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Mike White's high school sports chat: 09.05.23
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Mike White
10:58
OK, no wasting time here. Let's get right to chatting. Store is now open. Fire away with questions or comments.
Coach O
10:58
What’s happened to New Castle football? The last two seasons they have been regularly getting beat most games by 30-40 points. Proud tradition that always had a combination of some tough kids and some athletic kids. Surprising to see.
Mike White
11:02
These ain't your father's New Castle Red Hurricanes. Program has really slipped past few decades, besides a decent year sometimes. I thought Joe Cowart did a pretty good job there. But really, is there much talent there any more? I think not. They were in finals when they had Geno Stone and Marcus Hooker, but 1-9 last year, 7-5 in 2021, 1-5 in 2020. So this isn't a rarity. Just isn't what it used to be and I don't know if I see it changing much.
Mike M
11:02
Another impressive win by the Jaguars of Thomas Jefferson last week.  Their defense looked really good against a Baldwin team that scored 50 the previous week. Any early thoughts on how they might do this year?
Mike White
11:04
Ahhhh yeah, I'll go out on a limb and say Thoms Jefferson will be good. C'mon. When aren't they good? Nine WPIAL titles for Bill Cherpak, over 300 wins. Sean Sullivan I think is one of WPIAL's best receivers. And does Luke Kosko have the QB job now over Brody Evans? Not sure of that. TJ and Aliquippa looking like they might be on collision course for November.
HoopFan
11:04
I am a big fan of this chat!  Glad it is back.  You mentioned last week that you coach 9th grade basketball.  I know it's football season but any young talent in the WPIAL that we should be on the lookout for this year?
Mike White
11:06
I'll be honest. I reallyd don't like promoting any 8th graders or 9th graders before they play in high school. Let's let them play games in high school before we build them all up. I get a kick out of web sites and Twitter accounts that list the 10 best freshmen in the entire WPIAL. Really? Do you really know kids from schools on the outskirts of the WPIAL who are freshmen? Good Lord. Let's see them play and actually do something before we rank freshmen. And let's maybe make sure we know who all the freshmen are. But what do I know?
WPIAL Lifer
11:06
Hey Mike, a couple early season observations/questions for your feedback: A) Not the first time Clairton has started slow, but back-to-back shutouts has to be a rarity to open season. B) Peters Twp decision to not start Chris Cibrone seems to be working, but I can't recall a QB losing job after putting up the type of stats he did in Jr year. Thanks for the great chat!
Mike White
11:10
Yes, check Monday's notebook. I had a note on Clairton. This is third time in four years they've started 0-2. And I pointed out that they have played good competition - Westinghouse and Washington. But going scoreless in two games is noteworthy. Check out football notebook I wrote. I researched this is the first time since 1971 that they've done scoreless in first two games. That year, Clairton was scoreless in first three.
Ryan
11:10
Mike when does Kiski win a Game the Quarterback Carson Hinele had looked Good
Mike White
11:11
Ahhhhh, the Kiski Area fan is back. Wooo hooo!!!! I've never seen the QB but heard he's pretty decent. But they're 0-2. Could be another long year for you after going 1-9 last year.
New Sport Fan
11:11
Do you see the possibility of Girls Flag Football gaining traction in the WPIAL? With the sport receiving emerging sport status from the PIAA and the push from both the Steelers and Eagles, will schools have enough student interest and financial ability to make it work?
Mike White
11:13
It's possible. More teams played in that Steelers league. Need to have 100 sponsored teams by schools for consideration to be a sponsored sport by PIAA and WPIAL.  It's good for girls. Glad to see. I just wonder if there will come a day when flag teams will want covered like regular high school football teams?
Lebo1979
11:13
Hey Mike always enjoyed  the podcast  any chance it will return?
Mike White
11:14
We had a three-man show. Brad Everett and Steve Rotstein are on strike. I'm not a big fan of one-man podcasts unless have guests. We shall see. Maybe I could get high school football expert Danny Holzer to host with me.
Dress Up
11:14
So I saw a tweet that Paul Zeise retweeted about the FC/Plum game and some of the Fox Chapel or Plum people being offended that the kids in the stands dressed in a "country club theme to represent a lavish lifestyle while the opposing community was still grieving". No insulting chants or signs. Just attire. Are we really so touchy that this offends us now ?
Mike White
11:14
I am not even touching this one.
Robbery
11:14
Bethel was robbed on the PAT at the end of the game. Lebo got lucky. Again. They are HIGHLY overrated.
Mike White
11:16
Let me see if I can get some tissues to you by way of UberEats for your tears. Lebo overrated? By who. Good lord, who said Lebo is really good? No one. There are five teams in 6A. I said FIVE!!!! So you can only rank five. Where do you want Lebo to go? No one has said they are as good as NA or Central.
Kevin
11:16
It's been well documented that AAA is Belle Vernon and everybody else but is AAA deeper then we thought? Avonworth beat Central Valley, Beaver beat Beaver Falls, South Park has two victories over preseason top 5 ranked teams. EF looks strong again. Southmoreland has been impressive. Shady Side even beat North Catholic. Its still early and it still might be Belle Vernon and everyone else but the rest of this post season might be a blood bath.
Mike White
11:17
I agree 3A might be better than we thought. I'm not surprised at Avonworth. I still think Belle Vernon is definitely the best team and then Avonworth. But I still don't think there is that much depth, as far as quality teams.
CV Colt
11:18
This Char Val football team is REALLY bad. Like maybe the worst in the WPIAL. Will they win a game ? Will this district ever get serious about its football program. Is it maybe time for a mid season coaching change ?
Mike White
11:19
You want a mid-season coaching change of a guy who has been there only two seasons? You ever think Char Valley doesn't exactly have a bunch of talent. Yeah, great idea. Fire a second-year coach in midseason. What is this, the NFL? It's high school football. Yeah, CV is not good. But let's blame it all on the coach. Go back to bed.
BillS
11:19
Mike, thoughts on the Lehmeier debut at Central?  Are any of the high profile 9th graders (Thompson & Moon) contributing?
Mike White
11:21
Ahhh, I think everywhere has said that Central is good and yes, Ryan Lehmeier is really good. Even Terry Totten, former coach, said it in a story I did on him last week. Now let's be honest. He was handed an excellent team. But you have to know how to manage an excellent team, too. As for ninth graders, I saw the opener. Moon played a ton at quarterback. Thompson only played a little at the end at LBer. They had another freshman who came in at running back and looked really good.
USC Alum
11:21
USC survived Week 0, blew North Hills out Week 1. What are we to make of them ?
Mike White
11:22
I'd say the jury is still out on USC, although I think they will challenge for the conference title. Of course, there's some idiot that always gets on this chat and complains about USC sports because they don't win WPIAL championships. Haven't heard from that person yet this year. But it's probably coming.
TM
11:22
With only a handful of 6A teams, could WPIAL combine 5A and 6A for regualr season and district playoffs and then send a team to 6A state playoffs?
Mike White
11:25
Yes, they could definitely do that, but not this year. Formats are already set. That has been talked about in past. PIAA realigns classifications every two years, so I would imagine you might get some of that talk again this year. To me, with only five 6A teams, it's kind of boring. Regular season kind of meaningless. Only one 6A team doesn't make playoffs. But 6A could get bigger next year. Butler is coming back to WPIAL. That's one more 6A team. Possibility of one or two 5A teams being moved up to 6A. Really depends on enrollment cutoffs.
CV Colt
11:25
OK maybe not mid season but clearly this program is going in the wrong direction. The talent that is there is not being developed and I think that is a coaching thing. How long do you give a coach ? 4 years ? 5 years ? 10 years ?
Mike White
11:27
Honestly, I don't really have my pulse on the Chartiers Valley program. I have no idea if talent is not being developed. What if you have no talent to develop? There is no set timetable on how long a coach gets. All situations are different. But I do know getting rid of a HIGH SCHOOL coach in the middle of his second season is absurd, unless he has done something wrong.
Roger
11:27
Hi Mike, 20 year anniversary of the Darrelle Revis led Aliquippa team that won WPIAL and PIAA state titles. Any great memories of that team? Any good stories you haven't told?
Mike White
11:32
Yes, it is. Beat Jeannette for WPIAL title and Northern Lehigh for state title. State game was pushed back a day because of snowstorm and played on a Sunday. That Friday, Neil Walker's Pine-Richland team lost in state final in OT with about 6-7 inches of snow on field for most of game. As far as Aliquippa, a rather famous story has been told time and time again by me. I still say the greatest three days by an athlete in history of WPIAL. Revis had one of the greatest state championship performances ever on a Sunday. Two days later, he scored 35 pts. in a big basketball win vs. Beaver Falls. Incredible. I talked to Revis about 3-4 years ago about those three days. He said he thinks like, a 30 for 30, could be made about those three days. I agree. I was fortunate enough to cover both of those games. Here' story: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-football/2013/11/29/CO...
Kickers Deserve More
11:32
Not to take away from any regular position players, but are there any kickers/punters that may make a big difference for their teams this season? Following some AAA teams, Knoch's kicker already has 15 points across 2 games and SSA has a highly rated kicker as well.
Mike White
11:33
Honestly, I'm not sure. We'll see some kickers emerge, I'm sure.
BS High
11:38
Have you seen the documentary "BS High" yet ? Impressions ? Could that ever happen in PA ? Amazed the guy who was the "coach" isn't in jail
Mike White
11:41
I haven't yet, but have heard plenty about it. They played Sto-Rox last year. I have heard the coach doesn't look too good and he pulled off a sham. I'm wanting to watch it. I'm sure it could probably happen in PA, but the school wouldn't be part of PIAA. It can be pulled off if you aren't a school in a state association. You should see some of these "schools" that pop around the country, that are really basketball schools. Shaky, shaky, shaky. And in a few years, they are gone.
Jeff
11:42
If Aliquippa doesn't accumulate enough points where they are forced to move up to 5A, can they move back down to 3A? How does this rule work?
Mike White
11:44
There have been changes to that rule and they are still making changes. But in order to move back down, I think Aliquippa would have to accumulate no success points over a two-year period. And they already have four. If they make it to the WPIAL final this year and have two transfers, it will move up to 5A next year.
WPIAL Lifer
11:48
A bit of a loaded question here, but why does the PA Dept. of Education collect and publish official enrollment figures for every (public/charter) school district yet allow each school to self-report their athletic enrollment? I get it that co-op agreements can alter the tallies, but if districts rely on PDE enrollment for state funding, why ask for a second set of figures and open the door for numbers fudging?
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