slate heading into week one, it’s all about hope and a fresh start….and re-alignment, so re-align your priorities next season and make sure you follow the countdown series. Meanwhile re-alignment means the big games in week one are even bigger so jump right in as we go Big Game Hunting!

Class AAAA Non-Conference:
#1 North Allegheny Tigers (0-0)(0-0) at Mount Lebanon Blue Devils (0-0)(0-0) Friday August 31st at 7:30 pm @ Mt. Lebanon High School broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and The North Allegheny Sports Network by Lee Mohn and Rick Meister  

The North Allegheny Tigers begin defense of their WPIAL championship on the road against the Mount Lebanon Blue Devils. North Allegheny lost some skill players over the last two seasons but they have recovered nicely each time and they are really very loaded coming into the 2012 season. Quarterback Mack Leftwich is back for his senior year and he will be one of the players to really keep an eye on during this season. Last year Leftwich threw for 2223 yards and 20 touchdowns last year he also ran for 933 yards and 16 scores, he led the Tigers in all of those categories.

Two of his favorite targets in the receiving corps are back and Art Walker is looking for big seasons from Brandon Coniker and Greg Garrity the pair combined for 57 catches, over 900 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Also back for the Tigers should be a great rushing attack led by Alex Deciantis who rushed for 806 yards and 14 scores last season.

All of the Tigers’ skilled players will be boosted by the return of some monsters up front on the offensive line including one of the most recruited linemen in the country Patrick Kugler, the 6’5” 280 pound Kugler is joined in the trenches by teammate Jeremy Gonzales another strong, experienced player up front.

Mount Lebanon on the other hand has been hit hard by graduation and will also deal with having a new head coach entering into the Blue Devil locker room. Mike  Melnyk takes over for Chris Haering who leaves to take an assistant job at Pitt. Mike says the Blue Devils definitely got hit by graduation specifically the loss of Luke Hagy, who he called “a beast”.  But the Blue Devils have a little tradition of their own and they have some kids looking to step in and make some noise. Tyler Roth has been a splendid multi-sport athlete for the last couple of years, he is a great hoops player for Joey David and was all-conference last year as a defensive back. Roth will take over at quarterback for the departed Pat Goff. Roth will look to a solid returning receiver in Troy Apke for some key catches this year. Doran Graham will try to step in for Hagy at tailback. Graham is a 5’10’’ 160 pound senior who was solid at corner last year, look for him to contribute on both sides of the ball this year for Lebo.

In the trenches the Blue Devils will have some beef. Alex Bookser, the  6’5’’ 295 pound junior is turning a lot of college coaches heads early in his career. Bookser will be joined by 6’4’’ 285 pound senior Will Gladden and those two guys will keep opponents hands full on both sides of the ball all season long. Another key contributor for the Blue Devils will Timmy Briercheck a 5’8’’ 195 tailback / linebacker, this kid is just a football player and he will be one that Blue Devil fans enjoy immensely.

Class AAA Parkway Conference
Hopewell Vikings (0-0)(0-0) at #3 Montour Spartans (0-0)(0-0) Friday August 31st at 7:10 pm @ Montour High School broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and WMBA AM 1460 by Caleb Musselman and Bruce Frey

These two teams enter the 2012 season having to recover from some pretty dramatic losses to graduation, Hopewell starts a season without Rushel Shell and Montour does the same without Dillon Buechel and Julian Durden a pair of all-time Spartan greats.

Lou Cerro’s cupboard is not bare though, make no mistake about that Devin Wilson returns as one of the best athletes in the WPIAL for Montour the 6’4’’ 185 pound senior was a standout wide receiver and defensive back last year for the defending champions and also one of the best point guards in the WPIAL for Montour on the hardwood. Look for Wilson to get even more touches this year on the gridiron including some time at tailback. Could we see a little “Wildcat” from the Spartans being run by Wilson? Certainly seems like a possibility to me when you have a kid of his ilk and the strength of your team is on the offensive line the way Montour’s is, it just seems logical to get him the ball as often as possible.

Know this, the strength of the Spartans according to Lou Cerro will be line play, on both sides of the ball really. Offensively the line will be anchored by a Temple recruit in 6’3’’ 290 pound guard Matt Barone.

Defensively the trench will be anchored by, another Temple recruit in 6’0’’ 300 pound Tyler Haddock. Haddock will be joined defensively by seven returning starters including Wilson as a ball hawk in the secondary.

Dave Vestal’s team could arguably say they lost the most of any team to graduation as Rushel Shell’s amazing high school career came to a close. Viking fans though know that looking back is for the off-season especially if you are playing in the Parkway Conference. Dave Vestal will replace Shell with senior running back Adam Murray who has plenty of experience spelling Shell over the last few seasons. The Vikes will also have a new quarterback as Stefan Mrkonja a tremendous baseball player will fill the shoes of graduated Nolan Harmotto.

Hopewell has some key players returning to starting positions including middle linebacker Mike Tempalski, a quick, strong athletic kid at 210 pounds who can cover a lot of ground. In the secondary Arion Sepp will return and look to make big plays for Hopewell.
Up front the returnees will include Acantay Patton (6’3’’ 215) as well and Nick McCracken will be a big contributor on both sides of the ball in the trenches.
Class AA Non Conference
#1 Aliquippa Quips (0-0) at Ambridge Bridgers (0-0)(0-0) Saturday September 1st at 8:00 pm @ Moe Rubenstein Stadium at Ambridge High School broadcast on the MSA Sports Network and WBVP AM 1230 and WMBA am 1460 by Caleb Musselman and Bruce Frey

The Quips once again begin a football campaign as the team to beat in AA. Aliquippa has been to Heinz Field four straight seasons including winning AA titles in 2008 and 2011, and they certainly have the look of a team that has an excellent shot at making it five straight trips to the end of the Highway to Heinz.

Terry Swanson and Dravon Henry will both return in the Quips backfield where they made huge contributions to last years championship team. Mikal Hall a four year starter at quarterback is gone but  Mike Zmijianic has high expectations for Hall’s replacement, Junior Malik Shegog. The Quips have been the young club heading into the last couple of seasons but this year they combine their tremendous athleticism with a ton of experience with guys like Jyier Turner and Hassahn Thompson and Donovan Cobb.

Up front the Quips will hang with the biggest and best lines in AA on both sides of the all with guys like Khalil Seaburn and Jaleel Fields returning …look for Seaburn to see some time at running back he lined up there a bit during the Championship game last year. But he is a huge force on the defensive line his size, strength and quicknees creating huge mismatches that other teams just cannot find a way to counter.

Ambridge has their hands full, not only do the Bridgers open with the toip team in AA they then must go on the tortuous path of playing a weekly schedule in the AAA Parkway Conference one of the best in all of high school football.

Nonetheless head coach Neil Tkatch is confident the Bridgers can compete for a playoff spot coming off a rough 2011 campaign. The numbers are up for Ambridge with a bunch of talented young players hitting the gridiron plus some key experienced players will make their way back to the field after missing with injuries last season.

Last years starting quarterback Nick Santiago is back and coach Tkatch says he is one to watch.

Sophomore running back Stephon McGinnis is garnering a lot of preseason attention this year look for the youngster to be a key to Ambridge’s potential turnaround. Tight end Craig Addis will be a big time player on both sides of the ball for Ambridge at 6’2’’ 192 pounds.

Playing the Quips is never fun for anyone but this game will mark and excellent test for this young Ambridge team, hang tough or pull the upset and their confidence will be brimming heading into Parkway Conference play.

Class A Black Hills Conference
#1 Clairton Bears (0-0)(0-0) at Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers (0-0)(0-0) Friday August 31st at 7:30 pm @ Chartiers-Houston High school  broadcast on the MSA Sports Network by Matt Vandriak and Greg Kuntz

Honestly I have run out of superlatives to talk about the Clairton Bears with, truly. The last four years the Bears are 62-2 with four straight WPIAL championships and three straight PIAA Championships under their belt. Their 47 game winning streak heading into the 2012 opener is the longest in the nation and the longest in WPIAL history.

Tyler Boyd is back for Tom Nola’s team after rushing for over 2000 yards and scoring nearly 50 touchdowns last season, look for that trend to continue throughout this season as well. Boyd will get some time at quarterback and running back and in the slot as well. Armani Carr will also see plenty of time at quarterback for the Bears.

Titus Howard and Terrish Webb will also return for the Bears who are safe to say pretty well established as the gold standard in the state of Pennsylvania single A football. Like I say it is tough to find the words so I will go with, the Bears are once again very, very good. Can the streak reach 60 at Heinz Field in November? I would not want to be forced to bet against it.

Terry Fetsko’s Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers lost biig time quarterback Danny Lis to graduation and he took a lot of offense with him. How they respond will have a tremendous bearing on how their 2102 campaign turns out.

Coach Fetsko though does expect his Bucs to compete for a playoff spot in what is really a monstrous Black Hills conference. Kaleb Susko will start at quarterback in place of the graduated Lis, coach Fetsko likes the look of many of skill players on both sides of the football including Javone Harriston tailback and full back David Kincaid. Look for the Bucs to speed things up on the offensive side of the ball.

Newcomers Grant Foster Alec Ferrari, Noah Deep and Tyler Stegenga will be looked to for significant contributions.

Up front a trio of two-way players in James Orbich, Jimmy Saieva and Walter Lober will be the leaders in the trenches for Chartiers-Houston. Clairton in week one is something no one hopes for but the Bucs will get a very good idea of where they want to be and where they are in week one, plus they will know when they are done, everyone else in the Black Hills will still have to play Clairton, and they will be through that fire.

Tags: Aliquippa, Ambridge, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Hopewell