Oct 4, 2018 5 min read

The game of football isn’t played like it used to be – three yards and a cloud of dust – but that doesn’t mean running backs haven’t dominated at area high schools.

Two in particular, Beth-Center’s Dominic Fundy and West Greene’s Ben Jackson, have been key parts in their team’s offense since arriving on the varsity roster years ago.

Now, they are both nearing the same milestone.

Fundy, a senior, enters tonight’s game against East Allegheny only needing 86 yards to reach 4,000 for his career. Through six games this season, Fundy has 825 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 9.3 yards per carry.

Jackson, a junior, is 278 yards away from reaching 4,000 in his first three seasons at West Greene.

In the Pioneers’ hot start, winning five of their first six games, Jackson has been mauling opponents with an average of 11.2 yards per carry. He has 1,237 yards and 22 touchdowns, both good for second in the WPIAL.

They are still a distance away from breaking their respective school’s rushing record. Keith Miller is Beth-Center’s all-time leader with 5,121 yards, and Rodney Wilson holds that honor at West Greene as he amassed 6,304 yards.

Here is what else to watch in Week 6 of the high school football season:

1. Game of the Week: West Greene at California: There are 42 reasons this game means a lot to the Pioneers.

Yes, one is to avenge the 42-0 thumping they took from California last year.

But another reason, which is much more important, is to clinch a Tri-County South Conference championship and back-to-back playoff appearances.

West Greene doesn’t even have a loss to a Pennsylvania team – its only loss was at Cameron, W.Va., 22-14, in the season opener – and in five conference games the Pioneers have allowed only 12 total points and won by an average margin of 38.6 points.

For as bad as California started the season – losing four of its first six games – the Trojans might be finding a rhythm by using a game plan from last season – handing the football to fullback Jelani Stafford.

There isn’t much to draw up. Take the snap, turn around, hand it off and see if anybody can tackle the big running back.

Stafford wasn’t involved in the offense much to begin the season, but he has gained 328 yards in the last two games.

The key, however, could be how does West Greene handle the other offensive threats of the Trojans, including Cochise Ryan, who is a game-breaker both rushing and receiving.

2. Playoff implications: Along with West Greene, one other local team can earn a playoff berth by just winning.

If McGuffey topples winless Brownsville, the Highlanders will clinch a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Burgettstown can solidify a spot to the playoffs with a win over Carlynton and a South Side Beaver loss. It would be the fourth consecutive year the Blue Devils made the postseason.

3. Homecoming horror: No matter how many times conference opponents or the schedule changes, one thing usually remains constant: teams picks a slouch opponent for their Homecoming opponent.

Not Canon-McMillan.

The Big Macs will host Pine-Richland, the defending Class 6A state champion which is out to a 5-1 start. It is canon-McMillan’s Homecoming game. Pine-Richland’s lone loss was to IMG Academy of Florida in the season opener. The Rams’ smallest conference victory was a 42-21 blowout of Central Catholic.

There is reason for hope with Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs are riding a two-game winning streak, downing Hempfield two weeks ago and outlasting rival Peters Township last Friday.

The Big Macs have been competitive when they’ve had their full complement of players. They were tied with Mt. Lebanon at halftime in the season opener and trailed North Allegheny by only three points at halftime.

Canon-McMillan will get a strong test at the line of scrimmage. The Rams feature two Division I recruits, Andrew Kristofic (6-6, 275) and Michael Katic (6-4, 270). Kristofic gave an oral commitment to Notre Dame and Katic to Indiana.

Pine-Richland clinches a playoff spot with a victory.

4. Non-conference novelty: Though deep into conference play, four area teams are branching out this week for non-conference games.

Beth-Center, Fort Cherry, Jefferson-Morgan and Mapletown each will gas up the bus and hit the road.

The last time J-M played at Riverview was in a noteworthy 1994 WPIAL first-round playoff game. The 16th-seeded Rockets led by 13 points with 4:06 remaining in regulation over top-seeded Riverview, the only undefeated team in Class A. After a Riverview score cut the Rockets’ lead to six points and with the Raiders out of timeouts, J-M opted to try to punch in another touchdown and fumbled with 58 seconds remaining at the Riverview one-yard line. A 94-yard TD pass tied the score – Riverview was backed up 15 yards because of a celebration penalty and missed the extra point – and the No. 1 seed prevailed in overtime.

5. First-place favorites: There are four local teams currently in first place in their conference. The same four teams will be there at week’s end.

Burgettstown plays a one-win Carlynton team, McGuffey hosts Brownsville (0-6) and South Fayette travels to play Knoch (2-4), which has two wins.

West Greene plays California, but even if the Pioneers lose they will remain in first place.