Five things we learned in Week 7
Each Monday we’ll look back at the highlights of the week that was in local high school football. Because of the Columbus Day holiday, this week’s column appears a day later.
In Week 7, Fort Cherry’s Eli Salvini eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards, Wash High rolled again, Canon-McMillan will have a critical game Friday, Belle Vernon and Waynesburg continue to impress and local athletes had big nights in wild games.
1. Grand night for Salvini
In the last few years, Eli Salvini put up good numbers, but with future West Virginia recruit Matt Sieg running the show at quarterback, Salvini flew under the radar a bit.
As a senior, Salvini has continued to perform and became the first local football player to surpass 1,000 yards for the season in a 48-7 win against Bentworth.
Salvini had 142 yards and a touchdown. He has 1,013 yards on 92 carries and has scored 15 touchdowns. His yardage ranks seventh in the WPIAL.
After getting some offers from Division III schools Thiel and Bethany, Salvini received a Division II offer from West Liberty in September.
Salvini figures to be a focal point of the offense again when Fort Cherry has a road test at Jeannette (6-1) on Thursday, a game that’ll likely impact seeding in the Class A bracket.
2. Wash High rolls
It’s becoming clearer that the matchup between Fort Cherry and Washington on the final night of the regular season will be for the Black Hills Conference title.
The Prexies still have to play at Monessen this week and Sto-Rox, but if they play the way they did in a 48-14 win against Burgettstown, then they’ll be tough to beat.
Wash High imposed its will from the start, scoring two touchdowns in the first four plays from scrimmage.
Jamarie Walker had a four-touchdown game, and the defense forced two fumbles.
One of the cooler moments was offensive/defensive lineman Wahid Jones jumping on a fumble in the second quarter and then winning homecoming king at halftime.
One tough moment for the Prexies was when senior running back/linebacker Trenton Grooms was injured in the second quarter and did not return.
3. Big game for the Big Macs
Canon-McMillan dropped a 35-17 decision to Woodland Hills in a nonconference game, but the bigger result for the Big Macs happened in Westmoreland County.
Hempfield defeated Norwin, 29-6, which gave Hempfield, with a tiebreaking win against Canon-McMillan, possession of second place in Class 6A. It also made this week’s Norwin at Canon-McMillan matchup an important one.
The winner of the game will put itself in prime position for a top-three spot in Class 6A, which means avoiding playing Central Catholic in the first round of the playoffs.
If the Big Macs win, then they’ll keep an outside shot at second place and hosting a playoff game, should Hempfield stumble against Mt. Lebanon.
A loss could put Canon-McMillan in a muddled mess for fourth place with games against Central Catholic and Mt. Lebanon remaining on the schedule.
Norwin lost standout running back Giovani Rothrauff to a broken fibula against Hempfield.
The injury leaves Norwin without its top offensive threat. Rothrauff leads the entire WPIAL in carries with 187 and is eighth in yardage at 979, so the Knights will have to rethink their offense with him out.
4. BV and Waynesburg are contenders
In two weeks, Belle Vernon and Waynesburg will meet for a crucial Interstate Conference game.
Both teams have proven themselves as contenders in Class 3A.
Belle Vernon has only one loss, a Week 1 game to Thomas Jefferson where it was defeated 34-6.
Since then, the Leopards have reeled off six straight wins and have allowed 33 points and have three shutouts, including a 49-0 win against Mount Pleasant.
Quarterback Jace Gedekoh and running back Chase Petrosky have been a solid one-two punch offensively.
Gedekoh accounted for four touchdowns, three rushing, against Mount Pleasant. Petrosky had two touchdowns, including a 40-yard reception from Gedekoh.
Waynesburg has been rolling since its 38-33 loss to conference leader Elizabeth Forward. Aside from that game, the Raiders haven’t allowed more than 14 points to an opponent.
Raiders quarterback Teagen Crouse accounted for five touchdowns, three rushing, in a 42-7 win against Greensburg Salem. He threw two touchdowns to his top target, Jack Ricciuti. Ky-Mani Sumpter has been strong as Waynesburg’s lead back.
5. Huge performances in wild games
Charleroi’s Elijah Allah and Chartiers-Houston’s duo of Brody McCrerey and Teegan Bogden had massive games in losing efforts.
Allah had all six touchdowns for the Cougars in a 46-41 loss to South Allegheny. It was a back-and-forth game, which saw the Gladiators score late to win.
Allah had rushing touchdowns of 5, 7, 8, 17 and 36 yards and caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Klinger. He finished with 268 yards on 32 carries.
Bogden threw four touchdown passes to McCrerey in a 63-35 loss to Apollo-Ridge. They connected on scores of 32, 11, 25 and 5 yards.
Bogden had 240 yards passing and McCrerey 152 yards receiving on eight catches.
Staff writer Jerin Steele can be reached at jsteele@observer-reporter.com