Sizing up Week One of the fall season
Though Aug. 24 featured a slew of intriguing and entertaining Week Zero football match-ups, I feel the next few days mark the true beginning of the 2018-19 high school athletic calendar with practically every WPIAL football team and the majority of the district’s volleyball and soccer squads being in action.
Here’s a look back to the appetizer and a look ahead to the main course that awaits local fans …
n The collective eyes of Waynesburg were focused on Raider Field this past Friday to see just how the WCHS football team would do after a tumultuous conclusion to its 2017 campaign. The Raiders answered the call with a resounding 47-8 win over visiting Jefferson-Morgan. Now, it’s the ladies turn to light up the field.
Last year’ the Raider girls soccer team put together the greatest season in the program’s history en route to a WPIAL title and a win in the PIAA Class AA tournament. Prior to a 1-0 season-ending setback against Bedford in the state quarterfinals, the Red and Black tasted defeat just one time on the year, a 2-1 loss to South Fayette in the Green Lions’ season-opening tournament.
WCHS will get a chance to avenge that lone regular-season blemish when it hosts South Fayette on Saturday. The game also marks the beginning of the post-Madison Clayton era, and while the Pitt freshman is already logging minutes with the Panthers, the Raiders are not planning on lowering expectations as they set out in defense of their district title.
n Sadly, we already know one result from Week One of the WPIAL football schedule after Mapletown announced that it did not have enough healthy players to host perennial powerhouse Clairton. The news means a forfeit victory for the Bears and a second-straight week of heartbreak for the Maples.
Despite 180 yards and a touchdown on the ground from junior Zach Greene, the Black and Gold suffered a 14-12 loss to Avella. For a young team like Mapletown trying to create a new identity while dealing with life after Dylan Rush, this setback was a particularly painful one. However, sending this same group of depleted youngsters to the field to face an opponent like Clairton would almost certainly end in a much less than positive fashion.
Hopefully, with two weeks to heal up, Mapletown will be ready for a seemingly more winnable game against Jefferson-Morgan on Sept. 7. So, while fans can’t be happy about a cancelled home game, the decision to forfeit now may lead to better things down the road.
n The only Greene County team that didn’t hit the field against a live opponent on Aug. 24 was Carmichaels. After what we saw from Beth-Center in Week Zero, I sure hope the Mighty Mikes used every second of that extra preparation time to prepare for the Bulldogs.
B-C may have put together the most impressive performance of any WPIAL team when it steamrolled California 50-28 in what was one of the most anticipated games of opening night. The Bulldogs not only did whatever they wanted offensively, but the defense limited Jelani Stafford, the 260-plus-pound Division I prospect, to just 63 total yards in seven carries.
For Carmichaels to pull the upset in its first game as a 2-A squad, it will have to stop Beth-Center’s own superstar running back, Dominic Fundy. Fundy already looks to be in mid-season form after decimating the Cal defense to the tune of 203 yards on 16 carries.
If Carmichaels head coach Ryan Krull and his staff can somehow corral Fundy, they will still have to contend with the rest of a spread offense that is helmed by athletic quarterback Bailey Lincoski, who eclipsed 250 yards of total offense against the Trojans and accounted for four total touchdowns.
Regardless of the outcome, this contest will no doubt bring some nostalgic feelings to seasoned fans who have witnessed many spirited match-ups between these two former Tri-County South rivals.