Pittsburgh's Central Catholic makes statement as best in Class AAAA

PITTSBURGH – Central Catholic (Pittsburgh) made an early statement that it is the team to beat in the WPIAL Class AAAA with a 24-3 whipping of Bethel Park Friday night.

But don't tell head coach Tony Totten that. He wants none of the No. 1 team talk.

"I still have a lot of questions about us," Totten told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We had a number of linemen out there (Friday night) who were making only their second varsity start. And, who knows what else is out there. I think (Class AAAA) is very open."

What is known is Central Catholic, ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps, has plenty of weapons on offense and a tough defense.

Those offensive weapons start with Damion Jones-Moore, who ran for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Black Hawks, ranked No. 25 by MaxPreps. They continue with quarterback Perry Hills, who was 13 of 18 passing for 183 yards while also running for a touchdown, and wide receiver Anthony Nixon, who had seven grabs for 96 yards. And the scary thing is all three offensive stars are juniors.

"They're real physical, and they have a lot of good skill kids," Bethel Park head coach Jeff Metheny told the Post-Gazette.

Defensively, the Vikings are just as tough if not tougher having limited two very good teams (Buchtel, Ohio, is the other one) to nine total points through two weeks.

"They are very quick on defense," Metheny told the Post-Gazette.

2. Shell rolls 300-plus on Montour but it isn’t enough: Hopewell (Aliquippa) running back Rushel Shell continued his assault on the record books with a 303-yard rushing performance Friday night against Montour (McKees Rocks), but it wasn't enough to get the Vikings the win thanks to a late Spartan touchdown.

With the game tied at 29 in the final minute, Montour’s Devin Wilson caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dillon Buechel with 51 seconds to play to give the Spartans a 36-29 win. Wilson finished the night with seven catches for 129 yards and three scores helping offset the night Shell had. Hopewell actually led 20-0 in the first half before Montour stormed back.

The junior not only topped the 300-yard mark on the ground but also scored three rushing touchdowns and added a receiving score to boot (he had two catches for 54 yards giving him 357 total yards of offense). Shell is now 269 yards shy of becoming 52nd player in Pennsylvania history to gain 5,000 career rushing yards.

3. Three additional WPIAL runners break 200 yards Friday night: Shell wasn't the only WPIAL back to have a big night Friday night, as three additional runners all surpassed the 200-yard mark.

North Allegheny (Wexford) back Alex Papson rushed for 240 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-0 shutout of Butler. The Tigers are ranked 23rd in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps. Laurel (New Castle) player Dylan Jones had 235 yards and three scores in a 38-26 shootout win over Jeannette and Union Area (New Castle) back Drew Robinson added 209 yards and two touchdowns in a 46-13 victory over Avella.

4. Buganza watch: Derek Buganza of Brockway threw for 247 more yards and a touchdown in the Rovers' 49-34 win at Port Allegany Saturday, giving him 7,304 passing yards in his career. The senior is just 1,241 yards behind Lancaster Catholic's Kyle Smith's state-record 8,545 yards. In Week One, he became just the ninth passer in Pennsylvania history to go over 7,000 career passing yards, and against Port Allegany he passed current Miami Dolphin starting quarterback Chad Henne (Wilson-West Lawn – 7,071 yards) and current Pitt back-up quarterback Pat Bostick (Manheim Twp. – 7,260 yards) to move into sixth place all-time in Pennsylvania. Next on the list will be former Notre Dame star Ron Powlus (Berwick – 7,342 yards) and Lakeland graduate Evan Kraky (7,447 yards).

5. Brockway’s Vervoort named RRR Roadhouse D9Sports.com District 9 Player of the Week: While Buganza was having another nice game in Brockway's win at Port Allegany, it was actually the play of emergency running back Mike Vervoort that stole the headlines. Vervoort, a wide receiver forced to play running back because of injuries, ran for a career-high 193 yards and three touchdowns while also catching three passes for 44 yards and was named the RRR Roadhouse D9Sports.com District 9 Player of the Week for his efforts.

6. Erie McDowell off to fast start: In its first official year as a member of the WPIAL (The Trojans were playing a WPIAL schedule prior to this season but weren't eligible for the playoffs), McDowell (Erie) is off to a quick 2-0 start including wins over previously ranked Erie Cathedral Prep 34-7 in Week One and then a shootout win over Baldwin 44-36 Friday night.

So far, the Trojans have been doing it with a ground-pounding game that has seen them throw just 15 passes in two games. But the ground has been kind to McDowell, as it has averaged 363.5 yards per game rushing and 7.9 yards per carry. Quarterback Collin Kimball has rushed for 310 of those yards including a 195 yards in the win over Baldwin, while Greg Garmon has added 214 including 152 vs. rival Cathedral Prep.

7. Chartiers Valley’s Capers misses game: Chartiers Valley (Bridgeville) quarterback Wayne Capers, the son of former NFL wideout Wayne Capers, missed the Colts' 9-6 loss to Trinity Friday night with an undisclosed injury. Capers threw for 320 yards in a 35-28 loss to Montour in Week One. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Capers' return date is unknown, but he will have the injury examined this week. His injury continues to muddle the Class AAA playoff picture, which already has seen Wisconsin recruit Mike Caputo of West Allegheny lost to a dislocated ankle in Week One.