Aug 26, 2021 6 min read

Grab a slice of pizza and a cold beverage from the concession stand and find a good seat near the 50-yard line – not too close to the loud, obnoxious guy who is there only to second-guess and criticize the players and head coach – because high school football is back.

No capacity limitations, no restrictions, no watching the game from outside the stadium fences. It’s “normal” high school football.

While many fans of the sport follow their favorite team whether it’s playing a road game in New Castle or Perryopolis or a home game in a cold, driving rain, others prefer to find the week’s most interesting game involving a local team and fill up the family van for Friday night field trip. The latter group is who this column is directed.

Here is your Friday night Season Ticket:

Aug. 27 – Canon-McMillan at Trinity

The season kicks off tonight with 12 games involving 17 local teams.

Peters Township begins its quest to make a third consecutive trip to the WPIAL Class 5A finals. The Indians, who have won 15 consecutive home games, will host Fox Chapel. South Fayette has a tough opener at what should be an improved Montour team.

Washington will be honoring two of its state championship teams, the 1996 girls track and field squad and the 2001 football team, when it plays Monessen, which is back after forfeiting its final three games last year because of a lack of players. That game was scheduled to be played at Washington but a lighting issue at Wash High Stadium has caused a site change to Canon-McMillan. Kickoff will be 7 p.m.

McGuffey has a tricky opener at Southmoreland, which returns eight starters on defense and could make this interesting if the Highlanders aren’t focused.

Though those choices are solid, there is nothing like starting the season with a good rivalry game. You get that tonight at Hiller Field when Trinity hosts Canon-McMillan. Last year, Trinity routed rival Washington in a one-year revival of the City Game. Can the Hillers do the same to Canon-Mac, a team that has making the Class 6A playoffs as a realistic goal?

Sept. 3 – Peters Township at Canon-McMillan

Starting the season with two rivalry games is unique, but Canon-McMillan head coach Mike Evans likes the idea. Heck, it’s sure better than starting with consecutive games against North Allegheny and Pittsburgh Central Catholic.

“The WPIAL did a good job of scheduling the nonconference games this year,” Evans said. “To me, it’s Friday night high school football when you’re playing Peters Township, Trinity, Bethel Park. … It’s good when you have to drive Route 19.”

That might be the only time that sentence has been uttered by anybody.

Sept. 10 – Clairton at Washington

Easily the best weekend of the season with as many as five nonconference games worthy of top billing. Belle Vernon will get its first test of the year when it hosts Penn-Trafford. South Fayette is at Thomas Jefferson, a matchup that produced an instant classic a few years ago in the WPIAL finals. Fort Cherry plays at Carmichaels in what should be an entertaining game between quality Class A opponents. McGuffey will play another difficult road game when it goes to Sto-Rox, the WPIAL Class 2A runner-up a year ago. But we’re selecting Clairton at Washington. The Prexies’ nonconference schedule leaves much to be desired this year, with Monessen, Jefferson-Morgan and Uniontown having combined for a 3-13 record a year ago with all three victories produced by J-M. Clairton, however, is a different story. The Bears were the WPIAL Class A runner-up last season and return another veteran and talented squad, though it might be missing the Division I-quality talent of the past. It has all the makings of a high-scoring game at Wash High Stadium.

Sept. 17 – California at West Greene

If preseason predictions are correct, and they typically are in the Tri-County South Conference, then this game will be for the league championship. Don’t expect many passes to be thrown because there are plenty of talented running backs on each team.

Sept. 24 – Thomas Jefferson at Belle Vernon

This should be the game of the year in the Big Eight Conference and possibly all of Class 4A. Belle Vernon has the high-end talent at the skill positions, with playmakers at every spot. Thomas Jefferson typically has linemen who work like road graders, so it should be an interesting contrast of styles, which makes for a can’t-miss game on the gold turf at James Weir Stadium.

Oct. 1 – Peters Township at Upper St. Clair

Though it will be interesting to see if McGuffey can avenge last year’s nonconference loss when it plays at Linsly Prep in Wheeling, W.Va., we’ll stick with a conference game. The Class 5A Allegheny Six was one of the most competitive conferences a year ago and should be again as there is no clear-cut favorite. Peters Township is the defending champion and Upper St. Clair rarely loses at home.

Oct. 8 – Fort Cherry at Rochester

Fort Cherry had perhaps the best win of any local team in last year’s regular season when it stunned and outplayed an undefeated Rochester team that went on to the WPIAL Class A semifinals. You can be sure that Rochester has had this game circled on its calendar and won’t be caught overlooking the Rangers, but this Fort Cherry team might be much better than the prognosticators believe.

Oct. 15 – South Fayette at West Allegheny

It’s not a strong week for games, so let’s go with one that should have postseason implications. South Fayette has a lot of newcomers on offense but head coach Joe Rossi always puts together a talented high-scoring team. West Allegheny will be trying to bounce back after missing the playoffs a year ago and features blue-chip quarterback Gavin Miller, who already has a scholarship offer to play in the Southeastern Conference – in baseball.

Oct. 22 – Avella at Carmichaels

This is perhaps the weakest weekend of games, though many playoff spots will be on the line. Avella and Carmichaels both should be in postseason contention in the Tri-County South Conference, just like last year when Avella shut down what was a high-scoring Carmichaels offense and snatched a playoff berth right out of the Mikes’ grasp. Carmichaels will be seeking revenge.

Oct. 29 – McGuffey at Washington

This should be the most-anticipated game in Washington County this fall and fans will have to wait the entire regular season to watch the Highlanders and Prexies battle with the Class 2A Century Conference title on the line. It has been a long time since Washington has lost at home – 2013 to be exact – and McGuffey has won at Wash High Stadium only one time in the last 30 years. Could this be a trendbreaker?