High school football delivering plenty of treats

Having extreme difficulty picking out a Halloween costume.

For the Fumbler, it’s like the Masters … a tradition unlike any other.

So there The Fumbler was earlier this week, mascot-related costume ideas zooming through his head just like Belle Vernon’s Devin Whitlock zooms down the field.

After last Thursday’s heavy storms, The Fumbler thought about maybe dressing up as a Red Hurricane or Golden Tornado. Those would be hard to pull off, though. He’d be better off just throwing on a New Castle or Butler jersey.

“What about Springdale’s mascot, Reddy Kilowatt?,” The Fumbler said aloud. Cool look, but again, difficult to execute. After all, its body is made up mostly of electricity.

By the way, The Fumbler recently stuck a fork in an electrical outlet. What happened next shocked him.

Lions. Tigers. Bears. Oh my, The Fumbler could have picked one of those. But in his mind, it wasn’t unique enough. He also considered dressing up as a Highlander, but this isn’t exactly “kilt weather” right now.

Ultimately, The Fumbler decided that he will dress up as a Big Mac. A PR person from the Golden Arches telling him he’d get unlimited fries for a month for doing it sealed the deal.

Oh, one last thing. A reminder to all those going trick-or-treating … Don’t dress up as a dinosaur in a bad neighborhood. You might get Jurasskicked.

The Fumbler dazzled last week, going 54-7 (.885). That moves his season record to 436112 (.795).

Follow The Fumbler on Twitter — @FumblerPG

Here are his thoughts on this weekend’s top games:

McKeesport at Belle Vernon, 7 p.m. Friday — McKeesport and its flexbone offense make the trip down Route 51 to play in a game that will decide the Class 4A Big Eight Conference title. Ever hear any bones jokes? Some are quite humerus. McKeesport is coming off a big home win against Thomas Jefferson. Belle Vernon had an open week, so there might have been a leap of Leopards there to see it in person. They’ll now leap over the Tigers. Winner: Belle Vernon.

Serra Catholic at Steel Valley, 7 p.m. Friday — The Fumbler wishes Steel Valley had a running back named Ernest. That way, the Ironmen would feature a “Sesame Street” backfield consisting of Burt and Ernie. The Serra Eagles have been big birds this season on their way to becoming the WPIAL’s only 10-0 team. But will they be able to slow down Nijhay Burt, the WPIAL rushing leader? Winner: Steel Valley.

Pine-Richland at Fox Chapel, 7 p.m. Friday — So much can change in a year. A season ago, Pine-Richland went undefeated and won a PIAA title. A year later, the Rams are 5-4 and could finish as low as fourth in the Class 5A Northeast Conference. Then again, winning the conference title is still in play, too. Last week’s gritty win against Kiski Area made that a possibility. Fox Chapel is good enough to win this, but … Winner: Pine-Richland.

Allderdice vs. Westinghouse at Cupples Stadium, 2 p.m. Saturday — This one is for all the marbles in the City League. The Fumbler recently realized his kitchen counter is made out of marble. He’d been taking it for granite all these years. It’s been years since Westinghouse last lost a game. The previous time it did, COVID19 wasn’t even a thing. The House easily tossed the Dice in the regular season. This will be closer, but the victor will remain the same. Winner: Westinghouse.

And the rest (home teams in capital letters):

Friday

WPIAL CLASS 6A — Quad County Conference: Central Catholic over CANON-MCMILLAN; Mt. Lebanon over BALDWIN; SENECA VALLEY over North Allegheny; Norwin over HEMPFIELD.

WPIAL CLASS 5A — Allegheny Six Conference: Moon over WEST ALLEGHENY; Peter Township over SOUTH FAYETTE; Upper St. Clair over BETHEL

PARK. Big East Conference: Gateway over FRANKLIN REGIONAL; Penn-Trafford over LATROBE; Woodland Hills over CONNELLSVILLE. Northeast Conference: North Hills over SHALER; Penn Hills over KISKI AREA.

WPIAL CLASS 4A — Big Eight Conference: Trinity over RINGGOLD; THOMAS JEFFERSON over West Mifflin. Greater Allegheny Conference: Armstrong over INDIANA; Greensburg Salem over PLUM; HIGHLANDS over Knoch; HAMPTON over Mars. Parkway Conference: BEAVER over Blackhawk; Montour over CHARTIERS VALLEY; ALIQUIPPA over New Castle.

WPIAL CLASS 3A — Allegheny Seven Conference: NORTH CATHOLIC over Derry; Freeport over DEER LAKES; BURRELL over Valley. Interstate Conference: Mount Pleasant over SOUTH ALLEGHENY; Southmoreland over SOUTH PARK; ELIZABETH FORWARD over Yough. Northwestern Six Conference: KEYSTONE OAKS over Ambridge; Avonworth over QUAKER VALLEY; CENTRAL VALLEY over Hopewell.

WPIAL CLASS 2A — Allegheny Conference: LIGONIER VALLEY over Apollo-Ridge. Century Conference: CHARLEROI over Frazier; WASHINGTON over McGuffey; Waynesburg over BETH-CENTER. Midwestern Conference: MOHAWK over Ellwood City; NEW BRIGHTON over Freedom; LAUREL over Neshannock; BEAVER FALLS over Riverside. Three Rivers Conference: Sto-Rox over CARLYNTON.

WPIAL CLASS 1A — Big Seven Conference: Burgettstown over FORT CHERRY; Cornell over OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART; ROCHESTER over Northgate; Shenango over UNION. Eastern Conference: Bishop Canevin over IMANI CHRISTIAN; CLAIRTON over Jeannette; GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Leechburg. Tri-County South Conference: CALIFORNIA over Bentworth; Carmichaels over JEFFERSONMORGAN; Monessen over AVELLA; West Greene over MAPLETOWN.

NON-CONFERENCE — AlbertGallatin over SPRING MILLS,W.VA.; Butler over ERIE;EAST ALLEGHENY overBrownsville; Laurel Highlandsover UNIONTOWN.

Saturday afternoon

WPIAL CLASS 2A — Allegheny Conference: Shady Side Academy over SUMMIT ACADEMY. Three Rivers Conference: WESTERN BEAVER over South Side Beaver.

WPIAL CLASS 1A — Eastern Conference: Springdale over RIVERVIEW.

Saturday night

WPIAL CLASS 2A — Three Rivers Conference: SETON LASALLE over Brentwood.