MSA Sports Friday Night HighLights for Week Six

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 8, 2016 | 1:41 PM

The second half of the WPIAL football season began with a BANG…albeit a very wet bang. Or in the case of Class 3-A Allegheny Conference front running Keystone Oaks, the second half began with a POWE, as in newly eligible wide receiver Quran Powe. While he had a nice debut, it was his signal calling teammate who was one of the Week 6 standouts in a rainy edition of the HighLights. Let’s begin to tip our drenched caps.

Zane Dudek – Armstrong

Not only was Friday ‘another notch in the belt’ in a season to remember for the great Zane Dudek, it also earned him a spot in the WPIAL record book. The senior running back from Armstrong rushed for 346 yards on the natural mud at Kittanning Stadium while scoring 6 touchdowns in the River Hawks 69-16 Class 5-A Big East Conference whooping of the visiting Latrobe Wildcats. Only 6 week into the season, Dudek broke the all-time district regular season rushing record with 2,202 yards while also becoming the fifth runner in WPIAL history to eclipse the 6,000 yard plateau.

Lamont Wade – Clairton

If you went to Bible Class as a kid, you might have learned the song Wade in the Water. Clairton running back Lamont Wade took that song to heart in his teams much anticipated dream game against visiting Aliquippa. In the mud and the muck on Neal Brown Stadium, Wade dashed and gashed his way to 259 yards and four touchdowns of 73, 60, 71 and 46 yards, plus he threw a pair of scoring strikes to Noah Hamlin as the Bears cruised to a 52-16 rout of the Quips in a non-conference battle of 2015 champions.

Jordan Kempka – Hempfield

A season of great promise after a 3-0 start was starting to slip and slide away (appropriate for the weather on Friday) after three consecutive losses for Hempfield. But all is right for the blue and gray after a big game for Jordan Kempka, who rushed for 236 yards and a touchdown on a 62-yard run in leading the Spartans to a 28-0 triumph over the visiting Altoona Mountain Lions to improve Hempfield’s chase for the postseason in Class 6-A’s Southeastern Conference.

Brady Walker – Gateway

A quarterback named Brady is making big headlines with his return to the playing field this weekend. But before all of that mess takes place on Sunday, another quarterback named Brady was enjoying a big night in Monroeville. Gateway signal caller Brady Clark hit on 8 of 12 passes for 110 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 101 yards and scoring on a 50-yard jaunt to lead the Gators into a three-way tie for second place in the Class 5-A Big East Conference with a 44-6 rout of the Plum Mustangs.

Geavonie Love – South Fayette

Over the last ten years and during their current 44-game regular season win streak, we are so used to South Fayette lighting up the scoreboard with a standout quarterback through the air. Friday in the rain, they turned to running back Geavonie Love and his did not disappoint. Love rushed for 303 yards and scored four touchdowns on runs of 33, 1, 3 and 10 yards as the Lions pulled away from the visiting New Castle Red Hurricane to the tune of 37-13 in a Class 4-A Northwest Nine Conference contest.

Teegan Hahn – Greensburg-Salem

After a 1-2 start, Greensburg-Salem hit the ‘murderers row’ of their schedule with 3 games against Class 4-A powers Thomas Jefferson, Belle Vernon and West Mifflin. G-S lost all three and were outscored 128-14. So the Golden Lions were thrilled to see winless Albert Gallatin come to town Friday and Teegan Hahn celebrated by rushing for 216 yards and scoring three touchdowns on runs of 21 and 32 yards, plus a 15-yard fumble recovery for a score in a 36-8 win over the Colonials in a Big Nine Conference tilt.

Alex Smith – Keystone Oaks

After the Kansas City quarterback of the same name laid an egg at heinz Field in Primetime this past Sunday against the Steelers, the Keystone Oaks signall caller brought some pride back to all those QB’s named Alex Smith. The KO Smith hit on 10 of 17 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown toss, plus he rushed for 198 yards and scored five times on runs of 27, 37, 16, 24 and 41 yards as the host Golden Eagles crushed the Burrell Buccaneers 42-6 in a Class 3-A Allegheny Conference fray.

Tyler Balega – Derry

If you would have asked before the season who would the longest current winning streak in the WPIAL after Week Six of this 2016 campaign, less than nobody would have mentioned the school with zero history of success this century tucked away in Latrobe, Pa. However Derry is tied with Rochester with an 8-game winning streak after a big Class 3-A Interstate Conference win over Mount Pleasant  that featured 216 yards on the ground for Tyler Balega with three touchdowns in the Trojans 34-14 win over the visiting Vikings.

Zach Rosa – Freedom

Three straight losses left many folks thinking that is was Same Old Freedom as a season of optimism was being washed away with a 1-5 overall record. But perhaps Friday’s precipitation washed in a spark to postseason hopes thanks to a huge night throgh the air for Zach rosa, who completed 12 of 25 passes for 285 yards and five touchdown passes of 19, 27, 18, 15 and 73 yards to go along with a one yard scoring plunge in the Bulldogs 50-12 Class 2-A Midwestern Athletic Conference rout of the host South Side Rams.

Dylan Rush – Mapletown

Mapletown returned to the win column on Friday night of Week Six, and that usually means Dylan Rush has returned to the HighLights. Twice, Mapletown had to come back in their Class 1-A Tri-County South Conference mud-bath against Jefferson-Morgan, but it was J-M who scored in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 20. But as quickly as overtime started, it ended on Rush’s first touch as he galloped into the end zone to cap off a 255 yard performance with his fourth touchdown in the host Maples 26-20 win over the Rockets.
 

Tags: Armstrong, Clairton, Derry Area, Freedom, Gateway, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Keystone Oaks