Sep 24, 2020 5 min read

Week 3 of the high school football season got started early with a game Thursday night at West Greene because there is a shortage of officials to work a full Friday schedule.

The game set the table for what should be an interesting Friday night that includes key matchups in the Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference and Class 4A Big Eight Conference.

Here are five things to know and watch for this weekend:

1. How will South Fayette attack Peters Township’s defense? – The Allegheny Six opener for both teams matches South Fayette’s high-powered offense, led by talented quarterback Naman Alemada and three wide receivers who have attracted NCAA Division I offers, against a stout Peters Township defense that has two Division I recruits and forced Penn-Trafford into six turnovers last week.

It will be interesting to see how South Fayette (1-1) attacks PT’s defense. Will the Lions, who were upset last week at Chartiers Valley, test PT’s secondary, which has Florida recruit Donovan McMillon on one side and Breylen Carrington, who had a career against Penn-Trafford by intercepting four passes and returning two for touchdowns, on the other side of the field.

South Fayette could opt to keep the ball on the ground, which would mean a heavy load for running back Shay Aitken, who rushed for 173 yards in a season-opening win over Dover (Ohio). That, however, would mean going against a PT defensive line that has all its starters back from last year plus Miami (Ohio) recruit Corban Hondru at linebacker.

This is the most interesting game of the week. South Fayette will be trying to avoid losing consecutive games in the same season for the first time since October of 2008, when the Lions lost to Seton-LaSalle (21-10) and Cornell (27-26). The Lions were playing in Class 2A back then. This will be South Fayette’s first conference game in Class 5A.

The South Fayette-PT game will be televisied by WPNT.

2.Neutral site game – Because of renovations to Parker Field, Jefferson-Morgan will be playing its its home game tonight against Monessen at Waynesburg University’s John F. Wiley Stadium.

J-M athletic director Scot Moore said the plan is for the Rockets to play tonight and again next week against Bentworth at Wayneburg University. He is hopeful that the renovation work at Parker Field will be done in time for the Rockets’ Oct. 23 Senior Night game against West Greene.

“We have having new bleachers put in,” Moore said. “There will be two sections on the side of the field where the pressbox used to be. The bands will sit there. Those bleachers are 90% finished.

“We’re renovating some other things and putting in a new pressbox on what was the home side of the field. All of the spectators will sit on that side of the field.”

Moore said J-M will play middle school games at Parker Field during the renovations but the scoreboard will not be operational.

3. 200 wins – Only four coaches who have spent time at Washington County schools have ever won 200 career games. McGuffey’s Ed Dalton is nearing that magic number. Dalton has 198 career wins entering the Highlanders’ home game tonight against Frazier.

Jim Garry is tops on the list with 265 wins accumulated at McDonald and Fort Cherry. Guy Montecalvo won 216 games at Washington and Canon-McMillan. They are the only coaches to win 200 games exclusively at Washington County schools.

Gawen Stoker, who coached briefly at Trinity, won 248 games but the vast majority were at schools outside the WPIAL. Only five of Stoker’s wins came at Trinity.

Rab Currie, won 212 games in 36 seasons at Charleroi and Monessen. Currie won 184 times at Charleroi.

Dalton’s 198 wins, which have been accumulated at McGuffey, Trinity, Mt. Pleasant, Altoona and Purchase Line, has him tied with Jimmy Russell, who won three WPIAL championships at Donora before becoming the first coach at Belle Vernon.

4. Can Bentworth challenge Carmichaels? – Carmichaels enters the weekend as one of four area teams with 2-0 records, having shown a balanced offense with quarterback Trenton Carter, running back Bailey Jones and receiver Michael Stewart while beating Greene County rivals Jefferson-Morgan and Mapletown.

Bentworth (1-1) is the Mikes’ opponent tonight in Ellsworth. The Bearcats have an offense that is capbale of producing big numbers. They average 110 passing yards per game, running backs Trent Cavanaugh and Owen Petrisek each have rushed for more than 90 yards and Petrisek also has 171 receiving yards.

Carmichaels gave up 207 rushing yards to Mapletown, but the Mikes have shown a bend-but-don’t break defense, yielding just two touchdowns.

5. Showdown in the Big Eight – Some things never change in the Big Eight, where Belle Vernon and Thomas Jefferson are again at the top of the conference standings. The two meet tonight at TJ in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL title game.

Belle Vernon hasn’t allowed a point in two games, but for the Leopards to win the game the key might be the play of do-everything Devin Whitlock. The Leopards will need a big game from Whitlock to beat the Jaguars.