WPIAL Week Seven Friday Night HighLights

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, October 13, 2012 | 1:19 PM

The seventh Friday of the WPIAL football season brought forth a couple of stunning results as three Top Five teams were knocked off while one top-ranked team was on the ropes late and barely avoided the knockout blow. Here are the top performances from Friday, including those surprises that started off the Stretch Run with a bang.

Chiante Pryor – Bethel Park

Usually the SpotLight is shining on the strong armed quarterback or the fleet footed tailback, however one of the upsets from Friday was sparked by 5-6 tenth grade special teams ace. Chiante Pryor returned a first quarter kickoff 92-yards for Bethel Park's first touchdown of the night, then he set up a third quarter game tying score with an 88-yard kickoff return to wipe out a one-sided statistical edge for Upper St. Clair in total yards as the Black Hawks edged the undefeated and 2nd-ranked Panthers 24-17 in a Class AAAA Southeastern Conference thriller that clinched a playoff spot for the host Hawks.

Joe Carroll and Zach Schademan – Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson remained undefeated with a win over rival Belle Vernon in a Class AAA Big Nine Conference contest thanks to an aerial attack that would have left the Air Force smiling. Quarterback Joe Carroll connected on 21 of 30 passes for 376 yards (nearly 18 yards per reception) while his top target, Zach Schademan caught 13 passes for 247 yards while the two hooked up for FIVE touchdown passes in an incredible pass and catch performance that helped carry the Jaguars to a 57-20 victory over the Leopards that clinched a playoff spot for the Jags.

Ben Tackett – Knoch

One team was undefeated and on cruise control while the other was once unbeaten but limping into the game on the heels of back-to-back defeats. So much for momentum.  Knoch running back Ben Tackett rushed for 195 yards and scored the games only touchdowns on runs of 5, 80 and 1 yard as the Knights stunned the front running Mars Fighting Planets 21-0 to drop Mars into a three way tie for first place and move Knoch that much closer to a playoff spot in the Class AAA Greater Allegheny Conference.

Devin Wilson – Montour

Good players come up large at the right time to lead the way for upsets. but sometimes upsets are avoided because great players do what they do at just the right time. In a wild Class AAA Parkway Conference game in Darlington, Devin Wilson of Montour rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns, plus caught eight passes for 132 yards and a pair of 22=yard scoring passes from Ryan Mihalcic as the Spartans remained undefeated with a thrilling 40-35 come-from-behind victory over the snake bit Blackhawk Cougars.

Shai McKenzie – Washington

While many teams spent Friday celebrating a playoff berth clinching, Washington became the first WPIAL team to seal the deal on a conference championship. After a pair of back-to-back thrillers between the top three teams in the Class AA Interstate Conference (Washington, Jeannette and Mount Pleasant), Shai McKenzie helped take some of the anxiety out of this showdown with 296 yards on the ground and three touchdowns as the Little Prexies rolled to a 34-14 road victory over the Mount Pleasant Vikings.

Brendan Lynch – Freeport

The jumbled up and scrambled Class AA Allegheny Conference does have one team that has clinched after seven weeks thanks to the legs and arm of Freeport quarterback Brendan Lynch. The do it all signal caller rushed for 227 yards and scored on a pair of run of 32 and 9 yards, plus he threw a pair of touchdown passes of 24 yards to Dustin Kuedel and 23 yards to Josh Wisniewski as the Yellowjackets cruised to a 38-20 win over the host East Allegheny Wildcats to clinch a playoff spot and move to within one win of the conference championship.

Dustin Anderson – South Allegheny

The rock band Boston once sang 'It's been such a long time." Well, South Allegheny football fans know exactly what they meant. a long drought ended Friday thanks to the comeback work of Dustin Anderson. Trailing 10-0 at halftime, Anderson scored on touchdown runs of 3 and 2 yards in the third quarter to put SA up for good, plus he hit on a 7-yard scoring pass to Josh Roundtree in the fourth quarter that capped off a 34 point second half and lift the Gladiators to a 34-10 win over the Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles, clinching a Class AA Century Conference playoff berth and putting South Allegheny into the post season for the first time since 1986.

Charles Manack and Jaime Bell – Frazier

When the new WPIAL football alignment came out in January and the district moved Monessen and California out of the Class A Tri-County South Conference and inserted Avella and Bentworth into the TCS mix, most people thought that Beth-Center was the clear odds on favorite to walk away with the conference title. They still might, but they won't do it with a perfect record.  Frazier quarterback Charles Manack connected on 13 of 25 passes for 190 yards and touchdown passes of 18, 40 and 3 yards, all to receiver Jaime Bell who finished with 6 catches for 126 yards as the Commodores stunned the host Bulldogs 21-14.

Dalton Wildman – West Greene

You gotta love the mindset of a team that plays the spoiler role perfectly. Their mentality is: I might not be going to travel on the Highway to Heinz, but if we have anything to say about it…neither will you. Dalton Wildman and his West Greene teammates took that to heart as he rushed for 221 yards and scored on a 1-yard run and a 46 yards camper, plus he threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Johnston as the Pioneers knocked out the Mapletown Maples 42-8 in a Class A Tri-County South Conference battle.

Eli Owens – Neshannock

The memorable 2012 campaign for Neshannock continued with a bounce-back victory of historic proportions. Coming off their first loss of the season last week to Rochester. Eli Owens took control and gained 240 yards on the ground while scoring three touchdowns on runs of 4, 5 and 28 yards and the Lancers pounded the host Our Lady of the Sacred heart Chargers 47-14 to clinch a playoff spot out fo the Class A Big 7 Conference for their first trip to the postseason since 2004.

Tags: Bethel Park, Frazier, Freeport, Knoch, Washington, West Greene