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Mike White's high school football chat: 9.25.18
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Mike White
11:00
Well I blinked and suddenly half of the high school football regular season is over. Five weeks complete. Five weeks left.
11:02
Some surprises, like most years. Some always-good teams good again. Happenings in past week? Well a Latrobe football player turned down Pitt and WVU to go to East Carolina. Trent Holler. Latrobe basketball player Reed Fenton committed to Lehigh.
11:03
You know, we probably will have only 6 or 7 seniors go to power 5 conference schools. Will be lowest ever. Says something about the state of the talent in Western Pa. Still plenty of good players. Just not as many big timers.
Off we go. Fire away with questions.
Wike Mhite
11:03
Big game this week between Blackhawk and South Fayette!  SF hasn’t really been pushed at all since the wk0 loss by 1pt to USC.  Blackhawk gave SF some trouble 2 years ago and almost ended the winning streak before a huge and wild comeback.  How do you see this one going Mike?
Mike White
11:04
Zack Heyward has done a tremendous job in his first season at Blackhawk. Former Blackhawk QB. They're 5-0. I still don't know how good they are. Show me. This game will tell a lot. South Fayette QB Jamie Diven might be breakout player of the year in WPIAL. That Joe Rossi system at South Fayette does wonders for QBs. I'll take South Fayette.
Tom
11:04
Quips look tough. How do you think they would stack up against someone like Pine?
Mike White
11:05
Definitely Pine. In a one-game event, maybe Aliquippa stays in the game. But there is a major, major difference in 3A and 6A, even if Aliquippa is a dominant 6A team. A lot of people don't realize that.
John 3A
11:06
Derry with big win last week. But NC drove 2hrs and kids just seemed down and could not recover. 2hrs much too far to play football game.
Mike White
11:07
Don't use bus ride as excuse. It is what it is. It is WPIAL football today. Blame the six classes. Maybe North wasn't into the game. But teams take long bus rides to games all the time, especially in state playoffs. North just got handled. Plain and simple. Don't blame bus ride.
HeyMike
11:07
Daequan Hardy....thoughts on him? And how great the 5A playoffs are going to look?
Mike White
11:09
Big Play Dae. Eight TDs so far this year, averaging 52.8 yards. Wow. He has FBS offers. Once offers from Michigan and Michigan State but I wonder how hard those two are still recruiting him. As for playoffs, 5A has a number of good teams. I've seen a number of them now. I think there is a dropoff after Gateway and Penn Hills. Peters and Penn-Trafford are coming on, though.
Wike Mhite
11:09
Congrats to Woodland Hills on getting that first W with their season on the line.  Huge game for them against West A this week.  Do you think Woody can get back in the playoff hunt?
Mike White
11:09
Yes they can get back in the playoff hunt. How? Win games.
Woody High defense has been pretty good. Offense seems to be lacking.
Joe
11:09
Will we ever see high school football take to the same measures of the NFL to Protect QBs?
Mike White
11:10
Doubtful. They haven't taken on same rules to the extent that NFL has.
Panther MBA
11:10
Hi Mike. Saw your article about inclement weather. Who has final authority to end a game? Home School AD or on site WPIAL rep? Seems like schools-wpial dropped ball somewhat on Friday. Ringgold-Gaetway game was not called until 4th qtr with outcome more than decided and  lightning and downpours on the way. Alot of people involved other than players.. fans, band, cheerleaders, employees with safety at the front.
Mike White
11:13
There is no WPIAL representative at regular-season games. Once game starts, officials are in charge of stopping game. Games are only called when both teams agree to it. Both teams must agree. One team can't just say "That's it. Game over." It's a mutual decision. As far as what you said with Ringgold-Gateway game? I don't think you stop a game because rain is coming. Some places it rained, but no lightning. But we now have early dismissals in schools because of heat, so it wouldn't surprised me these days if football game is stopped because we're going to get some rain.
John
11:13
Are you concerned about the future of high school football the sidelines keep getting smaller to me
Mike White
11:13
It's the small schools that are hurting. Some small schools are OK, but some are hurting. But funny you ask. Look for story in P-G in next few days about the future of small-school football.
X
11:14
I'm starting to drink the koolaid with NA...good line play, solid D, multiple qbs, and multiple rbs.  This weekends PR vs CC should provide a decent relevant opponent to evaluate.  What do you think NA and PR have as advantages when they play each other?
Mike White
11:15
Haven't seen NA yet. Probably won't until Pine game. I don't know of any area that one has an advantage. Pine's sophomore QB is getting better. NA's QBs are obviously getting better. Pine has D-1 guys on the lines. But NA's lines are pretty good, too, from what I hear. Should be a close game. Pine should beat Central, but they better not overlook Central.
Wike Mhite
11:16
BF put up little resistance to Aliquippa.  Looks like they will roll into the playoffs easily.  Do you think Derry can stack up against them?  Anybody else that can give them a game??
Mike White
11:17
Aliquippa is the dandruff shampoo team of 3A -- Head and Shoulders above the rest. Awwwww yeahhhh. ... Hard to think anyone can go toe-to-toe with them. But we only need look back to a year ago. Aliquippa was heavy favorite to win it all. Remember 2-0 Quaker Valley.?
Stan Kachowski
11:17
I would love to see North Hills pull the upset on Gateway this week, though I'm pretty sure every team they will face has now keyed in on the 3-4 plays they run.  And speaking of the Gators, should a Gateway-Penn Hills WPIAL final come to fruition I think it could be one for the ages.
Mike White
11:18
It ain't happening unless Gateway has 6 or more turnovers. I wish Gateway and Penn Hills played in the regular season. They are right next to each other but in different classes. I think they are certainly the two best 5A teams.
HeyMike
11:18
Will they ever allow City League teams into the WPIAL? That 6 team league is sad. And to see maybe 50-100 people in the stands. Feel bad for them kids...
Mike White
11:20
Besides Westinghouse, no City League teams have wanted to join the WPIAL for football. There has been no movement from PItt. Public Schools to join WPIAL for football and basketball. I think some of the coaches would like it, especially in basketball. Would be great to see in hoops. But football would struggle a lot I would think. But in the long run, it might help City teams. Or even fewer kids might come out if they can't compete. Interesting to think about.
Jinx
11:20
Do you think that Charleroi is the surprise team in 2-A this year??
Mike White
11:22
Yes and no. I mean, they were 9-2 last year and had a lot of players back. The surprise was what they did to Washington. Winning was one thing, but to score 60 some points on defending WPIAL champ?? I keep wondering how Donnie Militzer feels. He built the program up. Then school let him go after last season. Why? I don't know. Never heard a reason. Mystery.
11:24
I wouldn't feel good about any other team. Maybe Class A champ, whoever it is??? But Farrell has an excellent team this season. WPIAL 1A champ most likely would have to face Steelers at some point.  Farrell Steelers, I mean.
WPIALGuy
11:24
I look forward to reading your article on small school football, Mike. In NE Ohio last Friday, Richmond Heights had 19 players dressed, one got hurt, and at halftime Heights said we are done playing, we forfeit. Can you see this stuff happening more and more?
Mike White
11:25
Well Imani Christian and Springdale stopped their game at halftime this year. Because it was hot. Some players got hurt. And both teams rosters were small. Imani was winning by a lot so they agreed to stop the game. It was non conference. RIght now you see lopsided games in WPIAL played with shortened quarters in second half. So it's already happening.
2AFootballFan
11:25
I saw the North Catholic result coming.  While they have a ton of good RB, WR and QB players, their line play is very shaky.   How do you see the rest of the season playing out for the Trojans?
Mike White
11:27
I think they have to do better if they want to win the Pac 12. ... Oh, I thought you meant the USC Trojans. Love that North Catholic look of the USC Trojans with the helmets and pants. NC still has to play Elizabeth Forward, who is undefeated right now. That conference isn't exactly full of juggernauts. I see them finishing with, at the most, two losses.
Wpial sports Fan
11:27
I know it’s not happening this week but next week OLSH @ Jeannette who you got?
Mike White
11:28
It's non conference game but that is a good one. 1 vs. 2. I think OLSH will score points. But for some reason, I'll take Jeannette.
Quad North Fan
11:29
6A is getting a little boring. Norwin who is a playoff team got beat by Char Valley who is a last place 5A team. Lebo is a playoff team that hasn't beaten a team with a winning record. SV is the only hope outside the big 3 with a close loss against PCC on their record. Sorta sucks. Thank goodness PCC and PR played good week 0 teams, otherwise there wouldn't have been any competition thus far. Does Lebo or Norwin or anybody have anything coming up the pipeline?
Mike White
11:31
Agree wholeheartedly with you. 6A really doesn't do much for excitement. But that's the way it is when you have only nine teams in the class. This was supposed to be one of Norwin's better teams in a while. Knights are OK, but obviously the big boys are still on a different level. I know Norwin's QB is only a junior, but I don't know much else. Lebo will always be solid. Honestly, I see this being the same most years if it's only going to be 9 teams. There will be Pine, NA and Central - and then everyone else.
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