Here's some interesting sports readings.
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THE CHOPS
- Official BleacherCoach
- Posts: 1900
- Joined: October 24th, 2003, 10:42 am
- Location: SCOTTDALE, PA.
Here's some interesting sports readings.
Ever since Upper St. Clair head football coach Jim Render growled and grumped his way through his postgame interview after his team was beaten by Cumberland Valley in the 1992 PIAA Class AAAA championship, we figured it would take a lot -- an awful lot -- for us to feel sympathy for him.
Surprisingly, it has taken less than we thought.
First, Upper St. Clair, despite its unbeaten regular season, got the No. 4 seed behind two teams -- Gateway and Penn Hills -- that each had a loss, albeit to similarly unbeaten and the state's consensus No. 1 team, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, in the WPIAL playoffs.
Then, after two solid victories in the District 7 playoffs, the Panthers were on the verge of upsetting Central Catholic in last week's WPIAL semifinals when USC was hit with a very untimely and controversial penalty that wounded its chances to rally.
Central Catholic had taken a 13-12 lead early in the fourth quarter and was doing its best to hog the fourth-quarter clock when it was faced with a fourth-and-two at its own 40 with 4:52 to play.
Central Catholic head coach Art Walker Jr. called a timeout, then rushed his punt team onto the field and quickly into formation, causing some confusion on USC's part. When an Upper St. Clair player rushing off the field didn't make it to the sideline before the snap, the Panthers were flagged for illegal participation.
First down, Central Catholic, which was able to gnaw another minute-and-a-half off the clock before punting to the USC 16.
The fiery Render went ballistic after the call, screaming at the officials for five minutes, according to one published report. A late interception led to a mop-up score by Central Catholic and a 20-12 triumph that puts it into Saturday's WPIAL championship game with Gateway.
"The officials called for Central to come in and they refused to come in," said Render. "He defied them. And I think we had 10 men on the field and the 11th ran off."
Walker said he used the tactic -- delay, then rush the team into formation -- not to snare a penalty, but to keep USC from setting up a return.
"I wasn't counting on getting 12 on the field," he said.
Whether the call was legit or not, one hates to see a penalty playing a pivotal role in a game. On the other hand, Central Catholic had to overcome four penalties for 30 yards on its go-ahead drive in the second half.
Now comes Central Catholic's rematch with Gateway. The two teams met on Aug. 27, and Gateway led at the half before PCC rallied for a 28-20 triumph. In a weekend that is packed with interesting and outstanding games (see the District 1-AAAA semifinals or the District 2-AA rematch between Lakeland and Dunmore), that game is at the top of the A list.
Other good stuff:
What's this? Brookville is still alive in the postseason with a 5-6 record, facing 7-3 Redbank Valley on Saturday night for the District 9-AA title. How? Well, Brookville always plays a strong schedule (the Raiders had five playoff teams on this year's schedule), which can skew its record.
But mostly the Raiders can thank the expanded District 9 playoffs. Even at 3-6 at the end of the regular season, Brookville managed to qualify for the No. 5 spot (the district expanded from four to five qualifiers this year). And right now, the Raiders are making the D-9 decision-makers look brilliant.
Since we referenced the 1-AAAA semifinals, take a look at that field: Neshaminy (10-1) at Coatesville (11-0) and North Penn (9-2) rematching with Pennridge (10-1). Although none of the four is considered as strong as North Penn's 2003 championship team, that's a quality quartet.
"THE CHOPS".
Surprisingly, it has taken less than we thought.
First, Upper St. Clair, despite its unbeaten regular season, got the No. 4 seed behind two teams -- Gateway and Penn Hills -- that each had a loss, albeit to similarly unbeaten and the state's consensus No. 1 team, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, in the WPIAL playoffs.
Then, after two solid victories in the District 7 playoffs, the Panthers were on the verge of upsetting Central Catholic in last week's WPIAL semifinals when USC was hit with a very untimely and controversial penalty that wounded its chances to rally.
Central Catholic had taken a 13-12 lead early in the fourth quarter and was doing its best to hog the fourth-quarter clock when it was faced with a fourth-and-two at its own 40 with 4:52 to play.
Central Catholic head coach Art Walker Jr. called a timeout, then rushed his punt team onto the field and quickly into formation, causing some confusion on USC's part. When an Upper St. Clair player rushing off the field didn't make it to the sideline before the snap, the Panthers were flagged for illegal participation.
First down, Central Catholic, which was able to gnaw another minute-and-a-half off the clock before punting to the USC 16.
The fiery Render went ballistic after the call, screaming at the officials for five minutes, according to one published report. A late interception led to a mop-up score by Central Catholic and a 20-12 triumph that puts it into Saturday's WPIAL championship game with Gateway.
"The officials called for Central to come in and they refused to come in," said Render. "He defied them. And I think we had 10 men on the field and the 11th ran off."
Walker said he used the tactic -- delay, then rush the team into formation -- not to snare a penalty, but to keep USC from setting up a return.
"I wasn't counting on getting 12 on the field," he said.
Whether the call was legit or not, one hates to see a penalty playing a pivotal role in a game. On the other hand, Central Catholic had to overcome four penalties for 30 yards on its go-ahead drive in the second half.
Now comes Central Catholic's rematch with Gateway. The two teams met on Aug. 27, and Gateway led at the half before PCC rallied for a 28-20 triumph. In a weekend that is packed with interesting and outstanding games (see the District 1-AAAA semifinals or the District 2-AA rematch between Lakeland and Dunmore), that game is at the top of the A list.
Other good stuff:
What's this? Brookville is still alive in the postseason with a 5-6 record, facing 7-3 Redbank Valley on Saturday night for the District 9-AA title. How? Well, Brookville always plays a strong schedule (the Raiders had five playoff teams on this year's schedule), which can skew its record.
But mostly the Raiders can thank the expanded District 9 playoffs. Even at 3-6 at the end of the regular season, Brookville managed to qualify for the No. 5 spot (the district expanded from four to five qualifiers this year). And right now, the Raiders are making the D-9 decision-makers look brilliant.
Since we referenced the 1-AAAA semifinals, take a look at that field: Neshaminy (10-1) at Coatesville (11-0) and North Penn (9-2) rematching with Pennridge (10-1). Although none of the four is considered as strong as North Penn's 2003 championship team, that's a quality quartet.
"THE CHOPS".