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Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert got a chuckle out of The Fumbler's football skills.
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The Fumbler: It takes plenty of practice to successfully pick football games

Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

The Fumbler: It takes plenty of practice to successfully pick football games

The Fumbler isn’t one to make excuses, no matter how bad a week he might have.

But just know that he has a very good built-in excuse available should he not perform up to his high standards this week.

You see, The Fumbler had very little time to research his Week 4 picks. He was gearing up for his tryout with the Steelers.

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Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert called The Fumbler Sunday night, just hours after Big Ben and James Conner went down with injuries.

Upper St. Clair's Ethan Dahlem ranks third in the WPIAL in passing yardage with 1,080 and has also thrown for nine touchdowns.
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WPIAL/City League football stat leaders (Sept. 19, 2019)

“You got anything left in the tank,” Colbert asked.

“You bet I do,” The Fumbler said.

Good thing he just filled up at GetGo.

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To get into shape, The Fumbler spent Monday and Tuesday running sprints up and down his street, throwing up a few reps on the bench press, and doing some agility drills.

By Wednesday, The Fumbler was ready. With Colbert and Mike Tomlin watching, The Fumbler was cool and confident, displaying his speed and strength. Everything was going fine until a football was thrown into the fray. That’s when The Fumbler lived up to his name. If he had a dollar for every time he put the ball on the ground, he’d have 10 dollars ... enough to buy a pizza while he watches Sunday’s game on TV.

No good for The Fumbler’s football career, but great for his readers.

Follow The Fumbler on Twitter — @FumblerPG

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After going 52-11 (.825) last week, The Fumbler is now 197-52 (.791) for the season.

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

Mt. Lebanon (3-1) at North Allegheny (4-0), 7:30 Friday — Percise is precisely what North Allegheny has needed to remain undefeated. That would be standout senior Percise Colon. Two weeks ago, he returned a punt for a touchdown in the closing minutes to help the Tigers beat Central Catholic. Last week, he rushed for a career-high 258 yards in a victory against Canon-McMillan. Mt. Lebanon has some playmakers, most notably Joey Daniels and Evan Jones, but North Allegheny’s stout defense will keep them in check. Winner: North Allegheny.

North Hills (4-0) at Peters Township (4-0), 7 Friday — The Fumbler had a dream the other night that he was a contestant on Jeopardy. “I’ll take Famous Indians for 500, Alex,” The Fumbler said. “Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Josh Casilli and Tom McDonough are all favorites of what prognosticator?,” Alex Trebek responded. The Fumbler quickly buzzed in and said, “Me!” He got that answer right, but he woke up from the dream shortly after and doesn’t know how the game ended. He does, however, know how this battle of Indians will end. Winner: Peters Township.

Apollo-Ridge (4-0) at Avonworth (4-0), 7 Friday — Playing Avonworth has been no walk in the park. A big reason for that is the Antelopes have a Park, and their opponents do not. Quarterback Park Penrod — how about that name! — has thrown for 12 touchdowns, most in Class 2A. Want some more great names? The Antelopes also have a Kyros (Thorpe) and the Miller brothers, Jax and Neo. No, The Fumbler hasn’t fallen into the Matrix. This is reality. The reality that Avonworth is very good will hit Apollo-Ridge on Friday night. Winner: Avonworth.

Laurel (4-0) at Clairton (2-2), 7 Friday — Mohawk, Rochester, Bishop Canevin and California have two things in common. They have all played Laurel this season, and none of them scored a point against the Spartans, the only team in the state that has yet to give up a point. Clairton has had some great defensive teams over the years, one being the 2009 squad that allowed 61 points and won a state title. The Bears actually began that season with a loss at Laurel … and then won 66 games in a row. Laurel will hand the Bears another loss. Winner: Laurel.

And the rest (home teams in capital letters):

Thursday

NON-CONFERENCE — Westinghouse over Carrick.

Friday

CITY LEAGUE — University Prep over Allderdice.

WPIAL CLASS 6A — (Quad County) SENECA VALLEY over Butler; HEMPFIELD over Canon-McMillan; PINE-RICHLAND over Norwin.

WPIAL CLASS 5A — (Allegheny Eight) MOON over Chartiers Valley; Upper St. Clair over WEST ALLEGHENY; Woodland Hills over BALDWIN. (Big East) Latrobe over CONNELLSVILLE; McKeesport over PLUM. (Northern) HAMPTON over Fox Chapel; Mars over ARMSTRONG; Penn Hills over KISKI AREA.

WPIAL CLASS 4A — (Big Eight) Greensburg Salem over LAUREL HIGHLANDS; BELLE VERNON over Indiana; Thomas Jefferson over TRINITY. (Northwest Eight) Highlands over BEAVER; Knoch over AMBRIDGE; BLACKHAWK over Montour.

WPIAL CLASS 3A — (Big East) Derry over NORTH CATHOLIC; DEER LAKES over Mount Pleasant; FREEPORT over Uniontown; Yough over BURRELL. (Tri-County West) ALIQUIPPA over Beaver Falls; CENTRAL VALLEY over Keystone Oaks; South Park over WAYNESBURG.

WPIAL CLASS 2A — (Allegheny) EAST ALLEGHENY over Summit Academy; Valley over STEEL VALLEY. (Interstate) MCGUFFEY over Beth-Center; CHARLEROI over Carmichaels; Southmoreland over BROWNSVILLE. (Midwestern) FREEDOM over Ellwood City; SHENANGO over Riverside; Western Beaver over MOHAWK. (Three Rivers) SOUTH ALLEGHENY over Fort Cherry; Serra Catholic over CARLYNTON; BURGETTSTOWN over South Side Beaver.

WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Big Seven) CORNELL over Northgate; ROCHESTER over Union. (Eastern) GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Imani Christian; Jeannette over SPRINGDALE. (Tri-County South) MAPLETOWN over Bentworth; Jefferson-Morgan over AVELLA; West Greene over MONESSEN.

NON-CONFERENCE — CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Bethel Park; BROOKE, W.VA. over Brashear; WASHINGTON over California; STO-ROX over Chartiers-Houston; BRENTWOOD over Frazier; SOUTH FAYETTE over Hopewell; James Buchanan over ALBERT GALLATIN; New Brighton over SETON LASALLE; MASSILLON, OHIO over Penn-Trafford; OAK GLEN, W.VA. over Perry; ELIZABETH FORWARD over Quaker Valley; GATEWAY over Ringgold; NESHANNOCK over Shady Side Academy; NEW CASTLE over West Mifflin.

Saturday afternoon

WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Eastern) Leechburg over RIVERVIEW.

NON-CONFERENCE — Franklin Regional over SHALER.

Saturday night

WPIAL CLASS 1A — (Big Seven) Our Lady of the Sacred Heart over BISHOP CANEVIN.


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Schedules and Results
STANDINGS: WPIAL | City League
Team Pages | Sortable Statistics

First Published: September 19, 2019, 10:45 a.m.

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