Game of the Week: Monessen hosts Burgettstown in battle of unbeatens
When studying the tape of Monessen’s upset of Fort Cherry, what stood out to Burgettstown coach Mark Druga was the Greyhounds’ tenacity on defense.
“They swarmed to the football,” Druga said. “What I preach to our players at Burgettstown is when you’re playing a great offense you have to swarm to the ball and get six helmets to the ball carrier and that’s exactly what Monessen did last week.”
Druga and the Blue Devils know a thing or two about defense too.
In fact, Burgettstown has posted three consecutive shutouts.
The Greyhounds and Blue Devils have been two of the feel-good stories across the entire WPIAL through the first four weeks of the football season.
Not many expected either to be undefeated, let alone both, but they are.
And tonight they’ll put those unbeaten records on the line when the Blue Devils travel to Monessen for a 7 p.m. kickoff in a Class A Black Hills Conference game.
The Greyhounds are riding the momentum of last week’s 14-12 win against Fort Cherry as they prepare to defend their home field again.
A defensive stand in the final minute secured the victory.
“It was very satisfying to see the kids finish the game and finish it on defense,” Monessen coach Wade Brown said. “(Fort Cherry) had a few chances in the fourth quarter to get into the end zone and we did a good job of holding them out.”
Burgettstown posted a 28-0 victory against Sto-Rox and boasts a defense that has given up only seven points all season.
“They’re very detailed and they just know what they’re doing out there,” Brown said. “I think their coaches do a great job of game planning on that side of the ball. I’m sure they’ll have a good game plan for us, so we’ll have to be ready.”
This week the task for the Blue Devils is slowing down a potent passing attack from the Greyhounds.
Quarterback Kaier Payne has thrown for 700 yards and seven touchdowns and has two standout receivers to choose from in Kayden Kolbeck and Jay’Veon Jeffries. Kolbeck has 14 receptions, while Jeffries has 13, including a touchdown reception last Friday and he also returned a kickoff for a score just before halftime.
“They are going to be the best two receivers we’ve seen up to this point,” Druga said. “We have to mitigate those players. They are going to make some plays, but we have to answer. I feel confident as a team that we’ll put up a great fight against Monessen in that regard. Our skill on defense is the best I’ve coached at Burgettstown in quite some time and they’re playing that way in the secondary.”
Another key to Burgettstown’s success has been taking care of the football. The Blue Devils have not turned the ball over once this year. Quarterback Blake Neal has completed 42 of his 52 pass attempts for 556 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Bryce Speer has been Neal’s top target with 18 receptions for 210 yards.
Burgettstown has outscored its opponents 139-7.
“Their passing game is very precise,” Brown said. “I like what they do on offense. It’s nothing new, because we’ve played them the last two years. Even if they had a tough year last year, they were still, I felt, a very good team.”
Monessen has won the last two meetings, including a 40-21 victory last season.
Extra points
Wash High hosts Clairton tonight in this week’s Pittsburgh Steelers High School Showcase Game. The game is televised on KDKA+. … South Fayette has a major test tonight at Class 5A Upper St. Clair. Both teams are undefeated. … A couple of local teams have long road trips tonight. Trinity is making the trek to Butler County to play Mars for a nonconference game, while Charleroi is going even farther away to Armstrong County to play Apollo-Ridge for a Class 2A Allegheny Conference game. Charleroi and Apollo-Ridge are 54 miles apart. It is about an hour and a half bus ride for the Cougars. This comes a week after Charleroi traveled to Ligonier to play Ligonier Valley in its conference opener.