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Mike White's high school football chat: 09.10.24
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Mike White
10:57
Three weeks are gone in the WPIAL football season. Teams with not-so-good histories are 3-0, like South Allegheny and Ellwood City. Meanwhile, strong programs like Central Valley and McKeesport are 0-3. What gives? Well, one of the reasons is the schedule. But anyway, let's get started. Chat now open.
Richard J.
10:58
By my count we are now at 5 local basketball players (although one moved overseas) who did not start for their HS teams last season that are claiming Division 1 offers. What in the world is going on? Love the WPIAL, but it isn't exactly a basketball hotbed with freak athletes sitting on the end of the bench like the PCL. Am I crazy to think the kids with Edinboro offers (Carmichael, Moore, Berger) are significantly more impressive???
Mike White
11:03
OK, we'll start off with a basketball question. Fine by me. Yes Richard J., a couple more WPIAL kids - a sophomore and a junior - posted offers this weekend. I don't know the full story and maybe this isn't the case with them. But yes, nowadays I sometimes know of offers made to maybe help someone, thinking that if one school offers, maybe will start to look at these players. Sometimes, an offer is made as a gesture to a friend. So is it really an offer? It's all part of the game of recruiting. I know Pepperdine made two offers to WPIAL kids this weekend. Pepperdine recruiting the WPIAL? It's a head scratcher. But Pepperdine has new assistant Jeremy Grubbs who has ties to Pittsburgh area. Was manager one day at Pitt. Coached in WPIAL at Freedom. Did he have anything to do with these offers? I have no idea. But put 2 and 2 together.
11:06
Back to the offers. Yes, it really makes many wonder when a player, who might have been a JV player last season, gets an offer from a Division I school like Pepperdine. Does that really help the kid? I don't know. What's the real reason for the offer? A school far away might do something like that, knowing full well that the offer won't be accepted. Just the crazy world of recruiting.
Mr Ed
11:06
Does any team in WPIAL regardless of classification have more D1 talent at skill positions than Imani? Watched their game against Beaver, impressive speed and skill. That said, line play is suspect, could bite them somewhere along the way against strong running team like Central Valley or Avonworth. Also wouldn’t be surprised if Beaver beat them if they play again.
Mike White
11:07
Yes, Imani does have a lot of talent at the skill positions, especially for a 3A school.
WPIAL Lifer
11:07
Hey Mike, can you imagine a situtation where Ft. Cherry might actually better with Sieg not at QB? Crazy, but guess what...they've got a 6-4 sophomore QB (Josh Silveira) who can absolutely make every throw. Adds a whole new dimension with Sieg lining up anywhere along with a couple young backs and Shane Cornali who does just about everything. Good chance FC and Monessen will be undefeated heading into their game in a couple weeks, then big one with Canevin. Real early, but FC looks built for repreat at least.
Mike White
11:10
Just stop it. Fort Cherry is not "better" without Matt Sieg at quarterback. Yes, the Silveira kid throw for a good amount of yards last week. But Sieg can throw also, you know? Nothing against Silveira, but c'mon. Sieg has done more things in a freshman and sophomore seasons than any QB in WPIAL history, at least statistically. Had over 4,000 yards rushing after last year and almost 3,000 passing. And you're going to try and tell me they're better off with someone else at QB? Please. Sure, maybe on few plays, Sieg lines up at receiver. Nice little option.
TM
11:11
Good Morning Mike--seems like a strong group of QB's in the WPIAL this year, especially the Junior class. I know Sieg is getting D1 attention, besides him, any others (DiLucia, Pfeuffer, Welhorsky, etc...) getting D1 looks?
Mike White
11:14
Well, first off Pfeuffer of Bethel Park is a senior. DiLucia has an offer from Miami (Ohio). Went to Virginia Tech camp this summer. Welhorsky just became the starter at South Fayette this year. Off the top of my head, I don't know of any other juniors with power conference offers.
ak
11:14
Why the QB rotation between Failla and Brinkley at NA?  Just to get the number 2 reps?  Failla seems clearly better.  Any info? Thanks!
Mike White
11:16
I don't know. I haven't seen NA. Looking at stats, both Brinkley and Faila play. Art Walker told me two weeks ago that neither one had stood out positively to be the No. 1 QB and neither one had done poorly to lose the job. Again, I have not seen NA. But looking purely at stats, it looks like Walker might be right. It seems Brinkley might be more of the runner and Failla more of the passer. Did you know, Walker has used a two QB system before?
Brian N
11:17
Got a chance to check out the TJ vs Mckeesport game this week.  What a game that was.  It was like two totally different teams played in each half.  It's going to be really interesting to see how 4A plays out this year.  Outside of Aliquippa, who are your early contenders after three weeks in?
Mike White
11:20
It's a lot of the same teams from the beginning of the year. Central started 0-2, but it's still them and NA - again - in 6A. Lots of good teams in 5A, but Peters Township still has to be No. 1 for now. I think 3A is wide open. I know Central Valley is 0-3, but all losses were to ranked 4A teams. Imani Christian has burst to the top in 3A. I think four teams - Central Valley, Beaver, Avonworth and Imani. Class 2A? I don't think it's very strong. Very open. Hard to get five teams to rank every week. Seton is looking good right now and how about Ellwood CIty? Had winless seasons in 2019-20-21. Now they're 3-0.
HSfan
11:20
Gotta think Lightning is POY after 2 weeks, but seriously with some classifications getting at large bids to make the playoffs picked by a committee teams are losing chances to pick up non con wins that could be helpful.
Mike White
11:22
Good question, but I don't think it will do all that much harm. Yes, some teams lost games in the second week of the season because of lightning. But there are still plenty of games left to prove something. You could also look at like, maybe a team would've gotten exposed and hurt its reputation by playing in one of those postponed games.
11:26
Question: Isn't South Allegheny one of the feel good stories of the early season? 3-0 for the first time since 1977. Dang, that's something. Must be something in the water lately with athletes at South Allegheny. Basketball program that suffered for so long made WPIAL finals a few years ago. Great job by coach Tony Dicenzo. Now I'm told the South Allegheny girls volleyball team is now good. This stuff is actually nice to see. I'm sure it's a good run of athletes.
11:28
You know, at the beginning of the season I was going to predict that Joey Felitsky, who was ruled ineligible to play at North Catholic last year after transferring from Seneca Valley, was going to lead the WPIAL in passing after three games. But I forgot.
Football Fan
11:31
Good Morning Mike! What do you make of all the postponements in games? Should they be attempted to be made up? From what I read New Castle offered to go to Highlands Saturday to get the game in but it wasn't agreed upon. And what do you think WPIAL will do with those games when it comes to wild card picks. For instance we are heading into week 3 and West Allegheny is 0-0. Will be interesting to see how it plays out as the season goes.  Thank you
Mike White
11:36
Well Football Fan, I'll try to explain some things. If they are WPIAL conference games, they must be finished. That's the WPIAL's rule. Whether it's the next day or whenever. If both teams agree to stop the game and they agree the final score does not stand, then it's suspended. Sure, teams are encouraged to finish it the next day, and most of them did this past weekend. But not all of them. West Allegheny is still indeed 0-0. We were told at the Post-Gazette that the game with McGuffey was suspended. But in this case, West A was already leading, 30-0, in the first quarter. The WPIAL should be aware of that come playoff pairings. Like I said before, there are still seven weeks left in regular season. Plenty of time to prove yourself, especially in West Allegheny case. They have a number of good teams to play to prove a thing or two.
WPIAL Fan
11:36
With all of the "No Contest" decisions being made as of late with weather issues, it got me wondering just who makes that call.  The officials? The ADs? The Coaches? What if one team wants to reschedule but the other doesn't or can't? Thanks for the great work!
Mike White
11:43
OK I'll try to explain a little more. Officials are the ones who stop the game because of lightning. First sign of lightning, it's a 30-minute delay. And they must wait an additional 30 minutes for any additional lightning strike. That's the rule, although I wonder sometimes if some officials or coaches turn a blind eye to one lightning strike. The officials decide when, and if, the game starts back up. The game officials should then be in contact with administrators from both teams - athletic directors, or coaches. If the officials say the game is suspended, then the teams must agree whether or not to play it the next day. It can get a little murky if one team wants to play the next day and other one doesn't. I don't think a team can be forced to play the next day, unless it's a conference game.
I need a pie
11:43
In 2A who plays against Seton at Acrisure?  There are some good teams and some teams that will get on a stride here soon and make some noise.
Mike White
11:46
Wow, aren't we a confident Seton LaSalle fan. Yes, Seton is good, but no way are they a lock to get to Acrisure. Now it wouldn't be surprising to see Seton in the championship, but they certainly aren't unbeatable. However, like I said before. I think Class 2A is a little down. I just don't see much depth of quality teams. It should be pretty open.
WPIAL Lifer
11:48
OK, let me re-word this to simply say the option to use Sieg at a position other than QB is now squarely on the table for Fort Cherry which makes them even more difficult to prepare for and slow down. No, I'm not suggesting that FC move Sieg away from QB to make room for Silveira. I'm just saying that it's really incredible for a 1A public school to have a gamebreaker like Sieg at QB and now have the option of a 6-4 gunslinger to spread the field even more. I really love how Tanner Garry coaches and preps that team. He will certainly push all the right buttons.
Mike White
11:49
OK. Like I said, could there be a few plays per game that, when he gets healthy, that Sieg moves out to receiver? Sure. Something else to prepare for. But if Sieg is healthy, he's the QB.
I need a pie
11:59
Just trying to get you to elaborate more than, it's down.  There are schools that are playing well, with some studs that are getting looks.  KDKA is showing the SP/SV game, one of the very few small school games shown on tv.  We need to know who we need to watch for.
Mike White
12:04
You're talking about 2A. Well, South Allegheny is a feel-good story. 3-0 for the first time since 1977. Exactly how good are they? Not sure anyone can say yet. Ellwood CIty is 3-0 for the first time in a while. Elijah Palmer-McCane will have 4,000 yards before long. But trying to get five teams worthy of top five every week isn't easy. I mean, Washington is ranked, but they got beat handily by Steel Valley. Then Steel Valley turns around and gets beat soundly by 1A Bishop Canevin. South Park is pretty decent I think, but they lose to Deer Lakes. Those are examples of how this is not a real strong classification with a number of really good teams. Lots of parity. And I know a lot of coaches in Class 2A think the same. Doesn't mean there aren't talented players and some good teams. But you to admit it certainly doesn't look as strong as some years. And having six classifications has something to do with that.
12:05
OK, time to say so long. A turkey sandwich is calling me. See you next Tuesday at 11 a.m. Be good, everyone.
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