POLL: Who wins tonight: Pine-Richland or Central Catholic? A. Pine-Richland (32%) B. Central Catholic (68%)
Brian Batko: OK, everyone ready? Hope you all read your VarsityXtra this morning...
SOMD Panther: Finally the night of the big game! DeMatha v. St. Johns. In PG County, the Stags can't lose, right?
Brian Batko: Love that a Panther fan from Southern Maryland is one of my most dedicated chat participants. He/she has been on my case since Central Catholic lost to D.C. power St. John's in "Week 0."
I'm just gonna assume "PG County" stands for Post-Gazette County.
POLL: Big Game No. 2: Beaver or Central Valley? A. Beaver (14%) B. Central Valley (86%)
Dallas hemphill: If you're in aliquippas shoes right now, you almost have to root for central valley to beat beaver tonight to have a chance at a three way tie for the section. i "rolled the dice" a couple weeks ago and said beaver and central take top two.. im going with central tonight and then central beats alquippa. (never thought i would say aliquippa takes third in a conference).
Brian Batko: Absolutely, this conference has been fun to follow. First Aliquippa crushing BF, then Beaver beating Quip, now Beaver facing Central Valley. I, too, have a feeling CV wins, even after I said last week they'll miss the playoffs. Only because I couldn't see Quip and BF missing the postseason with all the talent they have, but now...
Northern 7 Fan: PCC OL should dominate. But can PR WRs get open enough to
Northern 7 Fan: make game interesting?
Brian Batko: I've seen both in person this season, but tough to judge each separately when CC played St. John's from DC (better than any WPIAL school) and P-R played Penn Hills. Line play will certainly be critical on both sides. P-R has a good one, too, but young. Speaking of P-R's receivers, will Grant Carrigan play a big role tonight? That'll be something to keep an eye on. I think this game WILL be interesting, but Central wins.
Brian Batkos High Waisted Pants: Hopewell is 5-0 but ends with QV, Central Valley, beaver, beaver falls and Quip. Final record? I'm going with 5-5.
Brian Batko: Oh great, my "high waisted pants" are back in the chat. Hopewell a nice story so far with that record, like you said, but I agree they probably finish 5-5. Maybe 6-4 with a W against QV, but yeah, this conference is a grind. Or maybe Hopewell shocks the world and we're all underestimating them?
Spongebob: Brian... have you seen WH play? If so, the QB situation is pretty rough... can they be serious contenders for a championship if Novak doesn't make a change?
Brian Batko: I have, but way back in Week 0 at Gateway. Has much changed since then? I don't know. That was Aug. 26. I know the Pirates have lost about 19 players to season-ending injuries since that time.
Sure, Woodland Hills is still figuring out its QB competition between Michael Whiteherse and Dan Jones, but the Wolverines need to get better everywhere. Losing 26-7 against Penn-Trafford was surprising to me. I still put WH in the category as a "contender" but Coach Novak needs to get them going here in the second half of the season.
Northern 7 Fan: PH at SV is a huge game for playoffs. Can PH stop Hank Royal and does SV have enough athletes in secondary to cover PH. I think No and No. should be a shootout
Brian Batko: Ah yes, I was going to mention Penn Hills-Seneca Valley as an under-the-radar game tonight while answering the CC-PR question, but I forgot. So thanks for reminding me. Basically, I think this is a postseason play-in game. Winner finishes with four Northern Seven losses and gets the fourth and final spot, in my opinion. Agreed that it's a shootout, but I think Penn Hills just has a little too much.
Brian Batko: Really don't feel confident about taking Penn Hills, though. I wrote about Seneca earlier this month and the Raiders have some good athletes too.
Dallas hemphill: on the note of PCC.. coming from a small school (neshannock) I have never been a fan of private schools in terms of sports. I live in texas now and their private schools compete in a different division or league, im not really sure what they call it down here. Do you see pennsylvania ever changing the rules to make private schools compete in their own classification or maybe be forced to all be in 5A/6A.
Brian Batko: There are always complaints about Central and teams of their ilk, and I think that vocal unrest is growing louder as the Vikings continue to get better and better and dominate the WPIAL in football. That said, I don't know if I see any drastic changes like that coming here. It's been this way for a long time. Do I agree that maybe all the private schools should have to play up? Perhaps. But in football, Central can't play up any higher and Seton-LaSalle already does bump up one class to 3A. Other sports are another story, I guess.
Spongebob: Not much has changed... anywhere. The offense runs the same 5 plays and it is so easy for teams to prepare for them. You're right, they need to improve in every aspect of the game, but especially QB. They should give the sophomore Reed more of a chance. He is fast, has nice size, and a decent arm.
Brian Batko: Gotta be honest, I don't know anything about WH's third-string QB, but looking at the roster, I assume you mean Israel Reed. Sure, the QB play could probably be better, but keep in mind, the Wolverines returned ZERO starters on offense and just two on defense. There's a chance this just isn't their year, and all their QBs are juniors or seniors.
Northern 7 Fan: Lebo at NA: Lebo is hard to read after playing PR very tough, lost to Hempfield. NA is NA. Injury bug hit them. Could be a game with playoff seeding implications. I wonder if Lebonwill be able to run against a stout NA defense? And who on NA can cover Jack Young? For NA, they need to be able to throw all at some point. Now would be a good time. I think a senior laden Lebo teams pulls this one out.
Brian Batko: This is another intriguing game tonight in 6A, granted a crossover non-con game. Lebo has had some head-scratchers, but have to love their schedule. First P-R, now NA. I haven't seen either team in person this year, but of course NA will always be good. Jack Young sounds like a heck of a player for Lebo. I like NA to win, with a big game from QB Ethan Maenza.
Steve R: Hopefully the weather doesn't ruin the integrity of the Rochester at Northgate game as that game will be on the grass in Bellevue. I know you and Mike both picked Rochester on the show, but I think Northgate is very under the radar. The Adams family (brothers) are very good and can hurt teams in multiple ways. TJ Wiley always has his defenses ready to play. Thoughts?
Brian Batko: Hey Steve. To me, weather never ruins the integrity of a game. I always remember talking to a basketball official about whether the game ball has enough air in it, and he said something like, "Well, the last time I checked, both teams use the same ball." That's kind of how I feel about weather. Northgate is playing very well, seems to have two dynamite playmakers (who happen to be brothers) and TJ Wiley strikes me as a fine coach. The Flames are most definitely on our radar, but I think Rochester devises a good defensive game plan and wins this one.
Northern 7 Fan: Besides PCC the rest of the WPIAL private schools would get killed if they had to play up. Elsewhere in state you have Erie Prep, Wood, LaSalle and St Joes Prep. They would just rotate winning it all.
Brian Batko: Yeah, the private school issue is one that's talked about everywhere in PA, not just here. Is Central on an absolute tear lately? Yes. Do some people not like it? Yes. But I think that's just how it's gonna be.
WPIAL96: Do you see the Shaler Titans being able to turn around the program anytime soon?
Brian Batko: Possibly. I've said this before, I think they do have a good coach in Jon LeDonne, but participation numbers hurt a team that's already on the cusp of 6A. I believe the Titans and Peters Township are the smallest 6A schools in the WPIAL. And I'd say Shaler plays in a tougher conference year in and year out. That's the really difficult thing: Even if you make improvements, you're still playing catch-up with the likes of Central, NA, P-R, etc.
Spongebob: Yes, WH is very inexperienced on both sides of the ball and it might not be their year. But they do have above average talent on both sides of the ball, in my opinion. Unfortunately, there is zero creativity on offense and that gets them into trouble every year when they play the better teams.
Brian Batko: Well perhaps George Novak and staff will call for a double-reverse flea-flicker tonight against Hampton. I don't know, Spongebob. But I do appreciate you joining the chat all the way from Bikini Bottom.
Dallas hemphill: New Castle has a tough game tonight at taggart against Mars. If New castle can handle Mars, any chance they make a game out of South Fayette?
Brian Batko: I don't believe so. South Fayette is one of the best teams I've seen so far this season and is my pick to win 4A. Picking against Thomas Jefferson is scary, but man, SF has defense, line play, a good QB, good skill players. But I do think NC-Mars will be an excellent game tonight. Mars has to contain Geno Stone and Marcus Hooker, but I think the Planets find a way to do so.
Northern 7 Fan: And to close it out - Butler at Shaler on Shalers new turf. I'm going to go out on a long limb and say Shaler doubles their season point production and scores 28, in a loss. Serious question - how many years till these schools can compete in 6A? Or never?
Brian Batko: I think I've said my peace on Shaler. As for Butler, it's a little surprising that program can't be better. Tons of kids, an advantage that seems to work out better in other sports. Shaler will score more tonight, if only because of the excitement of opening its new field/stadium. But Butler has a win, and the Titans don't, so... (fun fact, Butler is the team Shaler beat last season to end its long losing skid)
Brian Batkos High Waisted Pants: So let me get this straight, one of the tiebreakers for the Beaver Valley Conference is head to head vs the Interstate Conference? Who makes this stuff up Congress?
Brian Batko: No, the new solution is that at the next presidential debate, Trump and Clinton will decide how the WPIAL postseason is decided, then later debate which teams should be in. Or something like that.
Spongebob: I'd even settle for some misdirection! But thank you, Brian. It's sometimes difficult to get service down here and I have to be at The Krusty Krab soon.
Brian Batko: Have a good one, Spongebob.
Brian Batkos High Waisted Pants: I vote for a quota of number of Shaler questions in one chat at zero.
Brian Batko: Ouch.
Steve R: Does Steel Valley score 100 tonight?
Brian Batko: At home against Vincentian? Nah. Only 99.
Brian Batko: OK, that seems like a good note to end the chat on. Let's do it again next week, same chat time, same chat channel. Aliquippa-Clairton will be here and it'll be like Christmas morning. See yinz then.
First Published: September 30, 2016, 1:10 p.m.
Updated: September 30, 2016, 4:50 p.m.