Miele runs for 448 yards as Mars tops Hollidaysburg

There really is life on Mars.

His name is Austin Miele and the Hollidaysburg Tigers discovered him Friday night.

Miele is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound running back for the Mars Planets, and Friday night he ran like a man shot out of a cannon in picking up a WPIAL-playoff record 448 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in Mars' 52-20 WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff win over Hollidaysburg.

"He can run," Mars coach Scott Heinauer told the Altoona Mirror in perhaps what might have been the understatement of the year. "When Austin is Austin and he's healthy and our team blocks for him he makes it tough."



Miele, who came into the game with 1,074 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season, had 255 by halftime and missed the WPIAL single-game rushing mark held by Connellsville's Marcus Furman by seven yards. The Pennsylvania record is 488 yards set in 2005 by Harbor Creek's Stephen Blose.

"He's a great football player," Hollidaysburg head coach John Barton told the newspaper. "We knew he was good, but he really showed up special tonight. He's elusive, but we didn't tackle him very well. But, that's also a credit to him, too. We didn't have an answer for Miele."

Hollidaysburg actually led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter but Mars led 18-8 at halftime and 31-14 at the end of three quarters.

Jacob Wright also added a pair of touchdowns for the Planets, scoring on a 1-yard run and a 52-yard interception return.

Click here to view MaxPreps' WPIAL football playoff brackets.

2. Lower seeds find success in Class AAA: Mars, the fourth seed, was able to avoid a struggle in the opening round thanks to Miele, but not all of the higher seeds in Class AAA could say the same.



The biggest upset came when 14th seeded Central Valley (Monaca) got 128 yards rushing and a touchdown from Lukas Turley to upset unbeaten Ringgold 21-13 at Joe Montana Stadium.

Tenth-seeded Hopewell and ninth-seeded Indiana also pulled mild upsets with Hopewell (Aliquippa) getting another 100-yard performance and three touchdowns from Rushel Shell to beat seventh-seeded Franklin Regional 24-14 and Indiana getting 244 yards passing and three touchdowns from Kyle Edgar to win a shootout at eighth-seeded Belle Vernon 42-38.

Meanwhile, top seeded Montour (McKees Rocks), ranked 20th in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps.com, survived a scare from 16th-seeded West Mifflin, beating the Titans 21-13 as Dillon Buechel threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Sixth-seeded Knoch (Saxonburg) needed a touchdown pass and a touchdown run from Ky Kenyon to hold off 11-seeded Greensburg Salem 21-14.

Second-seeded Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson Hills) had a much easier time getting 109 yards and two touchdowns from Ryan Ruffing, who also returned an interception for a touchdown, in a 42-7 win over Highlands.

Defending champion and fifth-seeded West Allegheny (Imperial) had little trouble with Trinity pulling out a 35-14 win behind 174 yards and three touchdowns from Aaron McKinney.

3. There will be a new WPIAL Class AA Champion: Maybe the biggest upset of the weekend came in WPIAL Class AA where defending champion and second-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic watched 15th-seeded Keystone Oaks (Pittsburgh) score 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull off a 20-16 stunner. Matt McCann scored both fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Golden Eagles, including the game-winning 33-yard run with 1:45 left.



Keystone Oaks was one of two very low seeds to pull upsets in Class AA. No. 11 Freeport got a pair of Jake Campbell touchdown runs to topple No. 6 Jeannette 30-22. Also, in a mild upset, No. 9 Beaver got a pair of Darian Bradley touchdowns, including a 40-yard interception return, and two Nathan Mick field goals to beat No. 8 Deer Lakes 31-21.

Two higher seeds also got scares, as No. 4 Ford City needed a 3-yard fourth-quarter touchdown from Michael Krochta to beat No. 12 East Allegheny 21-14 despite gaining just 169 yards on offense. No. 7 Beaver Falls needed a 33-yard Dominique Whaley fourth-quarter fumble return for a touchdown to beat No. 10 Steel Valley, which got 236 yards rushing and three touchdowns – two rushing, one receiving – from Delrece Williams.

Three higher seeds that didn't have much trouble included No. 1 Aliquippa, a 41-0 winner over Shady Side Academy behind 138 yards passing and two scores from Mikal Hall, and No. 5 Seton LaSalle (Pittsburgh), a 28-6 winner over Mt. Pleasant thanks to three Dave O'Brien touchdown passes. No. 6 South Fayette (McDonald), which is 17th in the state by MaxPreps.com, got a 35-0 victory over Ellwood City behind 194 yards passing and three scores from Christian Brumbaugh.

4. No. 13 Bethel Park upsets No. 4 McKeesport in Class AAAA: The upset of the night in Class AAAA came when 13th seeded Bethel Park outscored No. 4 seed McKeesport 17-7 in the fourth quarter to get a 24-21 win on the road. Anthony Cinello hit Christopher Rizzo with the game-winning touchdown pass with just 17 seconds to play. It was Cinello's second scoring toss of the night.

The Blackhawks were the only lower seed to win.

Top-seeded Central Catholic (Pittsburgh), the No. 3 team in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps.com, rolled to a 37-10 win over Pine-Richland behind 215 yards and four touchdowns by Damian Jones-Moore, while No. 2 Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh) (No. 11 in PA by MaxPreps.com) got 170 yards and two rushing touchdowns from Luke Hagy, who also returned a punt for a score, in a 35-14 win over Plum.



Third-seeded North Hills (Pittsburgh), ranked 12th by MaxPreps.com, got two Taylor Schmidt touchdowns to beat Penn-Trafford 20-3, and fifth-seeded North Allegheny (Wexford), ranked fourth by MaxPreps.com, saw Alex Papson score three touchdowns and run for 126 yards in a 38-7 victory over Peters Township.

Also, sixth-seeded Upper St. Clair, which is ranked 22nd in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps.com, got 125 yards rushing and a touchdown and 31 yards passing and a score from Dakota Conwell to go with 154 yards rushing and two scores from Connor Scott to beat Penn Hills 37-21. Seventh-seeded Woodland Hills (Pittsburgh), the 15th ranked team in the state by MaxPreps.com, saw Lafayette Pitts run for 232 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-7 win over Norwin. Eighth-seeded Gateway (Monroeville) got 304 combined yards from Thomas Woodson (142 rushing, 2 scores; 162 passing, 1 TD) to beat Erie McDowell 37-21.

5. North Catholic kicker helps Trojans upset Sto-Rox: Eleventh-seeded North Catholic (Pittsburgh) had a secret weapon in its 10-8 upset of No. 6 Sto-Rox in the WPIAL Class A tournament, and his name was kicker Morgan Porter. Porter booted a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter helping North Catholic take a 10-0 halftime lead – the Trojans also got a William Green touchdown run.

North Catholic will face third-seeded Avonworth (Pittsburgh) in the quarterfinals. The Antelopes got a 92-yard punt return in the fourth quarter from Ryan Schmid to erase a 21-20 deficit and get a 28-21 win over Brentwood. Jake Szolis added two rushing touchdowns and 163 yards for Avonworth.

The rest of the Class A bracket went pretty much as advertised with only ninth-seeded Canevin Catholic (Pittsburgh) getting a mild 24-16 upset at Fort Cherry behind 127 yards rushing and a touchdown from Chris Walko and 102 yards rushing from Travis Lohr.

Canevin will draw top-seeded and two-time defending WPIAL champion Clairton, the defending PIAA champion as well, in the quarterfinals. The Bears got 113 yards passing and two touchdowns and 97 yards rushing and a touchdown from Desmion Green to beat Carmichaels 42-0.



No. 4 Monessen got a 33-0 shutout of Chartiers-Houston thanks to 121 yards rushing and two scores from Brett Crenshaw and two touchdowns from Trae Cook, and fifth-seeded Springdale beat Western Beaver 35-14 behind 166 yards rushing and three scores from Sean Dugan.

Second-seeded Rochester saw Jasson Adamson go 6 of 6 passing for 160 yards and three scores in a 42-7 win over California, while seventh-seeded Bethlehem Center (Fredericktown) got a pair of Jake Sofran touchdown runs and a touchdown run and touchdown pass from Sal Faieta to beat Cornell 34-12.

6. Districts 9 and 10 set playoff fields: Districts 9 and 10 set their football playoff fields Sunday.

District 9 – Brackets can be found at www.d9sports.com

CLASS A
The skinny: Defending champion Clarion (5-5) is the fourth seed and will host AML-North champion Cameron County (7-3). The two seeds are Curwensville (8-1) and Redbank Valley (5-5).

The winner will be: Curwensville

CLASS AA
The skinny: AML Champion and unbeaten Brockway (10-0) gets a bye in this three-team bracket. Brookville (8-2) will try to erase playoff nemesis Moniteau (5-5) in the lone semifinal contest.



The winner will be: Brockway

CLASS AAA
The skinny: Only two teams make the Class AAA playoffs meaning possibly the best team in District 9, Bradford (8-2), is on the outside looking in. Not that the bracket doesn't have a couple of really good teams, as unbeatens Clearfield (10-0) and Punxsutawney (10-0) meet in a rematch of last year's title game won by Punxsutawney.

The winner will be: Clearfield

District 10: Brackets can be found at www.piaadistrict10.org
CLASS A
The skinny: Defending champion Farrell (9-1) but should see stiff competition from unbeaten Mercyhurst Prep (10-0) and once-beaten Sharpsville (9-1).

The winner will be: Farrell

CLASS AA
The skinny: Four-time defending champion Wilmington (6-4) looks human this year and is seeded fifth. The top seed is Sharon (8-2) and General McLane's (9-1) lone loss came in Week One to Quad A Erie Strong Vincent.



The winner will be: General McLane

CLASS AAA
The skinny: Top-seeded Grove City (10-0) has been awesome to say the least, outscoring opponents 408-90 this season. Defending champion Erie Cathedral Prep (6-4) has a misleading record with three out-of-state losses and a defeat to WPIAL Quad A member Erie McDowell. Corry (8-2) and Oil City (8-2) both have tons of weapons as well, especially on the offensive side of the football.

The winner will be: Erie Cathedral Prep

CLASS AAAA
The skinny: This is a combined tournament with Districts 6 and 9 as well, although District 9's lone Class AAAA team DuBois elected not to enter. Central Mountain (5-5) went from needing a must-win last week for the school district to allow it to go to the postseason to having the top seed and a bye. That means Erie Strong Vincent (4-6) will host defending champ State College (4-6) in the semifinals. The Little Lions' schedule was brutal, and they started 0-5 before winning four of five to close the year.

The winner will be: State College

7. WPIAL crowns soccer, volleyball champions: The WPIAL crowned soccer and volleyball champions over the weekend.



In boys' soccer, Peters Township (McMurray) beat Pittsburgh Central Catholic 1-0 in double overtime for the Class AAA title, Hampton (Allison Park) topped Mars 4-1 for the Class AA crown and Seton LaSalle (Pittsburgh) beat Greensburg Central Catholic 3-0 for the Class A championship.

On the girls' side, Peters Township (McMurray) toppled Norwin 3-0 to win the Class AAA championship, Mars beat Beaver 2-0 for the Class AA title and Shady Side Academy (Pittsburgh) defeated Sewickley Academy 1-0 for the Class A crown.

In volleyball, Pine-Richland (Gibsonia) got a 3-1 win over Seneca Valley in Class AAA, while Freeport toppled Indiana 3-2 in Class AA and Frazier (Perryopolis) beat Bishop Canevin 3-0 in Class A.