Sep 5, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

It’s hard to believe we are not even a week into September and most teams are playing their third high school football game this evening.

The first few weeks of the season normally brings weather conditions that aren’t ideal — whether it is heat or rainstorms — teams soldier on to complete their contests.

But it’s a whole different story when lightning comes into play.

To keep everyone safe, stadiums are ordered to be cleared for 30 minutes when officials see a flash of lightning, and an additional half-hour is added when another flash is witnessed until a full 30 minutes has elapsed without a strike of lightning.

Spectators are allowed to re-enter the stadium, and once the officials and teams are ready to go, the game resumes. However, that process can go on for hours, and decisions are made to resume the game, suspend it to another date or cancel it altogether.

Belle Vernon had its game against Aliquippa last week called after the first quarter with the Quips holding a 12-0 lead, but the Leopards only ran seven offensive plays.

Carmichaels and Sto-Rox were tied 8-8 heading into the fourth quarter when the nonconference game was ended.

Beth-Center and Leechburg had a stoppage at halftime, but the game resumed and was completed. Washington and Steel Valley started about 20 minutes late without any stoppages for weather.

Here are five things to watch for tonight:

Injured Sieg still a threat

Fort Cherry junior quarterback Matt Sieg was limited last week in the Rangers’ victory over Our Lady of Sacred Heart by a broken thumb, but he still did enough to make an impact.

Sieg suffered the injury in Week Zero against Northgate and was wearing a cast against OLSH. He wasn’t able to pass but still rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries and scored three touchdowns. Despite the cast, Sieg grabbed an interception.

The Rangers play at West Greene in nonconference play, and Sieg will still be a threat.

Sieg’s injury enabled Ryan Huey to step in and show what he can do. The sophomore rushed for 184 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Josh Silveira stepped in for Sieg on passing downs and was 4-of-10 for 82 yards.

Will the weather cooperate?

Meteorologists don’t have the highest percentage of accuracy, which means the following might not matter, but here goes nothing: The weather looks promising when it comes to games being delayed or canceled.

The forecast (from the weather app on my cellphone) predicts 77 degrees and sunny around 7 p.m. and the temperature will hover around 65 when games reach the two-hour mark. There is a 40 percent chance of rain at 8:30. The good news is that no lightning is in the forecast.

Dynamic duo

Teams in the Class A Tri-County South still employ the ground-and-pound approach that harkens back to the days of yesteryear, but Jefferson-Morgan is not afraid to line up in the shotgun and go with an up-tempo offense.

The Rockets still want to run the ball, but when you have the likes of Houston Guesman at quarterback and Deakyn Dehoet at wide receiver, there is no shame in throwing the ball.

Guesman is 22-for-32 for 298 yards and five touchdowns after two games for the undefeated Rockets. Half of the completions have been to Dehoet, who has 183 yards and three touchdowns.

Could this be the week?

Ringgold almost got off the schneid last week at Indiana, but first-year coach Robert Heller’s team suffered a 14-13 setback in overtime. The Rams pulled within one point and went for a two-point conversion and the win instead of trying the tying extra point.

Ringgold travels to Cougar Mountain tonight to take on undefeated Yough. The Cougars are undefeated but beat two teams that are combined 0-4 and in lower classifications.

Peters Township off and running

The Indians had a little bit of a scare in Week Zero, but coach TJ Plack’s team showed McKeesport what their defense, and offense, is all about in a 42-7 victory last week, stuffing the Tigers’ vaunted flexbone attack.

Peters Township is at Mt. Lebanon tonight. The Indians host Trinity next week.

Staff writer Jonathan Guth can be reached at jguth@observer-reporter.com