Tough tests
Unbeaten Rockets, Scotties face stiff conference challenges in Week Seven
Rob Burchianti | 蘑菇视频
Southmoreland and Jefferson-Morgan remain undefeated going into Week Seven of the high school football season.
Both will face tough conference tests to maintain their perfect 7-0 records tonight.
Coach Shane Ziats’ Rockets, who are tied with California (4-0, 6-1) atop the Class A Tri-County South Conference standings, travel to Bentworth (3-1, 5-2) which sits one game out of first place.
Bentworth features the WPIAL’s leading rusher in Ben Hays. J-M features one of the WPIAL’s most dangerous offensive weapons in the versatile Deakyn DeHoet.
The Bearcats’ lone conference loss came at California, 8-7, in a tough battle that went down to the final seconds.
Coach Ed Woods’ Trojans host West Greene (1-3, 1-6).
In other TCS matchups, Carmichaels (0-4, 1-5) is at Avella (3-1, 6-1), which is tied with Bentworth for third place, and Beth-Center (1-3, 1-6) is at Mapletown (0-4, 1-6).
Southmoreland (2-0, 7-0) is tied for first place in the Class 3A Interstate Conference with Elizabeth Forward (2-0, 6-1) and Mount Pleasant (2-0, 5-2).
The Scotties, under first-year coach Dustin Shoaf, and the Vikings, under Jason Fazekas, meet at Southmoreland’s Russ Grimm Stadium tonight.
The two have a pair of common opponents in Laurel Highlands and Yough. Southmoreland defeated the Cougars on the road, 41-0, and the Mustangs at home, 54-7. Mount Pleasant beat Yough at home, 41-7, and won at LH, 49-0.
The area’s other unbeaten team, independent Albert Gallatin (7-0), hosts the Hedgesville Eagles (0-5) out of West Virginia on the Colonials’ senior night.
AG coach Drew Dindl isn’t taking any opponent on his team’s schedule lightly.
“Our players realize we’re doing something pretty special here being 7-0 and they’re playing well and feeling good,” Dindl said. “But they know better than to take anyone lightly. Every game can be a trap game for us if we don’t prepare properly and do what we do. That’s what’s got us here and we’ve got to keep it up.”
All 16 area teams are in action tonight with the exception of independent Brownsville (0-5) which had its game at Meyersdale (6-1) moved to Thursday night, reportedly due to a shortage of officials.
Among Fayette County’s other independent teams, Uniontown (2-5) will hold its senior night against the Northern Garrett Huskies (2-3) of Maryland at Bill Power Stadium and Connellsville (1-6) is on the road to face another strong opponent in the University Hawks (4-2) in Morgantown, West Virginia.
In the Class 4A Big Six Conference, Belle Vernon (0-2, 1-5) is at Mustang Field against Laurel Highlands (0-2, 2-5) with both needing a win to stay in playoff contention.
In the Class A Eastern Conference, Frazier (1-3, 3-4) also needs a victory to stay in the postseason hunt. The Commodores host Riverview (2-2, 4-3) which is in a three-way tie for third place.
In the Class 2A Century Conference, Waynesburg Central (1-2, 3-4) is another area team that faces an important game in the playoff race. The Raiders take on third-place Keystone Oaks (3-1, 3-4) at Dormont Memorial Stadium.
Only the top three teams in Classes 3A, 2A and A are guaranteed a spot in the WPIAL playoffs. Teams that finish in fourth place or lower would need to receive a wild-card bid to reach the postseason. Only the first- and second-place teams in Class 4A are assured playoff berths with the rest needing one of two wild-card invitations to get in the eight-team field.