Mike White's high school sports chat: 10.20.26
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Mike White
11:00
What a beautiful day. I might have to sneak in 18 after this wonderful chat. But hey, let's talk for the next hour. Two weeks left in regular season. Let's go!!!!
Mustache Man
11:00
Loaded slate in 5A this week. Where you headed?
Mike White
11:01
Sure is loaded. Pine-Richland vs. North Hills. ... TJ at Upper St. Clair .... Woody High at Penn-Trafford. Probably go to Pine vs. North Hills. But I'd like to see Woody and P-T just as much.
BC Fan
11:01
Props to the WPIAL schedule makers for backloading most of the best games and potential conference titles to weeks 9-10.
Mike White
11:03
Yep, agree with you. WPIAL gets criticzed for so much. Some is warranted. But a lot is not. Kudos to Vince Sortino and the idea of more competitive balance in non-conference scheduling and making top matchups for final two weeks. Sure, there are still a number of blowouts. But nowadays in high school football, there's not much you can do about that if you are going to have conferences.
11:04
I think in the near future I'm going to examine exactly are the blowouts bigger now than maybe 20 years ago and maybe 30? Will take a good deal of research but it can be done.
BC Fan
11:04
Any update on the Mike Warfield absence?
Mike White
11:08
Nothing. Crickets from Aliquippa. If you didn't know, Warfield didn't coach last week. And I expect more crickets this week, even though I think the school owes to at least their own parents, fans, a short explanation. If you don't want to say what happened because it's a personnel issue, that's fine. But you can at least say how long the coach will be out. He is one of the best and most recognizable coaches in the WPIAL. I have not been able to confirm, but sources told me at end of last week that coach Warfield will be out this game also. I'm not going to get into the reason for his absence because it has not been confirmed by anyone at Aliquippa yet. Coach Warfield doesn't respond and neither does superintendent Woods.
Strength of Schedule
11:10
Do you know how the WPIAL will evaluate wild card spots with such drastic differences in strength of schedule for some teams?
Mike White
11:11
I do not. And don't try to predict what they might do. Yes, they will look at strength of non-conference schedules and the strength of their conference, but all it says from the WPIAL is that "at large wild card bids determined by the football committee."
QUIPS
11:11
What is going on with the Quips coaching situation?????????????
Mike White
11:12
See above.
Quip Nation
11:12
Aliquippa High School has qualified for the WPIAL football playoffs for 31 consecutive years (dating back to 1995). That is all.
Mike White
11:17
Yes, Aliquippa last missed playoffs in 1994 with a 4-6 record. The last time they missed before that was 1986. But you have to remember. Back in both of those years, only two teams from each conference went to the playoffs and there were no wild cards. And there were only four classes back then. And in 1986, Aliquippa was in 3A (out of four classes). In 1994, they were in 2A. Quips were 4-6 in 1994 and 7-2-1 in 1986. The 1986 team tied for second with Montour and New Castle, but Montour got the playoff berth with either more Gardner Points for tying first place Ambridge. How things change. There was no overtime back then and the top four teams in the conference all had one tie.
Coach of the year
11:18
Waynesburg or Ligonier Valley??? Need Mike White to cover a game at either place!!! Fill up the gas tank!! Lol
Mike White
11:19
I semi-retired in January of 2025. Can't afford gas prices to travel that far. I won't be able to afford to eat the rest of next week.
BC Fan
11:19
Would like to see that article on blowouts compared to 20-30 years ago but is it apples to apples comparison with now 6 classes and thr spread offense
Mike White
11:20
That's why I would only go back maybe 30 years. Yes, there were only four classes 30 years ago but that was 1996. I think there were more spread offenses starting to creep into high school football. I'm also going to use 2015 because that was the last year of four classes. So are there really more blowouts now.
11:25
Seriously, hire a retired private investigator who knows something about high school sports and him investigate some of these high profile transfers who are obviously transferring for athletic reasons. Investigate the ones using bogus addresses. Investigate and get the facts on those coming from other countries and other states when everyone what has happened. And have the WPIAL board and especially PIAA get a little more consistent on transfer rulings. But then again, it's hard sometimes when you don't have any evidence. Those come to mind right away, along with looking much more heavily at separating public-private/Catholic/charter schools, working with House and Sentate people and hope the PIAA stands up and stops saying that much they don't want to be sued.
Forfeits
11:25
WPIAL seems to be playing hardball with these forfeits. What punishments do you think will be handed down? Interesting they all involve Clairton one way or another.
Mike White
11:27
Some of the forfeits are legit. Others you really wonder. I mean I text Leechburg coach Randy Walters last week. They were supposed to play Clairton. Leechburg had only 13 bodies. And as Walters said, "13 bodies. I didn't say players." It's hard to blame them. I really like what Seton LaSalle agreed to with Quaker Valley. Quaker is bad and roster now very small. Seton played their JV. Good for Seton. And they still won easily.
X
11:28
I made the mistake of going to the Armstrong/Pine game Friday hoping to see Jaydon Oliver, but he didn't play.   This one got blown open early.  Taylor is flat out amazing.   PR played with discipline in the first quarter, but took a celebration penalty after a td in the second.  They followed that with 4 defensive penalties on one series that resulted in Armstrong driving into their territory.   At least one was an unsportsmanlike. As good of a coach as LeDonne is, I just don't get it. There was the smoke canisters before games at Penn Hills and season ending losses to McDevitt and Peters the past 2 years where dumb penalties played a big role. I can't think anything other than he condones it.   So this year is a talented team, but not the beastly Webb on defense or 2 way star Timmons.  I suspect when the chips get down, Pine Richland will revert to sandlot once again and not win a state title.  I'm going to see Penn Trafford Friday...anxious to see how they look. BTW, Ruane's teams tend to play disciplined
Mike White
11:33
I don't know what happened at Pine - Armstrong game and I'm not here to question Pine's discipline. Yes, Pine has had a fair share of players transfer in last few years. Oh well. WPIAL ruled on all of them. Maybe there was nothing they could do about transfers if there was no evidence of any wrongdoing. All I know is Taylor is terrific. Highest rated receiver we've had around here in a long while. If North Hills wants to win this week, they can't kick the ball near him, they can't let him just run down the sideline by everyone for a deep pass without double coverage and they somehow have to control Oobi Strader's running, even on scrambles or broken plays. Oobi can pass, but hurts more teams with his legs, I believe. Those two are really, really good. But North Hills has a good defense with some good athletes and players who run to the ball well. But I think another key is North Hills' offense has to be efficient and will probably need to score at least 21 points.
WPIAL Commish
11:34
If you were magically named WPIAL Commissioner right now, what are two changes you’d like to make immediately?
Mike White
11:34
Oh, sorry I forgot to post this question. This is what I answered above.
A Band Fan
11:34
Good luck to all the bands competing in championships Saturday. Seventeen will be at Gateway for the PA. Interscholastic Marching Band Association (PIMBA) finals and 11 will be at Penn-Trafford for the Tournament of Bands (TOB) finals.
Mike White
11:37
I love high school bands. Heck, one of my sons was in North Hills band for four years a number of years ago. Good luck to all those bands. Wooooo hooooo. Over last 10-20 years, when covering a game, you don't get much time to really watch the band. You're figuring out stats, writing some of your story, posting a video, putting something on X. Oh well. I will say this. North Hills band is really impressive. Supposedly biggest band they've ever had. And I'm just not saying that because I'm a North Hills grad.
X
11:37
That was  a class move by Seton.  Do you think Crampa returns to action this week.  Looks like the backup had a nice game last week...so did little brother.  Any idea what they maximum number of carries he has by game over each of the past 4 years?
Mike White
11:40
You're speaking Kemon Spell. I don't know the carries. I'd have to figure it out. I can, but not right on the spot. Assistant coach Eric Smith said last week that there was an injury and a possibility he might be back by the final regular season game. He didn't say injury, but I've heard tough toe. If it is, I don't blame Kemon for sitting out and resting it. In that sub-par conference, they don't need him. But for McKeesport to get past maybe quarterfinals and more, they need him. And need him to run for a lot of yards.
Stefan Djordjevic
11:40
Seems as though USC has flown a bit under the radar. Tough defense and run game. Two big tests upcoming
Mike White
11:41
Please wake up. They're the No. 3 ranked team in WPIAL Class 5A. How in the world is that flying under the radar? They play their two best games the next two weeks - TJ and West A. I'm sure they will be covered.
Ryan
11:43
Who wins Friday night’s non conference game Kiski or Blackhawk go Kiski do the cavaliers still have a shot at the playoffs
Mike White
11:45
If they beat Indiana next week, they will most likely be in. There are only three teams in that conference and three make playoffs. So it doesn't take much to make the playoffs in a conference that has only one team above .500. Yikes.
Stefan Djordjevic
11:45
is John Fedko still around? Did he ever pick up those boxes he used to run into every friday night?
Mike White
11:47
Yes, he's still around. His son just signed a minor league contract with the Pirates. Last I know John worked was few years ago pregame show on KDKA. I think he still loves high schools.
Transfers
11:47
Mike, what would it matter if a PI looked into the transfers.  Schools are literally posting videos of games and practices where violations are clear as day and no one does anything,
Mike White
11:47
There's a lot of things no one does anything about because the schools getting the transfers aren't going to say anything.
Wexford U
11:47
Whats going on at NA? Just a young group or is Art Walkers message growing stale?
Mike White
11:53
C'mon, man. A guy can have a down year every once in a while. He's won three state titles. 7 WPIAL titles, which ties for third all time. He's one of the 10 winningest coaches in WPIAL history. He didn't suddenly forget how to coach. It's just not a great team even though they still could tie for second. From what I saw of them and saw of their stats, they just don't have the players - especially on offense. They average 91 yards a game rushing. I don't know how much of that is on the line. But they seem to lack playmakers on offense. I don't know what they have back next year, either. But let's not blame Art Walker. Bottom line is they just don't have the players like they used to.
X
11:53
It will be interesting to see what Coach Kasper and staff dial up for Pine Richland.  Pine doesn't have the stout oline this year that they've had in the past, the power running game, or even the quality depth at receiver.  But they do have a 2 headed monster to deal with...Taylor in particular.  As you said, can't let Taylor score on big plays.  North Hills does have a good defense with some speed.  They may be a little smallish, but I don't think that's an issue agains this year's PR....better off being able to run.  I agree on NH needing to score at least 21...hard not to keep Taylor from getting at least 2...he is that good.
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