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Mike White's high school football chat: 09.03.19
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D9 Dave
11:23
What do you think the issues are with Butler football?  Team has been a 6A doormat for a while. Obviously the school has athletes when you look at the success of some of their other sports like basketball.
Mike White
11:25
It's really a head scratcher. Haven't had season above .500 since 1990s. They're the third largest school in WPIAL. They're good in some other sports. What's incredible to me is they only had 40 players on roster at start of year. That's crazy for a school that size. I don't know if there's any light at the end of the tunnel, either.
Mark
11:25
Mike, I didn't see the game but I'm guessing Moon thumped Mars by running away from Carmody and by forcing Mars to pass, something they're not very good at.  Do you know anything about that game?
Mike White
11:26
I do not. Was not there. I know Moon won the game in the second half. Moon was trailing at halftime. Maybe Moon is somebody worth watching now. 2-0. Nice win over Montour first week.
Someone told me that Moon-Mars game was out of this world. I don't know. I never heard that one before.
Johnny V
11:26
Single A seems wide open.  Jeannette and Laurel at the top, Clairton 0-2.  Do you have an early favorite there?
Mike White
11:27
I agree. No prohibitive favorite. We moved Laurel up to No. 1. New kid on the block. This might be their best team in years. Jeannette and Clairton still will challenge, though. But it is pretty open.
D9 Dave
11:27
Are you seeing smaller rosters for football like we are seeing in District 9 ,and if so why do you think this is the case?
Mike White
11:29
Yes, this has been chronicled in our paper before. I've done stories. Smaller rosters many places. Some are still pretty good, though. National Federation of high schools just released their participation survey from last year. 30,000 fewer football players than year before across the country.
Bucco Fan
11:29
what is the real strength of TJ's program that allows it to be top notch every year?  Feeder System? Weight program? Chirpak? something else?  all of the above?  Whatever it is, it's working.  Looks like another trip to WPIAL finals this year.
Mike White
11:29
It's not just one thing. Number of things. No. 1 is there are players there. But if I had to name just one thing, I'd say the man running the program.
Justsaying
11:30
With every week that goes by it is more and more clear that Aliquippa did the right thing in forcing Z out.  He, like Paterno was never going to step down gracefully even though it was obvious the game had passed him by.  It stinks and maybe it is not fair to him, but it would have been unfair to the kids in Aliquippa not to move on.
Mike White
11:32
Sure, the game passes you by when you go to 10 consecutive WPIAL championships. It must have passed him by. You wanna know why Zmijanac won a lot? Because he had players. I really like Mike Warfield. Has done a great job. Wanna know why he won last year? Because he had a bunch of good players. Ones who were fast. Ones who were big. Ones who were tough. Bill Bellichick wouldn't have won at Ringgold last year.
Wike Mhite
11:32
Peters Twp and Upper St. Clair game was very close this week.  A lot of people are high on Peters Twp this year (and for good reason).  Does that game indicate to you that Peters isn't quite as good as we thought OR that USC is better than we thought, or maybe a bit of both?
Mike White
11:34
I don't know, I expected USC to still be pretty good. And Peters Township is very good. Unbeatable? Of course not. Remember, Peters was really good last year and made WPIAL semifinals. But lost to USC. Peters had a lot of linemen to replace. That means something.
We The North
11:34
Mike...I know Neshannock doesn't get much coverage, but how do you see them stacking up against the rest of Class 2A after their dominant win against Riverside?
Mike White
11:35
Well they lost the first week at Avonworth. I think they are a playoff team from that conference. But I don't think they are a top 5 team.
D smith
11:35
What about the kid a Montour Offense and defense of stud Dom Magliocco
Mike White
11:36
Yes, been good on both sides. Caught 12 passes in two games. Is he Magic Magliocco or the Dominator?
Wike Mhite
11:37
Interesting stat I saw the other day - TJ is 65-1 at home in the past 12 years.  Their only loss...2015 to Belle Vernon.  I know you already shared that you saw TJ winning by 2 TDs this week.  Based on early indicators, this one seems to be for the conference championship already here in week 2!
Mike White
11:38
Yes, Belle Vernon beat TJ in second game of 2015. TJ also lost the first game that year at Ringgold. TJ starting 0-2? Now that's unheard of. But guess what? TJ still won the WPIAL. Would be a huge upset if Belle Vernon won this time.
Wike Mhite
11:40
It seems like some people are trying to doubt Clairton based on an 0-2 start.  They've lost to the (likely) top AAA team in the state and a very tough AA opponent.  I applaud them for starting their season off with 2 challenging games - As long as they didn't sustain any major injuries, this could benefit them down the road vs. having a couple of 70-0 blowout games to start the season.  Too bad a lot of people have to get down on the team for taking the challenging path!
Mike White
11:42
I don't think people are doubting Clairton. I think everyone knows they are still one of the best Class 1A teams. And you are correct, a game against Aliquippa and then a pretty good McGuffey team is not easy. I think maybe people are just saying that there is no prohibitive favorite in Class 1A. And Clairton will end up being just fine. It wouldn't surprise me if they won WPIAL. But I don't think this is one of their great teams.
11:44
Last Friday, Aliquippa renamed their field house DGLR after Ditka, Gilbert, Law, Revis. Got me thinking. Who is the best Aliquippa player of all time?? What do you think.?
Wike Mhite
11:44
Thoughts on the 4A Northwest 8 after a couple of weeks?  Knoch, New Castle, Montour & Blackhawk all seem to have decent teams on the surface.  Is this still South Fayette's conference champ to lose or are things more open this year?
Mike White
11:46
Until someone beats South Fayette, it's still their conference. Really interesting game this week South Fayette hosts New Castle. If I had to pick, I'd say South Fayette and New Castle best two teams right now. Knoch? Let's see. Knoch plays Beaver this week.
Wike Mhite
11:50
Can I go for the controversial pick and say Tony Dorsett as best player out of Aliquippa?  Haha!
Mike White
11:50
Illegal pick. He went to Hopewell High School.
Nate
11:50
Thoughts on central. Always have strong defenses but do you think they will have a strong enough offense to carry them in the PIAA?
Mike White
11:51
It's not the offense. Some years past their passing game just hasn't been strong enough.  I don't know if that's the case again or not. But in some years they have lacked a strong enough passing game to win the state.
Nate
11:52
As an alum, any thoughts on South Park football? Wonder if it’s coaching and trying to do what made us successful in the past with a run run run offense.
Mike White
11:53
Obviously, I haven't seen them play. I did think they might give Beaver Falls a better game last week. Stats say they did throw 18 times. Not bad. But only completed 3. Stats also say they couldn't run the ball. But Beaver Falls is good.
11:55
OK everyone, thanks for participating. We'll do it again next Tuesday at 11 a.m.
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