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Picking area football winners
Taking a look at this weekend's area football games after starting out 6-2:
Clairton at Monessen
Like last week, the Greyhounds host one of the WPIAL's premier Class A teams in Clairton. The Bears -- who averaged 40 points in last year's 10-2 showing -- opened with a convincing 41-0 rout of Laurel, which dropped down from Class AA. Clairton has a strong one-two-three punch in senior quarterback Andrew Currington, junior wideout Kevin Weatherspoon and junior running back Deontae Howard. Coming off a broken leg last season, Currington ran for a game-high 110 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown, and hit eight of 16 passes for 143 yards and two scores in the opener. Weatherspoon, who's considered a Division I prospect, started out by catching five passes for 107 yards and two scores with Howard gaining 75 yards with three touchdowns on a bad ankle. The last time Monessen played Clairton was 1996 when coach Andy Pacak was an assistant on Jack Scarvel's staff. The Greyhounds blanked the Bears, 35-0, in a playoff game at Memorial Stadium in a 10-1 campaign with a 25-14 loss to Riverview at Peters Township. The Greyhounds have been blanked in their last two games for the first time since back-to-back defeats to Carmichaels (6-0) and South Fayette (3-0) in the last two contest of the 2000 season.The pick is Clairton by seven points.
Albert Gallatin
at Ringgold
Former conference rivals are no strangers since they've met seven of the last eight years with Ringgold holding a 6-1 advantage. The Colonials have a new coach in Bill Elias, who was an assistant at California University on Hal Hunter's staff before Hunter was fired and replaced by Ringgold coach Jeff Petrucci. One of Elias' aides is Dick Fields, who Petrucci succeeded as Belle Vernon Area coach back in 1975. Grayling Sanders scored the first three touchdowns on runs of 45 and 20 yards and a 27-yard pass from Cody Peebles to start Albert Gallatin's 34-6 victory over Class A Wilkinsburg to match last year's win total. Last year the Rams routed the Colonials, 44-0, at Joe Montana Stadium. It will be a lot closer this time. Ringgold gets the nod by eight points.
Southmoreland at BV Area
The Scotties are back in Class AAA after eight years in Class AA. Southmoreland's last visit to Jim Weir Stadium was in 1999 as a Keystone conference rival with Scott McClintock, Nick Kalcevic, Josh Cramer and Erik Gill leading the Leps to a 56-0 rout. Southmorland opened with a 42-0 spanking at home to Franklin Regional. BVA will honor its newest Football Hall of Fame class: Jon Miller, Curt McCarthy, Tom Biksey, Justin Jenning, Jamie Guerra, Joe Kroskie and the deceased Jack Curran and Tomm Lazar. In their last three meetings, BVA has outscored the Scots, 184-7, Enough said? BVA by 24 points.
Charleroi at East Allegheny
Second-year Charleroi coach Luke Mollis is looking for his first road win after going 0-4 in 2007. The Wildcats feature one of the WPIAL's better running backs in 5-8, 170-pound Monte Ashby, who gained 1,960 yards and scored 21 touchdowns last season. Ashby, however, was limited to 54 yards on 15 carries in the opening 43-0 defeat at Jeannette. The last time the Cougars traveled to North Versailles in 1999, Charleroi returned a 38-22 loser in a disastrous 0-10 campaign. Go with East Allegheny by three touchdowns.
Serra at California
This is th first meeting between the two schools. Serra returns only a handful of starters from last year's team that went 15-1 with the loss coming to Steelton-Highspire, 34-15, in the PIAA Class A championship game after taking the WPIAL title with a 10-6 victory over Springdale. Coach Rich Bowen's Eagles are led by senior quarterback T.J. Heatherington, who ran for 1,271 yards and 17 touchdowns and threw for 1,007 yards and 13 scores in 2007. Heatherington ran for 138 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Eagles' opening 21-20 loss at North Catholic. Serra in a romp by three touchdowns.
Mapletown at Frazier
Home opener for Commodores, who are eyeing a third straight win for the first time since 2000.
The Maples have lost five in a row, including a 20-0 blanking by Bentworth in their opener. Mapletown owns three straight wins over the Commodores, including a 28-6 decision in Perryopolis when the two schools were Tri-County South rivals. Stick with Frazier by 13 points.
Elizabeth Forward
at Laurel Highlands
Offense may be the name of the game considering Elizabeth Forward downed Yough, 35-14, to snap an 18-game losing skid and the Mustangs bowed to Belle Vernon Area, 37-28, last week. The Warriors will have to worry about Laurel Highlands' Tim Bradley, who ran for 208 yards against the Leps. The Warriors' Garry Cathell is shooting for his 100th career win. He should get it by 11 points.
Yough at Chartiers Valley
First meeting. The Colts feature a talented quarterback in converted running back Santino Coury, who ran for 165 yards on 28 carries with a 75-yard touchdown and threw for a score in a 21-14 defeat to West Allegheny. The Colts are one of only six Class AAA teams to make the playoffs five straight seasons. Yough is trying to avoid its first 0-2 start since going winless in 2003. The pick is Chartiers Valley by 13 points.
Bentworth at Geibel
Lone Saturday afternoon game for Bentworth (noon kickoff). Mick Betler threw three touchdown passes for Geibel, which routed Avella, 40-8, after leading 34-0 at halftime. The 40 points was the most for the Gators since a 44-38 decision over Frazier in 2005. The last time Bentworth faced the Gators as Tri-County South rivals in 2001, the Bearcats rolled to a 48-12 win in Connellsville. Go with Bentworth by 14 points.
Cal U at Bloomsburg
Another tough test for No. 5 California against a PSAC East power. Bloomsburg rallied from a 35-14 halftime deficit to stun No. 15 Ashland University, 49-42, on the Eagles' field. Redshirt freshman Kenny Domzalski ran for 172 yards in his college debut and scored the winning touchdown on a 23-yard run with 54 seconds left. The Huskies moved up seven spots in the rankings with the victory. Bloomsburg ran for a PSAC-high 331 yards in the opener and finished with 489 total offense yards. Cal piled up 517 total offense yards, including 297 in the air. Bloomsburg leads the all-time series, 10-7-2 with Cal winning the last meeting 31-13 at Adamson Stadium last year. In a high-scoring affair, Cal gets the nod by eight points.
