A quarterback named Cam did his Superman impression Saturday night, but this one came on a high school field.
Penn Hills quarterback Cam Tarrant had one of the greatest passing performances in WPIAL history when he threw for 530 yards in a 50-42 loss to Canada Prep Academy.
The contest was part of the four-game Western Pennsylvania Legends Football Classic at North Allegheny, and the event nearly made a legend out of a Cam quarterback not named Newton. The 530 yards were the second most in WPIAL history. The record is 551 yards by Riverside’s Jason Dambach last year.
Only three quarterbacks in WPIAL history have thrown for 500 yards in a game. Tarrant completed 29 of 41 and threw for six touchdowns. This from a 5-foot-9, 150-pound senior who was a spot starter last season and completed 50 of 94 passes for 783 yards.
“I thought over time this year I could maybe get 1,000 yards passing,” said Tarrant. “I just didn’t think I’d get more than half of it in one game.”
Penn Hills coach John Peterman jokingly said, “I didn’t expect 500 yards the first game. I thought maybe 450.”
Peterman said Tarrant could have more big passing games and the main reason is Penn Hills’ group of receivers.
Julian Major is a junior who had seven catches for 143 yards against Canada Prep. Major was recently offered a scholarship by Wisconsin and also holds offers from Syracuse, Boston College and Kentucky, among others. Cam Jeffries and 6-6 junior Davion Stephens are two other talented receivers, along with tight end Rick Squires.
“I love running the football,” said Peterman. “But to be honest, with what we have on the outside this year at receiver, we have to get them the ball.”
Carrigan an OT
Pine-Richland’s Grant Carrigan made a verbal commitment to Pitt two weeks ago. He was recruited to play tight end. But for Pine-Richland, the 6-7, 250-pound Carrigan is playing offensive tackle.
This is Carrigan’s first season at Pine-Richland after transferring from Weir High in Weirton, W.Va. He doesn’t look out of place at offensive tackle and Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz said it is the best spot for Carrigan because his team’s offense doesn’t use a tight end.
Kasperowicz said he approached Carrigan about moving to offensive tackle and Carrigan obliged.
“We kind of knew all along what we wanted to do with him,” said Kasperowicz. “We are a good team with Grant at receiver or something like H-back. But we’re a much better team with him inside at tackle.”
Carrigan played offensive tackle in the Rams’ first game Saturday against St. Edward of Ohio. He also played defensive end.
“We’ll watch the film, but from what I saw, he held his own at offensive tackle,” said Kasperowicz. “When we asked him to play tackle, he said he wanted to do what’s best for the team and that’s great to hear. Our offense just isn’t suited for him to be a tight end. I’m sure if he played receiver, he might catch some touchdowns and do some good things. But he doesn’t help us as much as he does at tackle.”
Central-Shaler site
Central Catholic will play at Shaler Friday night, but the game will not be played at Shaler’s stadium on Mount Royal Boulevard. Because of stadium renovation, including a new synthetic grass surface, the game will be played at Shaler High School at a field used for the school’s soccer teams and other football teams besides varsity.
Shaler athletic director Clint Rauscher said the school is putting in extra bleachers for the Central Catholic game. It is not known when Shaler can play at its stadium.
Quips-Falls early
It’s a 1 vs. 2 showdown Friday when Aliquippa, the No. 1-ranked WPIAL 3A team, plays at No. 2 Beaver Falls. It’s unusual for these two teams to meet so early in the season. This is Beaver Falls’ first game and Aliquippa’s second.
Aliquippa and Beaver Falls have played 81 games in a series that dates to 1920. But this is the first time since 1928 they will play in the first game for at least one team. Back then, Aliquippa was Harding High School. The school changed its name to Aliquippa in 1930.
Check this out
• Central Catholic stayed put as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s No. 1 WPIAL 6A team, despite a season-opening, 35-14 loss to St. John’s of Washington. But the top three ranked teams in 6A all lost this weekend. The others were Pine-Richland and North Allegheny. Pine-Richland remained No. 2, but North Allegheny dropped to No. 4 behind Mt. Lebanon. Central Catholic dropped from No. 1 to 2 in the state 6A rankings.
• The 35 points Central Catholic gave up were the third-highest point total against the Vikings since Terry Totten became coach in 2005.
• The Charleroi-Monessen game Friday was the 100th meeting between the two and it’s the second-longest series between WPIAL teams. Beaver and New Brighton have played the most (102 times), but their series is stopped this year because they are now in different classifications.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.
Correction, posted Aug. 29, 2016: An earlier version of this story misidentified Pine-Richland’s Grant Carrigan.
First Published: August 29, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
