Trinity opens with conference game
The luxury of easing into the high school football season doesn’t exist for West Mifflin or Trinity.
Quicker than snapping on a chin strap, these two teams are speeding into a head-on collision tonight at Hiller Field to open the Class 4-A Big 9 Conference. The winner will be in a better spot to make the WPIAL playoffs. The loser has a harder road to travel.
The Hillers have two scrimmages behind them heading into the season opener. West Mifflin played a Week Zero game last Friday, routing South Allegheny, 46-0, and allowing head coach Ray Braszo to empty his bench early. Trinity was able to scout West Mifflin in the opener but head coach Jon Miller wasn’t sure it provided an advantage.
“Yes and no,” he said. “The game was out of hand pretty early – 28-0 in the first quarter – so you don’t (learn) as much. But it is an advantage to see who they are putting where. For me, it was an advantage to see that game.”
The series has been reasonably close with Trinity winning four of the last nine meetings. Last season, West Mifflin came away with a 29-27 win that wasn’t secured until the Titans stopped Trinity at their 30-yard line with two quarterback sacks in the final moments. Joey Koroly, who finished with 96 yards rushing on 20 carries, caught an 80-yard TD pass to cut West Mifflin’s lead to two points with 4:29 remaining.
“We played them late in the season last year and it was a close game, very even and could have gone either way,” said Braszo. “We were both fighting for the playoffs. We always seem to have a tight game with Trinity and expect another one this year.”
Koroly will have the Titans’ attention. The junior running back split time with Dajour Hull last season but he is the go-to guy now for the running game and has the ability to catch passes out of the backfield.
“He’s put on a little more weight, which we asked him to do, and his speed is up,” Miller said. “He’s a fantastic athlete, makes kids miss, and works for those hard, tough yards. This game last year is where he started to shine. He was a sophomore last year and ran like a sophomore. At the end, he started running like an upperclassman.”
Win or lose, Trinity will have little time to think about this game. The Hillers host Thomas Jefferson the following week.
“It’s the same focus: one game at a time,” Miller said. “The kids realize they are the two most experienced teams. We’ll have our hands full.”
Quaker Valley at McGuffey: Quaker Valley, one of the top teams in Class AAA, travels to McGuffey for an interesting nonconference game. Quaker Valley returns quarterback Amos Luptak, who passed for nearly 2,000 yards last season and accounted for more than 2,300 yards. Luptak scored six times, tied for the team lead. His top two receivers graduated so 63 receptions for 1,056 yards went with them.
McGuffey is coming off a closer-than expected 38-28 victory over Class AA Frazier in the North Allegheny Kickoff Classic. Quarterback Marcus Czulewicz ran for 226 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Mars at South Fayette: Mars returns nearly all skill-position players, most notable running back Isaiah Johnson and quarterback Sam Morrisey. The two combined for nearly 3,000 yards and helped the Planets win the Greater Allegheny Conference last year and advance to the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals.
South Fayette, which won the Class AA Century Conference and advanced to the WPIAL finals, opened with a hard-fought, 28-17 win over a good Central Valley team. The Lions have not lost a home game since the season finale in 2008.
Canon-McMillan at Hempfield: The revival of Canon-McMillan football can take another step against Hempfield tonight. A victory by the Big Macs would give them a 2-0 start for the first time since 2003. In a win over Kiski in the opener, the Big Macs got a strong effort from quarterback Jordan Castelli – 269 passing yards and three touchdowns – and Anthony Sacco stepped in for an injured Bryan Milligan to rush for 79 yards on 18 carries.
Hempfield is coming off a 28-21 victory over Greensburg Salem as first-year starters quarterback Justin Silwoski (16-27-1, 142 yards) and running back Jordan Kempka (17 carries, 171 yards) had strong games.
Charleroi’s football team got to rename a bridge after last week’s 23-21 victory over Monessen. The Charleroi-Monessen Bridge carries the name of the winner of that season’s football game. Had Monessen won, it would be called the Monessen-Charleroi Bridge until the next game.
This week, the Cougars celebrate their first home football game of the season by renaming the stadium in honor of Myron Pottios, a 1957 graduate who played at Notre Dame before embarking on an NFL career. He played in Super Bowl VII, a 14-7 win by the Miami Dolphins over Pottios’ Washington Redskins.
The Charleroi Area School Board voted in April to name the stadium after Pottios, who was a three-time Pro Bowler and also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams. He was drafted in the second round of the 1961 NFL Draft and played until 1973.
A Cougar statue will be unveiled at the stadium during a ceremony at 6 p.m. with the stadium dedication to follow at approximately 6:40 p.m. Kickoff for the game is 7 p.m.