Five Things we learned in Week 9
Each Monday we’ll look back at the highlights of the week that was in local high school football.
This week saw results that set up an epic final night of the regular season, an officiating controversy, another big game for Petrosky and other running backs, and the tragic death of a coach.
1. Epic final Friday
If you live in Washington or Greene County, you won’t have to drive too far on Friday to find an exciting high school football game.
With gas prices as high as they are, that’s probably a good thing.
Whether by happenstance or not, the WPIAL schedule makes put a lot of premier matchups in Week 10.
Fort Cherry will play at Washington for the Class A Black Hills Conference title. The Prexies are unbeaten in conference play and will try to win it outright, while the Rangers have one loss, but will try for a share, and the top spot overall in conference seeding.
A little over a half hour to the southeast, Beth-Center is hosting California for the Tri-County South championship. Both teams are unbeaten in conference play.
You’ll have to go over to Allegheny County for this one, but another conference crown will be decided when Elizabeth Forward hosts Belle Vernon. Both are unbeaten in the Class 3A Interstate Conference.
Ringgold hosts South Fayette hoping to earn a share of the Class 4A Big Six Conference title. The Lions aim to finish off an unbeaten run in conference play, while the Rams will try to bounce back after a controversial call went against them at Chartiers Valley. More on that in a bit.
Conference titles aren’t the only thing on the line, however. So are playoff spots.
McGuffey hosts Chartiers-Houston for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Class 2A Century Conference. The Highlanders could go from two winless seasons in a row to the postseason, while the Bucs are seeking a second consecutive playoff berth.
Avella makes the trip to Frazier for third place in the Tri-County South. The loser will have to hope for a wild card.
Burgettstown travels to Bentworth in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot. The Blue Devils clinch third place in the Black Hills Conference with a win.
Bentworth needs a win and a Monessen loss to Sto-Rox to finish third.
Canon-McMillan is in the Class 6A playoffs, but a win against Mt. Lebanon solidifies their spot in the top three. If results fall their way the Big Macs could finish second.
2. Controversy at CV
Ringgold fans, coaches and players left Chartiers Valley furious Friday night and videos that have circulated on social media show why.
Chartiers Valley’s final touchdown came on a controversial play. Quarterback Owen Weagraff’s knees appeared to be down before running back Zach Efthimiades took the ball from him and ran 66 yards for a touchdown.
Even if Weagraff’s knees weren’t down, he was past the line of scrimmage, so a hand off or pitch forward to Efthimiades would be illegal according to the NFHS football rule book.
It’s clear the touchdown should not have counted after watching the replay.
But the officials on the field do not have the benefit of replay like NCAA and NFL officials.
Their call is final and that was unfortunate in this case for the Rams.
It’s a difficult and thankless job being a high school official in any sport.
I know this firsthand from being a youth football official when I was a college student.
The PIAA is having a harder and harder time finding officials and that will likely continue to be the case in the future.
3. Petrosky does it again
Belle Vernon running back Chace Petrosky did it again on Friday. A week after scoring five touchdowns against Southmoreland, he scored five more in Belle Vernon’s 55-39 win in a critical Interstate Conference game.
On a night of big plays, Petrosky found the end zone from 14, 31, 71, 27 and 65 yards and finished with 257 yards on 27 carries.
He’ll look for another big night against Elizabeth Forward Friday.
4. 1,000-yard backs
While a local player will not win the WPIAL regular season rushing title this year, Highlands’ Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg has that on lockdown with 2,307 yards, there’s plenty over the 1,000-yard mark once again this season.
Fort Cherry’s Eli Salvini leads the way with 1,279 yards, but Beth-Center’s Enzo Brown is on his heels with 1,160.
McGuffey’s Caleb Simons has 1,127 yards, while Waynesburg’s Ky-mani Sumpter has 1,103. South Fayette’s Aayden Wright is at 1,039.
Several other local players have a good shot of joining the 1,000-yard club on Friday.
Petrosky is at 921, Wash High’s Jamarie Walker has 905 and West Greene quarterback Joel Rizor is at 802.
5. Tragedy for Cornell
As I was getting ready to close my laptop and leave the office Friday night, I saw the news that Cornell football coach Ed Dawson had died during the Raiders’ game Friday night at Rochester.
It was stunning and an incredibly sad headline to read.
Dawson had a medical emergency during the game, was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
While Cornell is in Allegheny County, many local fans, players and coaches from the small schools in Greene and Washington Counties can relate to the job Dawson did at Cornell.
He had coached the Raiders since 2011 and typically had a competitive team despite a small roster year after year.
His death creates a huge void at Cornell and in the coaching fraternity.
Staff writer Jerin Steele can be reached at jsteele@observer-reporter.com