PITTSBURGH SPORTS WEEKLY ANNOUNCES HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

For the second straight season, Pittsburgh Sports Weekly’s Matt Farago, the youngest and brightest sports broadcaster in the region, will be bringing households around Pittsburgh thrilling WPIAL football action.  But this year will be different; he won’t be broadcasting alone.

Joining Farago in the booth this year will be Pennlive.com’s Western Pennsylvania sportswriter Josh Funk, who will provide color commentary for PSW’s 15 high school football games.  If there’s one thing Funk knows, it’s football.  He’s followed the game closely since 1995, and has seen his share of talented football players and teams.

The games will air on WBGN-TV, Pittsburgh, on Saturday evenings between 6 and 7:30 p.m.  WBGN-TV reaches 1.3 million households in Pennsylvania, as well as portions of West Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland.

Farago and Funk kick the season off “Spartan-style” with a trip to McKees Rocks, PA for a showdown between Pine-Richland and WPIAL “AAA” finalist Montour.  Both the Spartans and Rams return their field generals from their ’07 editions.  Pine-Richland’s Vinny Nittoli passed for over 1,400 yards last season, and Montour’s Edgar Banks, a D-1 prospect, is a career 2,200-yard passer.  This game is also a match-up of two offensive-minded coaches in Lou Cerro and Clair Altemus, who have combined for 5 WPIAL championship appearances this decade.  

Then, it’s off to 10,000-seat Antimarino Stadium in Monroeville in Week 2 for the Gateway Gators playing host to Baldwin.  The last time these two teams met, Gateway won, 40-0, in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs a couple of years ago.  This is one week’s halftime show you won’t want to miss, as Baldwin boasts one of the biggest and best marching bands in the WPIAL.  You also won’t want to miss Gateway’s Dorian Bell, who, before verbally committing to Ohio State, had 38 Division-1 college offers.  Bell is only one of two five-star linebacker recruits in the entire country!

PSW travels to Beaver Falls for the third week of the season for the New Castle vs. Blackhawk game.  Last year’s meeting was a 21-14 decision that went the way of the green and yellow.  Blackhawk also claims one of the winningest coaches in PIAA history in Joe Hamilton, who has won 308 career games and been to 3 state finals.  New Castle has a tradition of its own, which includes 10 WPIAL championships and a berth in the 1998 PIAA finals.  Neither school has won a WPIAL championship since the late ’90s.

Two big-name “AAAA” teams match up in Week 4, when Upper St. Clair travels to downtown Pittsburgh to take on Central Catholic from Duquesne University.  USC’s Jim Render has won 323 games, 318 of them within the borders of the Keystone State (4^th all-time in PIAA history), and is the only coach in PIAA history to reach state finals in the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s.  His Panthers will meet the defending PIAA “AAAA” champion Vikings, who have gone 52-4 since the start of 2004 and own two perfect 16-0 seasons in that span.

Farago and Funk stay within the friendly confines of the Great Southern Conference for the fifth week of the season, as the Bethel Park Black Hawks travel to Mt. Lebanon to take on the Blue Devils.  Bethel Park returns starting quarterback Erik Olson and last season’s team leading rusher Lyle Marsh.  Mt. Lebanon missed the WPIAL playoffs last season, and the Blue Devils are looking to improve on 2007’s 4-5 overall record and fifth-place finish in the Great Southern Conference. 

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2008 Pittsburgh Sports Weekly

High School Football Game of the Week

Schedule

(Week 1) Pine-Richland @ Montour 

(Week 2) Baldwin @ Gateway

(Week 3) New Castle @ Blackhawk

(Week 4) Upper St. Clair @ Pittsburgh Central Catholic

(Week 5) Mt. Lebanon @ Beathel Park

(Week 6) Beaver @ Beaver Falls

(Week 7) Chartiers Valley @ Thomas Jefferson

(Week 8) Steel Valley @ South Fayette

(Week 9) Rochester @ Monaca

* All games played Friday and Kickoff at 7:30.

Week 6 sends PSW back to Beaver County for the Beaver Area vs. Beaver Falls rivalry game.  Beaver Falls boasts standout athlete Todd Thomas, who is being actively recruited and/or has offers from 31 Division-1 schools.  The Tigers are regarded as one of the best teams in the WPIAL’s “AA” classification in 2008, but the Bobcats have played their up-river rivals tough since 1999, and only trail the series 5-4 in that span.

Week 7 provides an exciting match-up between Chartiers Valley and perennial “AAA” powerhouse Thomas Jefferson.  Last season’s match-up went to TJ, 3-0, and the Colts are looking to trip up a TJ team that has gone 78-7 since the start of 2002 and hasn’t lost a regular season game since a 28-15 defeat by West Mifflin in 2005.  TJ has won 29 of its last 30 games against WPIAL competition.

The WPIAL’s Century Conference beckons PSW to a Week 8 showdown that could be for all the conference’s marbles.  Steel Valley travels to South Fayette in what could be a potential match-up of unbeatens.  This week is another halftime show you won’t want to miss – South Fayette’s “Little Green Machine” might just dance their way into your list of favorite marching bands in the WPIAL.

The regular season concludes with an epic showdown along the Ohio River in historic Monaca.  The Monaca Indians and the Rochester Rams meet in the annual “Battle of the Bridge,” which is arguably the most intense rivalry in all of Beaver County.  Since 1975, the schools have combined to win 10 WPIAL “A” championships, and have a combined 16 WPIAL finals appearances since 1982.  The rivalry placed itself front-and-center in Three Rivers’ Stadium in 1998 and 2000, with Rochester winning both meetings.  Monaca won last year’s meeting in Rochester.  Who will claim the Bridge forever, when the neighboring boroughs do war on the gridiron one last time?

Just because the regular season ends, Farago and Funk’s coverage does not.  The duo will not only cover the first three rounds of the WPIAL playoffs, but will also have the call of the Pittsburgh City League Championship game from Heinz Field.

PSW’s coverage of the 2008 high school football season winds down in early December, with the broadcast of PIAA quarter- and semi-final action.  WPIAL champions will be put to the test against potential opponents from Districts 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10, all vying to earn the title of “Best in the West.” 

Will the WPIAL sweep the title of “Best in the West” in all four classes for the 8^th time in state playoff history?  That’s what we’ll try to help you determine through the course of 15 weeks. 

Remember, at Pittsburgh Sports Weekly, you crave, we satisfy!

By: Josh Funk

PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2008

Each and every week, here on the Pittsburgh Sports Weekly Web site will will give you a High School Football player to wach in 2008. The players are from not only the WPIAL but the entire state. Josh Funk will has the player has the player previews:

Jordan Hall, Senior RB, Jeannette HS – With Terrelle Pryor in the same backfield, it was relatively easy to overlook the player wearing #2 in the Jayhawk backfield last season.  Let’s just say Jordan Hall might have flown under a few opponents’ radar screens in 2007.  Hall ran for 873 yards on 106 carries with 20 TDs.  He also led the team in receptions and yards, with 27 catches for 705 yards and 10 scores.  Hall also returned a fumble and punt for touchdowns, and even threw a touchdown pass in the state championship game.  All told, Hall scored 32 touchdowns in ’07, and averaged just over 99 all-purpose yards per game.  Hall has received 5 Division-1 offers from Penn State, Pitt, Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame, and is one of the top returning running backs in the WPIAL this season.