October 19 Issue - Newspaper - Page 11
Page 11
October 19 2023
EDITION 8
SPORTS
Washington County Highschool Footnall Round Up
Washington County is home to 15 high schools. County football teams compete in WPIAL district 7 and encompass teams competing in class A,
all the way up to class 6 A. After week 8, several county teams are in contention for section championships and WPIAL playoff berths.
Class 1A Black Hills Conference
County Teams competing at the Class 1A Black Hill Conference are Avella, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, and
Fort Cherry. Other teams are Bishop-Canevin, Carlynton, Cornell, and Our Lady of The Sacred Heart.
Fort Cherry is now 8-0 overall, 5-0 in conference and in full control of the Class A Black Hills Conference.
Matt Sieg, Fort Cherry’s stellar sophomore quarterback who currently has 5 division one offers, is a major reason
the Rangers are making a strong case to be contenders for a WPIAL Championship. Two weeks ago, in one of the
most anticipated match ups of the year, Fort Cherry defeated powerhouse Bishop Canevin by a score of 48-41 at
Dormont Memorial Stadium. Prior to that game Bishop was ranked as the number two team in the state.
In the BC game, Sieg was party to seven touchdowns and 437 yards of total offense. He ran the ball 24 times for
277 yards and four touchdowns, and tossed three touchdown passes while throwing for 160 yards.
Sieg has a strong supporting cast in running back Ethan Faletto who has carried the ball for almost 600 yards and
scored 11 touchdowns, along with receiver Shane Cornali who has amassed 465 yards on 5 touchdowns. Over the
next two weeks, the Ranger’s will finish out the regular season against conference opponents Carlynton (away
10/20) and Burgettstown (home 10/27). Carlynton has a conference record of 1-4 while Burgettstown is 3-2.
Class 1A Tri-County South Conference
County Teams competing in this conference are Bentworth, Beth-Center and California. Other teams competing are
Carmichaels, Jefferson Morgan, Mapletown, Monessen and West Greene.
California sits atop the Tri-County South Conference with an unblemished conference record of 5-0 alongside an
overall record of 7-1. Beth Center sits 4th in the conference with a record of 3-2 while Bentworth and Monessen
are both 1-4.
California has been led by quarterback Jake Layhue who has thrown for two touchdowns and rushed for 11. The
Trojans have 2 conference games left on the schedule facing off against Beth Center on October 20th and
Bentworth on October 27th.
Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference
Peters Township is the only county school competing in the Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference. Other teams are
Baldwin, Bether Park, Moon, South Fayette, and Upper St. Clair.
Peters Township
The Indians hold perfect records in both Section play and overall, at 4-0 and 8-0 respectively. They hold a
commanding lead over conference foes Moon and Bethel Park who own conference records of 2-1.
PT is led by quarterback Nolan DiLucia who has thrown for 16 touchdowns on over 1.400 yards. His top receivers
are Carter Shanafelt who has hauled in 6 touchdown passes and Nick McCullough who has caught 3.
Running Back Vinny Sarcone has led the ground game for the Indians with over 400 rushing yards and scored 12
touchdowns.
The Indians have scored 314 points on the year while their stingy defense has given up only 27 points.
Peters Township will face non-conference rival Canon McMillan on October 20th at home and will close out the
regular season against conference opponent Bethel Park on October 27th. Bethel Park is currently 3rd in the
conference with a record of 2-1.
Class 6A Tri-County Five Conference
Canon McMillan is the only county team competing at the 6A level in the Tri-County Five Conference. Conference
foes are Mount Lebanon, North Allegheny, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Seneca Valley.
Canon-McMillan is now 1-2 in the Class 6A Tri-County Five Conference and 5-3 overall and sits in 3rd place in the
conference.
Running Back Zachary Welsh has ignited the Big Mac offense rushing for almost 1,100 yards and scoring 11
touchdowns. Quarterback Mike Evans has thrown for 649 yards and one touchdown while rushing for another 3
TD’s.
The Big Macs will face non-conference county Rival Peters Township on October 20th at Peters Township and will
end the regular season against conference foe Mt. Lebanon on the 27th.
Class 4A Big Seven Conference
The Ringold Rams and the Trinity Hillers are the only county teams competing in the conference. Other conference
teams are Connelsville, Greater Latrobe, Laurel Highlands, McKeesport, and Thomas Jefferson.
The Hillers boast a 3-2 conference record and continue rise as a possible contender in class the AAAA Big Seven
Conference. Trinity’s most recent 38-7 victory over perennial powerhouse Thomas Jefferson is an indicator that the
Hillers could contend going forward.
Hiller sophomore quarterback Jonah Williamson is having a banner season, passing for over 1,300 yards and
accounting for 12 touchdowns.
Trinity’s final two regular season games are against Linsley on October 20th and vs. conference opponent Ringgold
on October 27th at home. Ringgold is currently 0-4 in the conference.
Class 2A Century Conference
Three Washington County Teams play in the tough Class 2A Century Conference including the Charleroi Cougars,
McGuffey Highlanders and the Washington Little Prexies. Also in the conference are Brentwood, Keystone Oaks,
Sto-Rox and Waynesburg.
Washington and McGuffey are in a battle for the conference championship.
Wash High sports a record of 4-0 in Class AA Century Conference play and are 8-0 overall, while the Highlanders
are 5-0 in conference and 6-2 overall.
The Little Prexies are led by running back Eddie Lewis who has carried for 766 yards on 13 touchdowns and
Quarterback Tristan Reed has thrown for 821 yards and 8 touchdowns. Reed’s top target is receiver Ruben Gordon
who has accounted for 4 touchdowns. Washington’s defense has only given up 70 points on the year.
McGuffey Quarterback Conner Crowe has passed for 375 yards and rushed for another 480.
Washington has 2 conference games remaining against 2-2 Cornell, at home on October 20th and vs. McGuffey
away on October 27th. McGuffey finishes out the season away in a non-conference game against South Park on
October 20th and vs, Wash High at home on the 27th.
The final game of the regular season between the Prexies and Highlanders could very well determine the
conference champion.
COUNTY GAME OF THE WEEK
Canon McMillan and Peters Township will face off in a non-conference game on Friday October 20th at Peters
Township pitting two of the top teams in the county in a much-anticipated neighboring town rivalry.
Ball
position
By John Popeck – Golf Professional
in our stance compared to
fairway medals, hybrids,
and the driver. I am going
to give you a few tips to
help with ball placement in
the swing.
The ball position is very
important in the golf
swing. There is a
difference between where
we position the golf ball
depending on the club we
are hitting. Irons are
positioned much different
Let us first start with
talking about our wedges.
With wedges, we have to
remember the bounce that
is on the club. We need to
take the bounce into
consideration because that
dictates where the ball
position will be. For most
wedges, the ball should be
played basically in the
middle of your stance. I
like to say, right down the
buttons on your golf shirt.
Doing this will allow for
the bounce of the wedge to
bottom nicely and give you
that clean strike on the
ball. As we start to move
up the bag, nine to seven
iron should still be about
the middle of the stance
also. As we keep moving
up in the irons, six iron to
three iron should be
positioned more towards
the front of our stance. I
like to say at the logo on
your golf shirt. Doing this
gives the club the time
needed to strike the ball
properly.
Fairway woods, hybrids,
and the driver are different
ball position wise. Since
these clubs are all longer
clubs in our bag, we have
to think differently on how
to strike the ball. These
clubs are also the
straightest faced clubs in a
golf bag. That being said,
ball position is crucial. If
we play these clubs in the
middle of our stance like
we do irons, the dispersion
of the shot is going to go
everywhere because of the
straighter face and because
we hit the ball on the
downswing. Why we get
away with this on irons is
because of the incline in
the face. With woods, we
play the ball off of the
front of our stance because
this now gives the club
time to bottom and then hit
the golf ball. I like to say
off of your big left toe if
you are a right-hander.
This will allow for the face
of the club to come
through much more square
and push the ball off the
face. I hope some of these
tips
will help with positioning
the golf ball in the golf
swing.
