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Mike White's high school sports chat: 10.19.21
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Mike White
11:00
Sit back, pull out your laptop, relax and enjoy. It's time for high school sports chat. There's the kickoff and ... let's go.
Ronny P
11:00
hey mike! who do you see meeting sto roux in 2a champ game? Serra? Laurel? Wash high? So quality teams. Should be a good playoff.
Mike White
11:02
Ahhh, there's no guarantee Sto-Rox will be in championship game. Vikings are good. But certainly not unbeatable. I think Serra is probably pretty good. So is Washington. Laurel a sleeper team? And what about Steel Valley with this Burt kid. Great regular-season finish with Steel Valley and Serra. Sto-Rox will definitely have competition.
Joe
11:02
Mike, any idea why the AD at upper st Clair resigned?
Mike White
11:03
You're talking Kevin Deitrick. No idea. Totally his choice from what I understand.
Freddy
11:03
Is it me or does it seem like the playoffs have the potential to be a lot more competitive compared to recent years?
Mike White
11:05
Ahhhh, maybe. I think 6A looks like a two-team race with Lebo and Central, but it will be interesting to see what Seneca does this week against Lebo. 5A should be very good. 4A has a handful of good teams. 3A doesn't have the depth of quality teams like the other classes. Trying to find a team to rank No. 5 in Class 3A every week isn't easy. 2A looks pretty good. Clairton is good in Class 1A, but not one of greatest Clairton teams. So yeah, playoffs might be good.
Virtually_VERTUS
11:05
Can we talk North Hills football this week? :)
Mike White
11:06
When don't we talk North Hills football on this chat? Every week, it's usually about the coach or this is another 5-5 team. What is it that you want to ask? More of the same?
Bball fan
11:06
So Lincoln park just got a d1 transfer in right? After taking Aliquippa’s leading scorer.  How are these public schools supposed to compete with that? Why can’t they play independent like First Love in Washington? Good luck belle vernon.
Mike White
11:08
Because they don't have to. They are a charter school and a member of the PIAA and WPIAL. First Love is not a charter school, nor does it follow PIAA and WPIAL rules. No doubt Lincoln Park has a huge advantage, able to take players from anywhere and everywhere. But they aren't doing anything wrong. They're just doing what the system allows. You may not like the system, but unless PIAA changes, Lincoln Park is not doing anything wrong.
NorthSouth
11:08
Who is Moon Footballs MVP in your opinion? So many talented players there.
Mike White
11:09
Wow, that's a tough one. If you made me pick, I'd probably pick Ben Bladel, the DE-TE. Seriously. I know DE might not always be considered MVP, but he has been awesome. 15 blocked kicks in career? That's absurd. Next in line I'd go Dylan Sleva.
Coach O
11:09
The upcoming playoffs to me seem a lot more interesting than usual because of (1) more parity than usual in some classifications: 5A,2A,1A, if not that a bunch of teams can win it but on a given night capable of beating a Moon, Sto Rox, Clairton and (2) highly likely rematches where Lebo and BV have to again beat the perennial champs. To me, Central Valley looks like the only near lock. What are your thoughts?
Mike White
11:09
Just discussed this above. Yes, playoffs will be interesting and Central Valley is closest thing to a lock.
Guest
11:10
Good morning Mike. My take is that WPIAL five A is wide open. I really think any of six or eight teams could win. It will be exiting.
Mike White
11:11
Your take is accurate. First off, no way Class 5A is as good as last year. First off, there is no powerful team like Pine-Richland last year. Moon is good. But just look at their last two games. Close. So Moon is not unbeatable. Secondly, 5A is certainly not as good as past two years, as far as depth of quality teams. You may not notice because things are relative, but even coaches will admit teams in 5A aren't as strong as years past.
‘T’ from Green Tree
11:12
It’s an exciting time for high school sports. Football is on the home stretch and fans starting to think about b-ball. Still some players I want to see play in football and looking forward to seeing some hoops players that are getting some publicity. It doesn’t get any better.
Mike White
11:12
Yes, it would be better if football season was totally over by Thanksgiving weekend, including state playoffs. That's the way it was last year because of COVID. And, man, was that nice. No mid-December games.
Rscottpro
11:13
I watched USC v Moon last week. Moon looked good but they are also beatable. Does Moon win this week and what do you think of Pine, Gateway and Penn Trafford? Thanks. Title is up for grabs.
Mike White
11:14
Talked about 5A above. No, Moon is not unbeatable. But what team is? Give Moon credit. Ryan Linn has done a tremendous job. Should be up for coach of the year. Remember, they didn't make playoffs last year. As for Pine, they are still good, but will be without QB Cole Boyd for rest of year. But Ryan Palmieri went from RB to QB and threw for more than 200 yards last week. John Ruane has Penn-Trafford good again. Gateway is good, but has lost to the three good teams on its schedule.
JP’ezee in CV
11:14
Hi Mike. Any thoughts on Central Valley 8-0 at Avonworth 7-1 game this Friday?
Mike White
11:15
I think Central Valley will win. Avonworth will need to run the ball with success to have a chance at winning. That will not be easy especially with Mr. TFL (Sean FitzSimmons) doing his thing again on Central Valley line.
John Moses NC
11:17
Mike, does New Castle boys football team have any shot left at making playoffs? Cartiers Valley and Aliquippa left on schedule. Thanks!
Mike White
11:18
Well the top four teams from the conference go - and right now New Castle is tied for second. So yes, they have a shot at making playoffs. And Char Valley will probably will be without QB Anthony Mackey. So New Castle has a pretty good shot.
SouthHillsguy
11:18
Wasn't able to go to the game Lebo game vs Norwin and watched it on Westmoreland Network (did a really good job) but Lebo struggled early both on offense and defense. Once they started running the ball with Tecza then they started to roll. What's your thoughts on Lebo game this week vs SV? I think they have former PR offense assistants on the staff now for SV. Could make the difference for a potential upset.
Mike White
11:19
Yes, Seneca Valley has former Pine-Richland assistants on staff. Can they play with Mt. Lebanon? I would say yes. But will they beat Mt. Lebanon? I would say no.
Virtually_VERTUS
11:19
Mike I saw that Pitt offered Meleek Thomas, a freshman basketball player at Lincoln Park.  It was mentioned somewhere that he was from North Hills.  You would think a North Hills follower such as myself would be familiar with him but I'm not.  Did he attend NH and transfer out?  That would have been some team with him, Parham (who I think Pitt also offered) and Alex Smith.
Mike White
11:23
I'm writing some later in week about the young bunch in WPIAL basketball getting recruited. But a couple things. First off, Pitt did NOT offer Parham. A chance they might have him down for a visit this weekend. He was at Duquesne practice this past weekend and assistant Rick McFarland was at North Hills workout Monday night. They are most certainly interested. As for Meleek Thomas at Lincoln Park, yes Pitt and St. John's have offered him. He's a 6-3 guard. He attended North Hills in 7th and 8th grade. In fact, he played with Royce those two years. But Meleek left North Hills, repeated 8th grade at Manchester Charter school last year. Attended Our Savior Lutheran at start of school year for a short period of time at start of school year. Left and enrolled at Lincoln Park. Meleek still lives North Hills and his brother plays at North Hills. And yes, wonderful Alex Smith is still at North Hills.
HML
11:23
TJ v McKeesport.  Who ya got?
Mike White
11:24
Go with Thomas Jefferson because of defense.
JP
11:24
TJ defeats McKeesport. McKeesport defeats Belle Vernon. Who is No.1 ?
Mike White
11:28
It would then come down to WPIAL tiebreaker points, where points are based on comparative scores. You get up to plus 10 points for a conference win and up to minus 10 for conference loss. Right now, Belle Vernon has 47 tiebreaker points, Thomas Jefferson 23 and McKeesport 40. But Belle Vernon has played one more conference game.
Ryan
11:28
Mike big game for my Kiski cavaliers this week what do you think about the win against Shaler go Kiski on Friday vs pine Richland
Mike White
11:29
If they wanted to have shot at making playoffs, they needed to beat Shaler. But I think Kiski is in trouble, as far as making playoffs.
Depressed Falcon
11:29
Do you think Brownsville needs to leave the WPIAL?
Mike White
11:30
Don't ask me to make that call. I don't know what Brownsville wants. Leaving WPIAL has been good for some schools (Albert Gallatin and Butler). Maybe it would be good for Brownsville.
WPIAL Lifer
11:30
Just stirring the pot here, but correct me if I'm wrong: Lincoln Park has football co-op w/Western Beaver. LP can enroll any student from any geography in western PA. Therefore, any student from anywhere in western PA can play football for Western Beaver (a public boundary school).
Mike White
11:31
Pot of what? Yes Lincoln Park has co-op with Western Beaver for football because LP doesn't have football. And yes, anyone can go to Lincoln Park - and they will provide busing to get you to school.
Virtually_VERTUS
11:31
Last year NH lost to Pine by 46, quite a turnaround this year.  Is  North Hills that much better or is this a sign that things aren't going well at Pine?
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