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THE CHOPS
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Scholastic notebook news ...
Scholastic Notebook
9/23/2005 -
More and more quarterbacks are putting up big passing statistics these days in Western Pennsylvania. But the WPIAL career passing record seems safe.
Sto-Rox’s Adam DiMichele set the record from 2000-2003 when he passed for 6,741 yards. South Fayette’s Andrew DiDonato came into the season with an outside shot at DiMichele’s record, but it does not appear as if DiDonato will be able to catch DiMichele, unless DiDonato gets hot and South Fayette advances deep into the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.
DiDonato came into the season with 4,497 career yards. But he is averaging less than 200 yards passing in four games so far. It’s not that DiDonato is having a bad season. It’s just probably not good enough to catch DiMichele. DiDonato has completed 62 of 94 passes for 757 yards.
Heading into games September 23rd, South Fayette has five regular-season games remaining. Even if DiDonato would increase his production to 200 yards a game, South Fayette would have to make it to the WPIAL Class (AA) Semifinals for DiDonato to catch DiMichele.
However, barring injury, DiDonato seems like a pretty good bet to become only the third quarterback in WPIAL history to pass for 6,000 yards. The only other two are DiMichele and Getsy.
But DiDonato might not be the only WPIAL QB to reach 6,000 this season. Penn-Trafford’s Tyler Huether needs 1,566 yards for 6,000. Yes, that’s a lot, but consider this: Huether is leading the WPIAL in passing yardage, averaging 308 a game. With five games left and a possible first-round playoff game, Huether could get to the 6,000-yard mark.
And just in case you’re wondering, no one in the WPIAL – seniors, juniors or sophomores – seems in line for a chance at the state record. The Pennsylvania record is 7,705, set by Lakeland’s Even Kraky from 1998-2001.
It’s Not Real.................
The first edition of the reality series “Montour Spartans: Bound For Glory” was shown on ESPN this past Tuesday. The show took some hits from local critics – and rightly so – for not being real. The most obvious “unreal” part of the show is Dick Butkus coaching the team. Sure, he gives some speeches to the team, but anyone associated with the program knows Lou Cerro is the coach. Besides a few sentences during the show, Cerro was pretty much non-existent, which is a farce if this is supposed to be a reality show.
But the most surprising fiction of this reality show is the many shots of McKees Rocks. Apparently producers are trying to show how Montour is located in McKees Rocks. Someone should tell the producers that, yes, Montour’s mailing address is McKees Rocks. But Montour is not in McKees Rocks. Showing downtrodden houses in McKees Rocks is not an accurate depiction of Montour.
Montour is in Robinson Township, which is much different than McKees Rocks. Showing shots of McKees Rocks for Montour would be like showing shots of East Liberty for a show on Shaler. Hey, Shaler is in Pittsburgh and East Liberty is in Pittsburgh, right? And Shaler is only across the river from East Liberty, right?
Do you get the point here?
But maybe everyone should realize. Even though it’s a reality show, it’s still TV.
Snake-Bitten
Brian Pritts isn’t looking for pity. He’s just looking for some healthy players.
Pritts is in his first season as Southmoreland’s coach and his 0-4 team has been outscored, 214-8. What might make you feel even more sorry for him is his team has been ravaged by injuries. The Scotties expect to have anywhere from six to nine starters absent for their team’s game against McGuffey September 23rd.
Pritts has lost starters to everything from knee and ankle injuries, to staph infections, to problems from a hernia operation.
“I hope whoever I made mad forgives me pretty soon,” Pritts said with a laugh.
Pritts had no delusions of winning a conference title in his first season. He simply was hoping to be a little competitive. He lost three quarterbacks to injuries in one game.
“It’s hard when you have to use sophomores and even some freshmen who just shouldn’t be out there playing varsity football,” Pritts said. “I just hope people understand what’s going on and try to still be positive with the kids.”
The Three Vikings
From the Did You Know Department. Hopewell has had three different players rush for 100 yards in a game this season.
They are seniors Justin Majors and Mike Elmore, and sophomore Jared Rains.
No More Running
West Allegheny’s Kaycee Shaffer would have been one of the top contenders for the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ cross-country championship this year, but you won’t see her on any courses. She decided not to come out for the sport this season.
Speaking of cross country, the WPIAL championships have been moved to Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock.
The WPIAL made the decision earlier this week.
The championships have been held at Slippery Rock University in recent years, but construction at the school took away the course.
Busy Week
It was a busy week for Elizabeth Forward senior Jesse Kalpakis, who is a member of both the Warriors football and boys soccer teams.
Kalpakis had 3 goals and an assist on September 13th in leading EF to a 7-0 win over Hopewell. Four days later he scored the game winning goal in a 2-1 victory over West Allegheny. Then on September 20th, he scored the Warriors' lone goal in a 1-1 tie with Montour.
In between his week long soccer efforts, Kalpakis booted two field goals on September 16th as Elizabeth Forward fell to Peters Township 14-6.
Did You See?
In the middle of football season, it kind of got lost. But a WPIAL basketball player made a verbal commitment to Duquesne University last week.
Steve McNees, a 6-2 point guard at Shenango, chose Duquesne over offers from Kent State, Akron, Eastern Kentucky, James Madison and Wright State.
It will be interesting to see how things develop for McNees at Duquesne. He averaged 26.1 points, 8.8 assists and 7.3 rebounds for Shenango last season. Some question his competition at Shenango, but McNees played well in AAU tournaments this summer.
“He has an uncanny court sense,” said Bill McNees, Steve’s father and Shenango’s coach. “He’s one of those kids who sort of sees the game in slow motion, kind of a play ahead. That’s not just me talking. That’s what some other college coaches said to me this summer.”
It might be considered a little surprising McNees would pick Duquesne over schools like Kent State or Eastern Kentucky, who have been much more successful in recent seasons. Duquesne has had one winning season in the past 20 years, but Bill McNees and his son are apparent believers.
“It’s a situation where he’s going to get a great education and also play in one of the top conferences, the Atlantic 10,” Bill McNees said. “Steve and I both have a lot of faith in [Duquesne coach] Danny Nee. I think their program is ready to take off. They’ve got some good players and they have some recruits coming in. We truly believe they are going to get things turned around. We really do.”
"THE CHOPS".
9/23/2005 -
More and more quarterbacks are putting up big passing statistics these days in Western Pennsylvania. But the WPIAL career passing record seems safe.
Sto-Rox’s Adam DiMichele set the record from 2000-2003 when he passed for 6,741 yards. South Fayette’s Andrew DiDonato came into the season with an outside shot at DiMichele’s record, but it does not appear as if DiDonato will be able to catch DiMichele, unless DiDonato gets hot and South Fayette advances deep into the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.
DiDonato came into the season with 4,497 career yards. But he is averaging less than 200 yards passing in four games so far. It’s not that DiDonato is having a bad season. It’s just probably not good enough to catch DiMichele. DiDonato has completed 62 of 94 passes for 757 yards.
Heading into games September 23rd, South Fayette has five regular-season games remaining. Even if DiDonato would increase his production to 200 yards a game, South Fayette would have to make it to the WPIAL Class (AA) Semifinals for DiDonato to catch DiMichele.
However, barring injury, DiDonato seems like a pretty good bet to become only the third quarterback in WPIAL history to pass for 6,000 yards. The only other two are DiMichele and Getsy.
But DiDonato might not be the only WPIAL QB to reach 6,000 this season. Penn-Trafford’s Tyler Huether needs 1,566 yards for 6,000. Yes, that’s a lot, but consider this: Huether is leading the WPIAL in passing yardage, averaging 308 a game. With five games left and a possible first-round playoff game, Huether could get to the 6,000-yard mark.
And just in case you’re wondering, no one in the WPIAL – seniors, juniors or sophomores – seems in line for a chance at the state record. The Pennsylvania record is 7,705, set by Lakeland’s Even Kraky from 1998-2001.
It’s Not Real.................
The first edition of the reality series “Montour Spartans: Bound For Glory” was shown on ESPN this past Tuesday. The show took some hits from local critics – and rightly so – for not being real. The most obvious “unreal” part of the show is Dick Butkus coaching the team. Sure, he gives some speeches to the team, but anyone associated with the program knows Lou Cerro is the coach. Besides a few sentences during the show, Cerro was pretty much non-existent, which is a farce if this is supposed to be a reality show.
But the most surprising fiction of this reality show is the many shots of McKees Rocks. Apparently producers are trying to show how Montour is located in McKees Rocks. Someone should tell the producers that, yes, Montour’s mailing address is McKees Rocks. But Montour is not in McKees Rocks. Showing downtrodden houses in McKees Rocks is not an accurate depiction of Montour.
Montour is in Robinson Township, which is much different than McKees Rocks. Showing shots of McKees Rocks for Montour would be like showing shots of East Liberty for a show on Shaler. Hey, Shaler is in Pittsburgh and East Liberty is in Pittsburgh, right? And Shaler is only across the river from East Liberty, right?
Do you get the point here?
But maybe everyone should realize. Even though it’s a reality show, it’s still TV.
Snake-Bitten
Brian Pritts isn’t looking for pity. He’s just looking for some healthy players.
Pritts is in his first season as Southmoreland’s coach and his 0-4 team has been outscored, 214-8. What might make you feel even more sorry for him is his team has been ravaged by injuries. The Scotties expect to have anywhere from six to nine starters absent for their team’s game against McGuffey September 23rd.
Pritts has lost starters to everything from knee and ankle injuries, to staph infections, to problems from a hernia operation.
“I hope whoever I made mad forgives me pretty soon,” Pritts said with a laugh.
Pritts had no delusions of winning a conference title in his first season. He simply was hoping to be a little competitive. He lost three quarterbacks to injuries in one game.
“It’s hard when you have to use sophomores and even some freshmen who just shouldn’t be out there playing varsity football,” Pritts said. “I just hope people understand what’s going on and try to still be positive with the kids.”
The Three Vikings
From the Did You Know Department. Hopewell has had three different players rush for 100 yards in a game this season.
They are seniors Justin Majors and Mike Elmore, and sophomore Jared Rains.
No More Running
West Allegheny’s Kaycee Shaffer would have been one of the top contenders for the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ cross-country championship this year, but you won’t see her on any courses. She decided not to come out for the sport this season.
Speaking of cross country, the WPIAL championships have been moved to Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock.
The WPIAL made the decision earlier this week.
The championships have been held at Slippery Rock University in recent years, but construction at the school took away the course.
Busy Week
It was a busy week for Elizabeth Forward senior Jesse Kalpakis, who is a member of both the Warriors football and boys soccer teams.
Kalpakis had 3 goals and an assist on September 13th in leading EF to a 7-0 win over Hopewell. Four days later he scored the game winning goal in a 2-1 victory over West Allegheny. Then on September 20th, he scored the Warriors' lone goal in a 1-1 tie with Montour.
In between his week long soccer efforts, Kalpakis booted two field goals on September 16th as Elizabeth Forward fell to Peters Township 14-6.
Did You See?
In the middle of football season, it kind of got lost. But a WPIAL basketball player made a verbal commitment to Duquesne University last week.
Steve McNees, a 6-2 point guard at Shenango, chose Duquesne over offers from Kent State, Akron, Eastern Kentucky, James Madison and Wright State.
It will be interesting to see how things develop for McNees at Duquesne. He averaged 26.1 points, 8.8 assists and 7.3 rebounds for Shenango last season. Some question his competition at Shenango, but McNees played well in AAU tournaments this summer.
“He has an uncanny court sense,” said Bill McNees, Steve’s father and Shenango’s coach. “He’s one of those kids who sort of sees the game in slow motion, kind of a play ahead. That’s not just me talking. That’s what some other college coaches said to me this summer.”
It might be considered a little surprising McNees would pick Duquesne over schools like Kent State or Eastern Kentucky, who have been much more successful in recent seasons. Duquesne has had one winning season in the past 20 years, but Bill McNees and his son are apparent believers.
“It’s a situation where he’s going to get a great education and also play in one of the top conferences, the Atlantic 10,” Bill McNees said. “Steve and I both have a lot of faith in [Duquesne coach] Danny Nee. I think their program is ready to take off. They’ve got some good players and they have some recruits coming in. We truly believe they are going to get things turned around. We really do.”
"THE CHOPS".