The regular season is either over and playoffs are starting, or those schools who didn’t make the playoffs and the Quad-A schools who don’t begin playoffs for another week, are playing their season finales.
In the area, Tyrone by virtue of being the number one seed will host United at 7 p.m. on Friday at Gray Veterans Memorial Field in the opening round of the District V/VI playoffs. Bellwood-Antis will try to end their season on a happy note when they host Curwensville at Bellwood Memorial Stadium also at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
Last week our guest picker Rich DeLeo turned in just the second perfect 10-0 score of the entire season and the first since Chris Lash started out with a bang by going 10-0 in week one. The combined guests now share the overall 71-19 lead with John Harlow, who had a pretty good week at 8-2, just not good enough to hold off DeLeo. Bob Miller went 9-1 last week, while Kerry Webster, Kerry Naylor and Chris Lash all registered 8-2 marks along with Harlow. Lash remains in the third spot at 69-21, Miller is now 66-24, Naylor is 61-29 and Webster is 59-31.
Thanks again to Rich DeLeo!
The guest picker for Week 10 is WTAJ-TV Sports Director and Tyrone’s favorite sports personality Kelly Goodman. Good luck Kelly!
United at Tyrone: This is a first round District V/VI playoff game matching the top seed (Tyrone) against the number eight seed (United). Tyrone has run rampant over the rest of the Class-AA field. The Golden Eagles only loss was a 23-20 overtime loss to Geoff Kozak and Class-AAA top seed Huntingdon. That was a game in which Tyrone won all the statistical battles, but allowed a field goal in OT by Kozak and committed a turnover when it was their turn. United snuck in as the last seed when they beat Marion Center and Tyrone demolished Penns Valley.
The picks: Miller Tyrone 37-7, John Harlow Tyrone 21-17, Kerry Naylor Tyrone 32-7, Kerry Webster Tyrone 24-14, Chris Lash Tyrone 30-10, Kelly Goodman Tyrone 35-10.
Curwensville at Bellwood-Antis: On paper, this looks like a battle of two teams headed in opposite directions, After winning just one of their first seven, the Golden Tide has won their last two games to draw their record to 3-6. Bellwood-Antis has lost their last two games. Don’t be deceived by the Blue Devils 5-4 mark. B-A may not be the team they were from 1997 to 2002 when they lost three regular season games only once, but they have steadily improved after a slow start. With Dan Houser and Matt Sneath running the football and Shawn Weiand throwing the pigskin, don’t count Bellwood-Antis out.
The picks: Miller Bellwood-Antis 33-12, John Harlow Bellwood-Antis 63-0, Kerry Naylor Bellwood-Antis, Kerry Webster Curwensville 30-14, Chris Lash Bellwood-Antis 17-14, Kelly Goodman Bellwood-Antis 30-3.
Philipsburg-Osceola at Chestnut Ridge: A Class-AA contest Ridge is the four seed, while P-O is number five. A member of the Big 8, Philipsburg-Osceola has played Tyrone, Indian Valley and Huntingdon, Chestnut Ridge is a member of the ICC Nittany Division. Some say that is a weak league which does not get it’s members ready for the rigors of district playoffs. Ridge has played Bishop Guilfoyle, Moshannon Valley and Everett, all playoff qualifiers.
The picks: Miller Philipsburg-Osceola, John Harlow Philipsburg-Osceola, Kerry Naylor Chestnut Ridge, Kerry Webster Philipsburg-Osceola, Chris Lash Chestnut Ridge, Kelly Goodman Philipsburg-Osceola.
Indian Valley at Johnstown: Johnstown is the number two seed in Class-AAA with their only loss to Bishop Carroll 7-6. Indian Valley is the number seven seed and at 4-5 is one of two Triple-A playoff teams with a losing record. (Somerset, 4-5 is the other.) undefeated Huntingdon and Johnstown are the only AAA schools inn the district with winning records, so expect them to meet in the finals on Nov. 8 at Mansion Park.
The picks: Miller Johnstown, John Harlow Johnstown, Kerry Naylor Johnstown, Kerry Webster Johnstown, Chris Lash Johnstown, Kelly Goodman Johnstown.
Penns Valley at Bald Eagle Area: With Bellwood-Antis-Curwensvile, the two games that are not playoff contests on this week’s list. Penns Valley opened the season with a win over Bellefonte. Bald Eagle Area lost to Bellefonte last week. Penns Valley played Bishop Guilfoyle tough before losing 18-0. BEA’s only Big 8 win was an 18-14 squeaker over Lewistown (1-7 overall).
The picks: Miller Penns Valley, John Harlow Penns Valley, Kerry Naylor Penns Valley, Kerry Webster Penns Valley, Chris Lash Penns Valley, Kelly Goodman Penns Valley.
Bishop Guilfoyle at Conemaugh Township: A Class-A playoff game involving the number four seed (Township) against the number five seed (BG). Is there really that much difference between the four and five seed? Just 40 ratings points separate the two schools-1100 for Conemaugh Township, 1060 for Guilfoyle. BG has played Huntingdon, Tyrone, Pius X, Chestnut Ridge and Moshannon Valley all playoff quality teams. Township is locked into the WestPAC conference with Portage and Windber.
The picks: Miller Bishop Guilfoyle, John Harlow Bishop Guilfoyle, Kerry Naylor Bishop Guilfoyle, Kerry Webster Bishop Guilfoyle, Chris Lash Bishop Guilfoyle, Kelly Goodman Conemaugh Township.
Moshannon Valley at Bishop Carroll: Moshannon Valley is a good football team. They are tough, big and run a time-consuming running attack that acts as the best defense. Then when you get the ball, they are always in the right place to make that tackle. Saying this, their opponent is top Class-A seed Bishop Carroll that makes a career of never losing, at least not recently short of district finals. Every year someone says, Bishop Carroll lost a lot of good players and will come back to join the rest of us. And every year, Carroll does it’s best imitation of being head and shoulders above everybody else in their own class and two or more up, like handing Class-AAA Johnstown their only loss.
The picks: Miller Bishop Carroll, John Harlow Bishop Carroll, Kerry Naylor Bishop Carroll, Kerry Webster Bishop Carroll, Chris Lash Bishop Carroll, Kelly Goodman Bishop Carroll.
Pitt at Boston College: Pitt rebounded with a big win last week after getting beaten by Notre Dame. Boston College would love to hand one more loss to the Panthers before leaving to join then ACC. Can Boston College contain Rod Rutherford and Larry Fitzgerald long enough to pull out a victory?
The picks: Miller Pitt 27-14, John Harlow Pitt 35-20, Kerry Naylor Pitt 21-10, Kerry Webster Pitt 35-17, Chris Lash Pitt 28-24, Kelly Goodman Pitt 23-20.
Ohio State at Penn State: Joe Paterno no longer is the winningest coach in Division I anymore since Bobby Bowden passed him last week. Do the Nittany Lions have it in them to take the lead back for JoPa? Can Penn State pull out of the head-first spin they are currently in? Ohio State, even without Maurice Clarett is a formidable foe. The Lions and coaches seem to first in indecision and little else right now. Actually, Penn State leads the nation in pass defense. The trick is that is the case because other teams have been able to run with ridiculous ease, therefore not needing to pass against PSU.
The picks: Miller Ohio State 30-17, John Harlow Ohio State 27-6, Kerry Naylor Ohio State 35-21, Kerry Webster Ohio State 42-6, Chris Lash Ohio State 40-20, Kelly Goodman Penn State 17-7.
Steelers at Seattle; The Steelers are in danger of slipping out of sight after their fourth straight loss last week. Pittsburgh, famous for its rushing attack which ate up minutes on the clock, had the ball for just 20 of 60 minutes against the Rams. The pass defense allowed Marc Bulger to throw for 375 yards. The Steeler defense allowed St. Louis to convert a third and 22 that led to a field goal. Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselback threw for 347 yards last week against the Jets. Can the Steelers prevent a repeat this week?
The picks: Miller Seattle 30-24, John Harlow Seattle 21-10, Kerry Naylor Steelers 24-13, Kerry Webster Seattle 24-10, Chris Lash Seattle 34-17, Kelly Goodman Seattle 34-24.
GOOD SPORTS: A letter to the Sports Editor was received last week.
I’m sitting here disgusted after reading the story of the Little League financial sitution. I’m not going to point fingers but it wasn’t that long ago when my now 16-year old was there and we had to spned some of the money to keep from going over the $15,000 non-profit limit.
My, how times change.
Matt Hoover
