FOOTBALL WATCH LIST
COVID- 19 might be all the talk, but plenty of story lines remain
This will be a season like no other, because of the COVID- 19 pandemic, and the questions surrounding the season are many. How many fans will be attending games? What will the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs look like? How many games will be called off because of positive coronavirus cases? Will the season finish? It could be a season of adjustments for many.
How will the Quips fare?
Aliquippa has played for a WPIAL championship for a record 12 consecutive years. But now what for the Quips? They lost a number of key players from last year’s team and they had to move up from Class 3A to 4A this season under the PIAA’s new competition success formula. The championship appearance streak could be in jeopardy.
It will be interesting to see how Aliquippa fares in a different classification, but there are some other notable changes in class by other teams. Pine- Richland played in the WPIAL Class 6A championship the past three seasons, but moves to Class 5A. South Fayette goes up from 4A to 5A. McKeesport goes from 5A to 4A. Burgettstown, undefeated in the 2019 regular season, goes from 2A to 1A. Mars goes from 5A to 4A.
Playoff formats
The season starts Friday, but neither the PIAA nor WPIAL playoff formats have yet to be determined. The PIAA says it still plans to have playoffs. The WPIAL has two different playoff formats ready — one if there are PIAA playoffs, and one if there aren’t PIAA playoffs. The PIAA says it hopes to have PIAA brackets when it is known how many teams are not playing.
Lion- hearted streak
The South Fayette Lions have been unbeatable in conference games since the end of the 2011 season — and they have a chance to tie a WPIAL record that has been around for more than two decades. South Fayette has a 64- game conference winning streak. The record is 69, set by Upper St. Clair from 1988- 98. South Fayette has five conference games this season.
Bill of goods
Does Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak move into fourth place on the WPIAL all- time win list? Cherpak is now fifth with a record of 274- 46, an impressive .856 winning percentage. North Hills’ Jack McCurry is fourth with 281 wins. Cherpak’s eight WPIAL championships also ties
Bob Palko for the most in WPIAL history. Cherpak, by the way, has been TJ’s coach for only 25 years.
Where will Derrick go?
Some consider Gateway running back- defensive back Derrick Davis the No. 1 player in the WPIAL and his potential college decision creates plenty of interest. Davis, who is being recruited mostly as a defensive player, said he will probably make a college choice at some point during the season. Davis cut his list of schools to seven earlier this summer – Pitt, Penn
State, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State and USC.
700 club
Only four schools in WPIAL history have won 700 football games. Greensburg Salem needs only one victory to become the fifth. Greensburg Salem has a record of 699- 391- 39. The Lions open the season Friday against Plum. Jeannette is the WPIAL alltime leader in wins with a record of 756- 318- 48. New Castle, Aliquippa and Washington are the other teams with 700 wins.
Two for 200
The list of WPIAL coaches with 200 career wins could grow by two this year. McGuffey’s Ed Dalton has a record of 196- 127- 1 at five different schools. Meanwhile, Mars’ Scott Heinauer has a mark of 195- 108 in his 28 seasons, all at Mars.
Junior breakouts?
What players from the junior class will start turning heads? While the WPIAL senior class is better than recent years, in terms of FBS recruits, consider this: Not one WPIAL or City League junior is known to have an FBS offer. Rivals. com does not have one WPIAL player ranked in the top 15 in the state for the class of 2022.
Super sophs
What kind of impact will two highly- recruited sophomores from the district make this season? Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher ( WR- DB) Brashear’s Ta’Mere Robinson ( WR- DB) both have scholarship offers from Power Five conference colleges. Gallagher is ranked the No. 40 sophomore in the country by 247sports. com and Robinson is No. 71.
Philly out
St. Joseph’s Prep of Philadelphia was ranked among the top 10 teams in the country by some national polls, but the Hawks won’t be competing in the PIAA this year. That’s because the Philadelphia Catholic League and Public League decided not to participate in fall sports because of COVID- 19 concerns. That means a handful of other Philadelphia teams won’t have a chance at a PIAA title this season. Some other teams in Eastern Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia also won’t play because of COVID- 19.