Sep 29, 2019 4 min read

Sports really are something.

It’s sometimes hard to put into words, kind of like what happened at Joe Montana Stadium Friday night.

After 721 days without a victory, Ringgold kicker Clay Rosensteel kicked a game-winning 26-yard field goal as time expired to end a long losing streak for the Rams with a 16-13 win over Beaver.

That’s only where the magic begins.

Rosensteel wears No. 86 in remembrance and honor of his late sister, Kaitlyn, who was struck by lightning and killed in June. She had just graduated from Ringgold and planned to play college soccer.

The last win for Ringgold prior to Friday night was Oct. 6, 2017, which coincidentally fell on Kaitlyn’s birthday.

Sports can bring out the worst, but on a Friday night at the end of September in Monongahela, it certainly brought out the best.

Here are five other things we learned from Week 6 of the high school football season.

1. The hidden numbers

It wasn’t a night to remember by looking at the summary for McGuffey’s C.J. Cole.

The wide receiver had no catches in the Highlanders’ run-first offense.

What Cole did in Friday night’s 55-28 win over previously undefeated Southmoreland was way more important than finding his name in the summary.

Challenging himself to keep Scotties’ standout wide receiver Riley Comforti out of the end zone, Cole didn’t allow Comforti to add to his eight touchdowns and limited him to four catches for 25 yards, a big reason why the Highlanders came out on top.

2. Rumbling, bumbling, fumbling

There was no denying where Trinity coach Jon Miller wanted the Hillers to improve this season.

“We have to be better on defense, at everything,” Miller said before the season. “I’m a defensive guy and it broke my heart. There was not one part we were satisfied with last year. It’s the all-around focus for us.”

Miller had to be satisfied with his defense in a 35-15 win over Indiana.

The Hillers prevented the Indians to rumble, but there was plenty of bumbling and fumbling that they forced. In the victory, Trinity forced eight, yes eight, fumbles to put them alone in fifth place in Class 4A’s Big Eight Conference.

It might get tougher the next two weeks with games against Belle Vernon, Penn-Trafford and Knoch. Those teams have combined for only three losses this season.

3. C-H sneaking into playoff talk

Starting last season, the condensed Class A playoffs only have eight spots.

Could Chartiers-Houston be one of those eight this year? It is certainly making a strong push for a spot.

After Friday’s 42-8 victory over Mapletown, the Bucs are 3-1 in the Tri-County South Conference and 4-2 overall.

It’s very possible Chartiers-Houston can flip its 3-7 record from last year. The remaining schedule for the Bucs has three very winnable games – Monessen, Avella and Riverview. They also play at California.

There are a slew of teams fighting for those final couple spots, including Cornell, Laurel and Greensburg Central Catholic.

4. Familiar territory

Don’t look now, but South Fayette is where everybody thought it would be – atop the Northwest Eight Conference standings.

Yep, the Lions have rattled off five consecutive wins and still have that long conference winning streak intact.

What looks to be their last formidable challenge lies ahead this week when second-place Knoch (4-1, 5-1) visits this Friday. If South Fayette wins that game, which I believe it will, its final three conference games are against bottom-feeders Highlands, Ambridge and Montour.

It’s one of multiple meaningful conference games this week. West Greene hosts California in a game that will likely determine the Tri-County South winner. Peters Township travels to upstart Moon, which is jumbled up with a bunch of teams trying to track down the Allegheny Eight Conference leading Indians and Bethel Park.

5. Players of the Week

• Ben Jackson – He could be on this list every week. Jackson carried the ball five times and scored five touchdowns in a win over Avella. His five carries totaled 216 yards, which equals 43.2 yards per carry.
• Jared Johnson – Johnson didn’t need many more carries than Jackson to have success. He scored on the same toss play up the middle three times in one quarter. Johnson had nine carries for 102 yards and four total touchdowns in McGuffey’s win over Southmoreland.