Last week saw the biggest upset of the season when New Brighton knocked off Beaver Area. On Saturday, McKeesport defeated Woodland Hills. The Wolverines are now 0-2 after some media members had pegged them as the #1 Quad-A team in the state. The Pirates are rolling right now and have clinched a winning season and are in the thick of the postseason race, so I won’t tell you to do anything other than watch the Buccos tonight. After the game, stay tuned to ROOT for the WPIAL game of the week, a showdown between two of the best teams in Single-A, Neshannock and Sto-Rox.
The Tigers were projected to have a “down” year after graduating most of the team that won 3 straight WPIAL titles. But the defending state champions have come out of the gate strong with dominant performances against Mt Lebanon and Fox Chapel. The Tigers beat Seneca Valley twice last season – in the regular season and in the semi-finals. The Raiders will be looking for revenge on their home turf after posting two solid victories over Butler and Pine-Richland. The winner will become the primary challenger to Central Catholic for the conference title. The Kiski-Gateway game will be the MSA Sports/Skylights game of the week and livestreamed online.
Honorable Mentions: Kiski Area (2-0) at Gateway (2-0), Woodland Hills (0-2) at Bethel Park (2-0)
Moon has not made the playoffs since 2006 but are off to a 2-0 start after beating Chartiers Valley and Blackhawk. Since the top 5 teams in each conference make the playoffs in AAA, the Tigers only need a few more wins to reach the postseason for the first time since 2006. Moon will have their work cut out for them against the defending AAA champion West Allegheny team that has outscored their opponents by 62 points so far this season.
Honorable Mention: Highlands (2-0) at Franklin Regional (2-0)
The defending Century Conference Champions travel to Charlie Batch’s old stomping grounds to take on the Ironmen. This will be a mashing of styles as the pass-happy Lions with QB Brett Brumbaugh throwing for 404 yards and 5 TD through two games. On the other side, Steel Valley boasts two of the top 6 rushers in all of the WPIAL with D’Andre Pickens (517 yards, 9 TD) and Duane Murray (406 yards, 2 TD) both averaging over 16 yards per carry.
Honorable Mentions: Shady Side Academy (2-0) at Valley (2-0), Jeanette (2-0) at Yough (2-0)
The actual game of the week in Single-A is the Neshannock-StoRox showdown on Thursday night, but because this won’t be published until Friday morning, I decided to give the Tri-County South some love (because they won’t get any the rest of the year). Beth-Center has dominated the Tri-South, winning 3 of the last 5 conference titles and posting a 37-3 conference record over that span. The Mighty Mikes are off to a great start and have already scored victories over two teams that made the playoffs last season (Jefferson-Morgan and Frazier).
Honorable Mention: Fort Cherry (2-0) at Monessen (2-0), North Catholic (2-0) at Northgate (1-1)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
