Sunday, February 16, 2025, 5:40PM |  39°
MENU
Advertisement
Would Trump or Clinton give Aliquippa's Mike Zmijanac the nod as best WPIAL football coach? Inquiring minds — OK, so just The Fumbler — would like to know.
1
MORE

The Fumbler: There's no debating who the best prognosticator is

John Heller/Post-Gazette

The Fumbler: There's no debating who the best prognosticator is

How about that debate Monday night?

Watch the Pirates play the Cubs or the Saints take on the Falcons?

Not an easy call.

Advertisement

It was one The Fumbler had to make, though, this after his request to moderate the presidential debate was turned down. The Fumbler was flabbergasted. He had thought he was a shoo-in for the job. Instead, it was given to some guy he had never even heard of.

Keystone Oaks players, led by Will Deeds (27) and quarterback Alex Smith (12)  charge onto the field before taking on Beaver Area last week in a non-conference game in Dormont.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Brian Batko's high school football chat transcript: 9.30.16

The Fumbler auditioned in New York over the weekend. The selection committee was said to be impressed with his personality, his ability to stay neutral when two debating parties argued their views, and the control he showed in not letting candidates stray from the topic at hand.

Sounds promising, right? Sure, but it turns out The Fumbler earned a below-average grade in one category — questioning. He was asked to come up with three questions to ask the debaters. The judges apparently weren’t pleased with his choices.

They were: 1. Who has the best program in the WPIAL? … 2. If you were a college team, which of these players would you want most: Lamont Wade, Phil Jurkovec or David Adams? … 3. Better coach: Mike Zmijanac, George Novak or Jim Render?

Advertisement

Those are the questions America wants answered. It’s a shame our presidential candidates will never get to hear them.

Follow The Fumbler is on Twitter -- @FumblerPG

After going 54-10 (.843) last week, The Fumbler is now 226-64 (.779) on the season.

Here are his thoughts on this weekend’s top games:

From left to right, Carlynton football's Xavier Teagle, Ray Bordenick, Dallas Paolino, Courtney Mickens, Brandon Rogers and coach Scott Yoder.
Brian Batko
Carlynton football turning skeptics into believers after flipping script on 'the streak'

Pine-Richland (4-1, 2-0) at Central Catholic (4-1, 3-0), 7:30 tonight — The Fumbler feels inclined to go to this game. His love of the Mon Incline is a big reason why. When he attends an event at Highmark Stadium, The Fumbler has a routine — he parks his car on Mt. Washington, walks over to Grandview Avenue to take in some breathtaking views of the city, and then rides the incline to Station Square. That might be the call tonight, especially considering this is a battle of 1 vs. 2 in Class 6A. Get your popcorn ready. This one has thriller written all over it. Winner Central Catholic.

Mars (4-1, 3-1) at New Castle (4-1, 4-0), 7 tonight — Years ago, The Fumbler took a road trip with some friends to watch a football game in Wisconsin. As they were driving down I-94 they stumbled across a place called the Mars Cheese Castle. And, no, the owners didn’t have any connection to “our” Mars. But they did have some tasty cheese. Speaking of cheese, former New Castle star Malik Hooker could be making some cheddar this time next year. The Ohio State standout is having a breakout season. His alma mater is pretty Gouda, too. Winner: New Castle.

Beaver (4-0, 2-0) at Central Valley (4-1, 2-0), 7 tonight — Leave it to Beaver to play another marquee game. First there was the upset of Aliquippa. Then came the convincing win against Quaker Valley. Last week, well, all the Bobcats did was put up 77 points in what was likely the highest-scoring WPIAL game ever. Darius Wise and his buddies are in the spotlight again. Wise is playing better than anyone in the WPIAL and his team is ranked No. 1 in 3A. You can’t possibly pick against them, right? This is why The Fumbler gets paid the big bucks. Winner: Central Valley.

Rochester (4-0, 4-0) at Northgate (4-0, 4-0), 7 tonight — If you’re a Northgate student or fan and aren’t at this game, you better have a really good reason. The Flames haven’t played a game this big since 2003. They won a conference title and reached the WPIAL quarterfinals that season. They haven’t done either since. They’ll be heavily favored to win their final three 1A Big Seven Conference games. Beat Rochester and it’s pretty much clear sailing. Easier said than done. There’s just something about this Rochester team The Fumbler really likes. Winner: Rochester.

And the rest (home teams in capital letters):

Tonight

CITY LEAGUE — UNIVERSITY PREP over Carrick.

WPIAL CLASS 6A — (Northern Seven) Butler over SHALER; Penn Hills over SENECA VALLEY. (Southeastern) ALTOONA over Canon-McMillan; BETHEL PARK over Hempfield; PETERS TOWNSHIP over Norwin.

WPIAL CLASS 5A — (Allegheny Nine) NORTH HILLS over Baldwin; WOODLAND HILLS over Hampton; Moon over FOX CHAPEL; Upper St. Clair over CHARTIERS VALLEY. (Big East) Armstrong over PLUM; FRANKLIN REGIONAL over Connellsville; McKeesport over LATROBE; Penn-Trafford over GATEWAY.

WPIAL CLASS 4A — (Big Nine) WEST MIFFLIN over Greensburg Salem; BELLE VERNON over Laurel Highlands; Thomas Jefferson over RINGGOLD; Trinity over UNIONTOWN. (Northwest Nine) Indiana over AMBRIDGE; Montour over KNOCH; South Fayette over BLACKHAWK.

WPIAL CLASS 3A — (Allegheny) FREEPORT over Burrell; Keystone Oaks over SHADY SIDE ACADEMY. (Beaver Valley) Hopewell over QUAKER VALLEY. (Interstate) Elizabeth Forward over MOUNT PLEASANT; McGuffey over YOUGH; Waynesburg over SOUTHMORELAND.

WPIAL CLASS 2A — (Century) Burgettstown over BROWNSVILLE; Charleroi over BENTWORTH; BETH-CENTER over Chartiers-Houston. (Midwestern) Neshannock over LAUREL; South Side Beaver over MOHAWK. (Three Rivers) EAST ALLEGHENY over Carlynton; Serra Catholic over SOUTH ALLEGHENY; STEEL VALLEY over Vincentian.

WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Big Seven) Our Lady of the Sacred Heart over CORNELL. (Eastern) Jeannette over BISHOP CANEVIN; GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Leechburg; SPRINGDALE over Riverview. (Tri-County South) Avella over JEFFERSON-MORGAN; Fort Cherry over WEST GREENE; CARMICHAELS over Mapletown; CALIFORNIA over Monessen.

NON-CONFERENCE — DUBOIS over Allderdice; CARDINAL WUERL NORTH CATHOLIC over Avonworth; Beaver Falls over NEW BRIGHTON; DEER LAKES over Brentwood; Derry over FRAZIER; Highlands over ALBERT GALLATIN; WEST ALLEGHENY over Kiski Area; NORTH ALLEGHENY over Mt. Lebanon; ALIQUIPPA over South Park; WASHINGTON over Sto-Rox; Valley over ELLWOOD CITY.

Saturday afternoon

WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Big Seven) Shenango over WESTERN BEAVER; Union over SUMMIT ACADEMY. (Eastern) Clairton over IMANI CHRISTIAN.

NON-CONFERENCE — Westinghouse over FATHER GABRIEL RICHARD, MICH.

Saturday night

WPIAL CLASS 3A — Apollo-Ridge over SETON-LASALLE.

WPIAL CLASS 2A — (Midwestern) Riverside over FREEDOM.

First Published: September 30, 2016, 4:00 a.m.

RELATED
Jeannette High School's Gio Vonne Sanders and the Jayhawks are 5-0.
Drew Karpen
Defense sets the tone as Jeannette football rolls along in Class 1A
Quarterback Mike Fine has helped lead Belle Vernon to an unbeaten season so far, but the toughest tests are yet to come.
Brian Batko
High school football notebook: Big Nine strength on display, but biggest games await
Coach Ron Sciarro and his Riverside team have made big strides defensively.
Brad Everett
High school football notebook: Surprising Derry Area among WPIAL's unbeaten
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Citing the substance's risks, the FDA in late 2023 issued a public safety alert warning that consumers "should not purchase or use any Neptune’s Fix products, or any other product with tianeptine."
1
news
'Gas station heroin' arises as a new threat
2
news
Medicaid on the chopping block: Proposed cuts threaten coverage of vulnerable Pennsylvanians
Novo Asian Food Hall on Thursday May 23, 2024, Strip District.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
3
news
Legal battle stirs the pot at Novo Asian Food Hall
Sarah Siplak, operations manager, assembles a donated car seat inside JFCS Pittsburgh on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Squirrel Hill.  Local
4
news
Federal funding freeze leaves Pittsburgh refugee aid groups scrambling
Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates with Rickard Rakell #67 and Sidney Crosby #87 after scoring a goal in the first period during the game against the Edmonton Oilers at PPG PAINTS Arena on January 9, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
5
sports
From The Point: Putting every Penguins player into trade buckets ahead of NHL trade deadline
Would Trump or Clinton give Aliquippa's Mike Zmijanac the nod as best WPIAL football coach? Inquiring minds — OK, so just The Fumbler — would like to know.  (John Heller/Post-Gazette)
John Heller/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story