No turkey left as PIAA rolls into semifinals Class 3A

The Fumbler is finally willing to admit he has a turkey problem.

It hit him after eating six helpings of it during Thanksgiving dinner and then devouring three hot turkey sandwiches the following day.

So, The Fumbler tried going cold turkey.

It didn’t work. Cold turkey is delicious, too, especially with some mayo on white bread.

Luckily for The Fumbler, it has been a case of “out of sight, out of mind” the past few days. All of the leftovers have been picked over, so The Fumbler returned to his normal eating habits.

It’s PIAA semifinal time, meaning there are no more turkeys still playing high school football in Pennsylvania. If you’ve made it this far, you’re pretty good. And you’re also only a win away from playing for a title.

Follow The Fumbler on Twitter — @FumblerPG

After going 2-2 last week, The Fumbler is now 548-137 (.800) for the season.

Here are his thoughts on this weekend’s PIAA semifinal games:

Class 6A

Pine-Richland (11-2) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (110), 1 Saturday at Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona — It’s a Pine-Richland-St. Joe’s rubber match, only it comes in the semifinals and not the championship. St. Joe’s beat Pine-Richland, 49-41, to win the title in 2014, but the Rams returned the favor by beating the Hawks, 41-21, in last year’s final. Look for this one to play out similarly to the first meeting. Winner: St. Joseph’s Prep.

Harrisburg (12-1) vs. Coatesville (14-0), 1 Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium — Harrisburg is hoping for a much better result than when it was hammered by Coatesville, 37-6, in the season opener. It won’t happen. Coatesville has outscored opponents, 642-151. Winner: Coatesville.

Class 5A

Penn Hills (14-0) vs. Archbishop Wood (9-3), 7 Friday at Chambersburg — The Philly Catholic League joined the PIAA in 2008. Since then, Archbishop Wood has reached the semifinals 10 times in 11 seasons. The two-time defending champs throttled Gateway, 49-14, in last year’s final. Penn Hills has the athletes to hang with the Vikings for a half, but doing it for four quarters certainly will be an uphill battle. Winner: Archbishop Wood.

Upper Dublin (12-1) vs. Manheim Central (13-0), 7 Friday at Wissahickon — Evan Simon is the latest star quarterback at Manheim Central. Among the others were Jeff Smoker and Matt Nagy, who is 8-3 in his first season as head coach of the Bears. Winner: Manheim Central.

Class 4A

Bishop McDevitt (121) vs. Erie Cathedral Prep (11-3), 7 Friday at Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona — OK, so Cathedral Prep is pretty darn good. The Ramblers thumped South Fayette, 4210, last week. The Fumbler can see this game going either way. Winner: McDevitt.

Imhotep Charter (102) vs. Bethlehem Catholic (11-3), 7 Friday at Northeast Supersite — “IHOP Charter” and Becahi meet in the semifinals for the third year in a row. Charter pancaked the Golden Hawks each of the past two seasons. Mmm, pancakes. Winner: Imhotep Charter.

Aliquippa (12-1) vs. Sharon (10-3), 1 Saturday at Slippery Rock University — Much has been written about Aliquippa’s talented skill players and not enough about the Quips having three starting offensive linemen who weigh at least 300 pounds. That’s a big line for any high school team, particular one that should actually be playing in Class 1A. OK, back to those skill players. Sharon, don’t punt the ball to M.J. Devonshire. Winner: Aliquippa.

Middletown (12-1) vs. Scranton Prep (13-1), 7 Friday at Bethlehem — Middletown ended Scranton Prep’s season in 2016 and again in 2017. Guess what it will do Friday? By the way, a WPIAL team has beaten Middletown in the final two years in a row. Winner: Middletown.

Class 2A

Steel Valley (12-1) vs. Wilmington (12-1), 7 Friday at Ambridge — The Fumbler isn’t always the best at remembering names, but he can probably name at least half of Steel Valley’s players. How hard can it be? There are only 17 of them! But who needs quantity when you have so much quality? Running backs Kam Williams and Todd Hill will continue their fine seasons and vault the Ironmen into the final. Winner: Steel Valley.

West Catholic (12-2) vs. Southern Columbia (14-0), 7 Friday at Northern Lehigh — On The Fumbler’s agenda today: Send Southern Columbia a get-well card because that team is sick. Send West Catholic a good-luck card because it will need a lot of it. Winner: Southern Columbia.

Class 1A

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (12-1) vs. Farrell (13-0), 7 Friday at Slippery Rock University — OLSH played Rochester at Heinz Field, but must travel to Slippery Rock to play the Steelers. Go figure. The Farrell Steelers don’t have Big Ben, AB or James Conner, but they do have Pitt recruit Kyi Wright, Christian Lewis and Jourdan Townsend. OLSH’s PIAA playoff debut won’t go as well as its WPIAL championship debut. Winner: Farrell.

Lackawanna Trail (131) vs. Juniata Valley (112), 7 Friday at Danville — Juniata Valley’s quarterback is Quinn Zinoblie. The Fumbler likes that name. But he also likes Lackawanna Trail, although not quite as much as he liked playing Oregon Trail. Winner: Lackawanna Trail