Football
Big Game Hunting for Week One 2012
August 29, 2012
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:Frazier & Beth-Center Each 1-0 After Geibel Forfeits First Two Football Games
Beth-Center has joined Frazier with 1-0 records even though the 2012 football season hasn't even started. Three days before the high school football throughout the state kicks off, the Commodores have been awarded a forfeit victory over Geibel for Week 1 and the Bulldogs have a forfeit win over the Gators for Week 2 after preseason injuries hit an already small Gators roster hard.Geibel has had it's share of hard time over the last decade and a half, including the WPIAL's longest losing streak until West Shamokin broke that record last year.CTK 2012 – MSA Sports Preseason Top Ten: WPIAL Class AA
August 28, 2012
Each and every Monday during the regular season starting on Labor Day (9/3), the MSA Sports Network will rank the top ten football teams in each classification. With days to go before the 2012 WPIAL football season kicks off, we present our Preseason Top Ten teams. This article, we present the Top Ten in Class AA.Final 2011 record is in parenthesis.WPIAL CLASS AA PRESEASON WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN:1. ALIQUIPPA QUIPS (14-1)2. JEANNETTE JAYHAWKS (12-1)3. SOUTH FAYETTE LIONS (7-4)4. BEAVER BOBCATS (7-3)CTK 2012 – MSA Sports Preseason Top Ten: WPIAL Class AAA
August 27, 2012
Each and every Monday during the regular season starting on Labor Day (9/3), the MSA Sports Network will rank the top ten football teams in each classification. With days to go before the 2012 WPIAL football season kicks off, we present our Preseason Top Ten teams. This article, we present the Top Ten in Class AAA.Final 2011 record is in parenthesis.WPIAL CLASS AAA PRESEASON WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN:1. CENTRAL VALLEY WARRIORS (11-1) 2. THOMAS JEFFERSON JAGUARS (7-4)3. MONTOUR SPARTANS (12-3)4. FRANKLIN REGIONAL PANTHERS (11-1)CTK 2012 – Pittsburgh City League Preview
To make the playoffs in the Pittsburgh City League, teams must finish in the top four spots. With the size of the City League now, only two teams will NOT make the playoffs. With school closures in the past few years, this is the smallest the City League has ever been. Langley and Oliver closed after the 2011-12 school year. That leaves the City League with only six teams. The league joins the WPIAL in some sports this year, but City League officials wanted to remain intact for football. University Prep won the City League title in its first year of existence last year. Here is a look at the City League:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 08/27/2012
The curtain is about to be lifted in GRAND style on the high school football season as we conclude our Countdown to Kickoff 2012 schedule this week here on the MSA Sports Network. How about nearly FORTY WPIAL and District 6 football games on Friday and Saturday to get the high school season started, beginning with the expanded MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding with the one and only MSA Sports/WPIAL High School Football Scoreboard Show, the debut of college football and men's college soccer for 2012, plus the pro baseball season winds down with Eastern League baseball featuring the Altoona Curve and Frontier League baseball featuring the Washington Wild Things as well as news from the auto racing world with Rappin on Racin is here at MSAsports.netCTK 2012 – MSA Sports Preseason Top Ten: WPIAL Class AAAA
August 26, 2012
Each and every Monday during the regular season starting on Labor Day (9/3), the MSA Sports Network will rank the top ten football teams in each classification. With days to go before the 2012 WPIAL football season kicks off, we present our Preseason Top Ten teams. This article, we present the Top Ten in Class AAAA.Final 2011 record is in parenthesis.WPIAL CLASS AAAA PRESEASON WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN:1. NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (15-1) 2. GATEWAY GATORS (9-3)3. UPPER ST. CLAIR PANTHERS (11-2)4. WOODLAND HILLS WOLVERINES (6-4)CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Tri-County South Conference Preview
Like most of the other conferences around the WPIAL, the Tri-County South underwent a few changes with the new district realignment for the next two football seasons. it is still a nine-team conference with seven teams returning, but the two changes are significant.Gone are two playoff teams from a year ago, the Monessen Greyhounds and the California Trojans. in 2011, the two combined to go 12-4 in conference and finish in a tie for second place. Entering into the TCS world are the Avella Eagles and the Bentworth Bearcats, the bottom two teams in the Black Hills Conference a year ago who were a combined 1-17 overall in 2011.CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Eastern Conference Preview
One of the winningest coaches in WPIAL history is out, and a team with the longest losing streak in WPIAL history is in. Such is the saga of the Eastern Conference this year. Gone from the Eastern Conference is Chuck Wagner, the former Springdale coach who retired after last season. Wagner was a head coach in the WPIAL for 47 seasons and his 270 wins is fourth on the all-time WPIAL list. New to the Eastern Conference this year is West Shamokin, which dropped down from Class AA. The Wolves have a 44-game losing streak, longest in WPIAL history. Overall, there are nine teams in the Eastern Conference. Besides West Shamokin, Apollo-Ridge also is new to the conference, dropping down from Class AA.CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Big 7 Conference Preview
August 24, 2012
The Class A Big Seven Conference may have underwent the biggest changes of all the conferences in the WPIAL. Gone are the Cornell Raiders with that school dropping football. Entering in the conference are the OLSH Chargers, who challenged for the playoffs in only their second year of football, along with the Laurel Spartans, who went to the Class A Semifinals in 2009. The conference underwent a huge change on the head coaching front as three of the eight schools will have new bosses entering the season. A conference member has played for the WPIAL title the last four seasons, but all four times, has fallen to Clairton in the title game. Will the Big Seven winner put an end to the reign of the Bears, we shall see:CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Allegheny Conference
August 23, 2012
Freeport and Shady Side Academy tied for the conference championship two of the past three seasons. This year could be more of the same. Many are pegging Freeport and Shady Side Academy as the teams to beat this year. Both teams are experienced and have some talented players. But Burrell and Ford City can’t be overlooked. The Allegheny Conference changed a little this season. Apollo-Ridge and West Shamokin both dropped out of the conference and moved down to the Class A Eastern Conference. That should help West Shamokin, which hasn’t won a game since the 2007 season.CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Century Conference Preview
August 21, 2012
Two years ago, South Fayette was the king of the Century Conference and ended up as the golden boys in the end with a WPIAL championship to show for their efforts. Last year, it was Seton-LaSalle that was perfect through the regular season until their hopes of a district title ended with a Semifinals loss to Jeannette.Who will rise to the top in what has been one of the more balanced conferences in the WPIAL here in 2012?There was some off-season tweaking as the conference grew from eight to nine teams for the next two autumns. The Washington Little Prexies have returned to the Class AA Interstate Conference while a pair of teams move down as both the South park Eagles and the McGuffey Highlanders come into the conference from the Class AAA Big Eight Conference.CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Interstate Conference Preview
Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic have been the dominant teams in the Interstate Conference over the past decade. Nine times in the past 10 years one of the teams has either won or tied for the conference title. But this could be the year that some new blood flows to the top of the conference. Jeannette is still expected to be strong, but Greensburg Central Catholic might drop a little. Coach Muzzy Colosimo stepped down as coach shortly before the start of preseason practices. Washington and Mount Pleasant could make some noise this year and challenge for the conference title. As for the make-up of the conference, there are only two changes. East Allegheny moved out, and Washington moved in.CTK 2012 – WPIAL/City League Week Two Scrimmages
August 20, 2012
One scrimmage is in the books and one more are coming up this Friday and Saturday as WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football teams continue to prepare for the kickoff of the 2012 season. Scrimmage number two will take place for most teams this Friday, August 24th with one game being played on Thursday evening and three more being played on Saturday morning. Here is a rundown of ALL the second week scrimmages involving District and District 8 high school football teams.All games are Friday, August 24th unless otherwise indicated.Class AAAA:Fox Chapel Foxes AT Canon-McMillan Big Macs at 6:00pmNorwin Knights AT Mount Lebanon Blue Devils at 6:00pmLatrobe Wildcats AT Plum Mustangs at 6:00pmCTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Midwestern Conference Preview
Class AA saw some changes after the WPIAL realignment but the Midwestern Athletic Conference stayed almost entirely intact from 2011. Only the Laurel Spartans dropped back to Class A, leaving the MAC an eight team field for the next two seasons. Aliquippa has won or shared the conference title for the last three seasons and eight of the last ten, they also reigns as WPIAL champions. The Quips lost some key members, but are always in the hunt for championship gold. Once again, the MAC teams will cross over with members of the AAA Parkway Conference, that could lead to some interesting match ups and some really ugly games, you be the judge. Here is a preview of the Midwestern Conference:
