Four West Hills high school football teams will take their first steps in what they all hope will be long journeys through the WPIAL playoffs Friday night.
Two of those teams – Moon Area in Class 5A and Bishop Canevin in Class 1A — will go into their respective games favored, at least based on their seeding.
And the other two – Montour in Class 4A and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Class 2A – will enter play as underdogs.
Moon, the No. 5 seed in Class 5A, will host No. 12 Armstrong at Tiger Stadium while Bishop Canevin, seeded No. 3 in Class 1A, will entertain No. 14 Greensburg Central Catholic at Dormont Stadium.
Montour, the No. 6 seed in Class 4A, will travel to meet a familiar foe in third-seeded New Castle while No. 9 OLSH will trek to Lawrence County to take on No. 8 seed Mohawk.
All games are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.
Armstrong (4-6) at Moon (7-3)
The Tigers enter the playoffs on a three-game win streak, including a 20-13 victory over sixth-seeded Upper St. Clair on Oct. 17. Moon coach Ryan Linn said he likes where his team stands heading into the postseason.
“We closed out the regular season in a good way,” he said earlier this week. “The kids are starting to believe they can make a run here. We’re seeing a more consistent effort these last couple of weeks.”
Linn said his team has certainly shown some growth since its 14-13 win over Trinity in the season-opener on Aug. 22.
“It’s like night and day in terms of their understanding of what we’re doing,” he said. “Our defense is playing fast – it’s complicated for other teams to play against, but simple for our kids to execute.
“Offensively, we have a greater understanding of our system.”
Linn said he was planning to call offensive plays this season but turned to a young assistant coach named Wayne Capers Jr. – whose father, Wayne Sr., played several seasons as a wide receiver with the Steelers – and that move has paid off.
“He’s run with it,” Linn said of the younger Capers. “He and our kids have started to develop a good rapport. There’s a lot more comfort level offensively in what they’re doing.”
Andrew Cross triggers the Tigers offense from his quarterback position. He’s completed 73 of 147 passes for 910 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he’s added 359 yards rushing with four TDs on the ground.
Cross’ top targets are Savario Vandetti (24 catches, 355 yards, 5 TDs), Braeden Stuart (23/251/1) and Jayden Revis (13/260/4).
Daiveon Taylor and Jared Moyer lead the way defensively. Taylor has 49 solo tackes and 73 tackles in all with nine sacks and 14 tackles-for-loss while Moyer has 53 tackles – 40 of which are solo – eight sacks and 13 TFLs.
Taylor, Moyer and the rest of the Tigers defense will be plenty busy as Armstrong quarterback Jaydon Oliver has thrown for nearly 1,500 yards. Quinton Olsen is one of the WPIAL’s leading receivers with 75 catches for 898 yards. On the ground, Costa Couknas has rushed for 626 yards while Oliver has chipped in with 426 yards.
“They’re going to throw the ball around the yard,” Linn said of Armstrong. “They’ll use the whole field and force you to cover them. They’re very good with the screen game, but they’re not afraid to take a shot down the field. And they’re very opportunistic.”
Linn said the Tigers might not blitz as much as they usually do because of the way Armstrong operates offensively.
“But we’re good enough that our three guys up front can get to the quarterback,” Linn said.
Linn said there’s nothing complicated when it comes to cooking up a winning formula for Friday night.
“It will come down to us getting stops and not letting them make a big play over the top with their passing game,” he said. “And offensively, we have to keep taking snaps and getting first downs. If we can do that, good things will happen.”
Montour (7-3) at New Castle (8-2)
This will mark the second time in the last four weeks that these teams will be meeting; New Castle prevailed in the regular-season Parkway Conference matchup, 34-13, on Oct. 3. The two teams ended up tied for first in the conference with 4-1 records.
Marino Graham, the Red Hurricanes fine freshman quarterback, rushed for 107 yards and four touchdowns in the previous meeting between the two teams, so Montour coach Lou Cerro and his squad know what to expect.
“We have to keep him inside the tackles,” Cerro said of the 5-foot-10, 150-pounder. “He got away from us last time. He’s a good athlete – he’s hard to contain.
“You can’t let him get outside.”
Graham has completed 106 of 179 passes for 1,455 yards and 19 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He’s also rushed for 842 yards in 108 attempts.
New Castle is hardly a one-man gang, however. The Red Hurricanes have three other backs who’ve rushed for at least 200 yards. And receivers Chase Lemon and Kai Cox have combined for 74 catches and more than 1,000 yards.
“They’re really good,” Cerro said of the Red Hurricanes. “They have all kinds of athletes.”
Montour has its share of athletes as well. Sophomore quarterback Brandon Bennett has completed 85 of 155 pass attempts for 1,385 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 300 yards and five more TDs. Caden Halajcio is the workhorse running back; he’s piled up 1,189 yards rushing on 191 carries and 14 touchdowns. Freshman Archie Collins is a threat both as a runner and a receiver; he has a combined 500-plus yards and six touchdowns.
Junior Zander Stern is Bennett’s top target with 41 catches for 719 yards and seven TDs.
Defensively, Dylan Rogers (71 tackles), Cole Midili (88 tackles), Halajcio (58 tackles) and Nick Sicilia (97 tackles) lead the way for Montour.
Cerro said he likes his team’s mindset going into Friday’s game.
“I think we’re playing with a little bit of confidence, and that can take you a long way in the right circumstances,” he said. “Hopefully we play that way on Friday.”
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (5-5) at Mohawk (5-5)
OLSH coach Donnie Militzer expects his team to come out of Friday night’s battle bruised, no matter what the outcome is.
“I like to say that conference is the Black and Blue Conference,” he said, referring to the Midwestern Conference that Mohawk went 4-3 in – good enough for a tie for fourth place with Riverside. “They beat each other up and play hard-nose football. We expect it to be a physical game for sure.”
Militzer said the Warriors have several solid players on the offensive and defensive lines, but he called quarterback Bobby Fadden “a special player.”
“He’s like Mr. Mohawk,” Militzer said of Fadden, who also plays basketball, baseball and golf and participates in track and field. Fadden has completed 57% of his 161 throws for 1,230 yards and 12 touchdowns. His three top targets are Lucas Stratton (35 receptions, 49 yards), Joe Nail (28/431) and Landyn Argiro (29/364). Stratton also has rushed for 608 yards and has scored four touchdowns, and Fadden has rushed for 475 yards.
OLSH has steadily improved as the season has progressed, Militizer said, and the Chargers showed that by knocking off Keystone Oaks last week in a game they had to win.
“The growth in our team has been phenomenal,” he said. “To go into a game against a playoff team like Keystone Oaks and show the maturity to win – that was probably our best all-round performance of the year.
“I’m pretty pleased where we’re at and the development we’ve had.”
As a result, Militzer said he doesn’t plan to make any big changes for Friday’s game. “We’ve won three of our last four,” he said. “We’re going through a good stretch and we want to build off the growth we’ve had.”
After looking at three quarterbacks earlier this season, Militzer has settled on J.J. Hayden to direct things for the Chargers. He hasn’t put up eye-popping numbers, but his coach likes what he sees.
“He played really well in the South Park game and from then on he’s done a really good job of managing the game,” he said. “He’s had five touchdowns the last two weeks and no interceptions. He’s protecting the ball.”
Militzer said Hayden doesn’t need to throw for a ton of yards each week – “just keep the defense honest and get the run game going. He’s in that position for the playoff run.”
Expect OLSH to also run the Wildcat, with TyTy Hawkins and Jamire Samuels taking snaps. Samuels leads the team in rushing with 453 yards and Hawkins has added 233. Hayden has completed 27 of 47 passes for 340 yards and John Anderson has been his leading receiver with 21 catches and 250 yards.
Militzer said his team, which is composed mostly of underclassmen – including three freshman starters – is excited about its playoff debut. “But they’re also loose,” he said. “I feel like they’re ready to take this on. It’s like a quiet confidence.
“From a coaching standpoint, the staff is really excited for the players to get this (playoff) experience, no matter the outcome. As long as we play a solid game, this will be something to build on for next year.”
Greensburg Central Catholic (5-5) vs. Bishop Canevin (7-3) at Dormont Stadium
The Centurions finished fifth in the Eastern Conference while Bishop Canevin wound up second in the Black Hills Conference with just one loss – to unbeaten Fort Cherry, 56-19, on Oct. 10.
Since then, the Crusaders have beaten Monessen, 44-7, and Burgettstown, 43-10.
Brady Wagner leads the Bishop Canevin attack, comleting 59 of 93 passes for 868 yards and 13 touchdowns. Justin Melvin and Damar Olds are Wagner’s top two targets; Melvin has 22 catches for 414 yards while Olds has 19 for 402. The Crusaders also have a solid ground game led by Myontae Mott, who has 695 yards on just 55 carries and has scored 15 touchdowns.
Neuval Bone has rushed for 260 yards and a 5.5 average while Alex Kirk has added 211 yards on only 12 carries, with six of them resulting in touchdowns.
Samir Crosby is GCC’s top offensive threat, as he’s rushed for 876 yards and nearly a 10-yard per carry average and also has caught a team-leading 19 passes for 2687 yards. Crosby also has scored 18 touchdowns and converted six two-point conversions.
Bobby Smithnosky has completed 57 of 98 passes for 763 yards and nine touchdowns.
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