Deer Lakes, Southmoreland have shot at WPIAL Playoffs

As the 2010 WPIAL football regular season winds its way toward an end in two weeks, the playoff races are starting to heat up.

The most intriguing storyline may be that two of the longest WPIAL playoff droughts may end this season.

Deer Lakes (Russellton), which plays in the Class AA Allegheny Conference, is the only one of the 119 teams in the WPIAL that has played football for the last two decades that has never made the playoffs. Southmoreland (Alverton), which plays in the Class AA Interstate Conference, has the third-longest streak among teams that have played football for at least two decades, last making the postseason in 1979, 31 years ago.

Of the two, Deer Lakes would appear to be the better bet to end the drought.

The Lancers are 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Allegheny Conference following a 35-21 win over Freeport last week. They are in second place a game back of Ford City, which beat Deer Lakes 44-16, and a game ahead of Burrell, Freeport and Shady Side Academy, with the top four in that group making the postseason. Deer Lakes hosts Burrell (Lower Burrell) Friday and is at Shady Side Academy Oct. 29 to close out the regular season. Freeport is at winless West Shamokin (Rural Valley) this week and 3-4 Summit Academy (Herman) in Week nine. Burrell hosts Ford City in Week nine and Shady Side Academy (Pittsburgh) is at Summit Academy this week.

"My wife and I went to a social function (Saturday night) and everyone was talking about the (Freeport) game and how they're so proud and happy," Deer Lakes head coach Todd Hazlett told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "That's a big change. In years past, people were almost offering condolences."

The five wins this year already equals the total of the last three seasons, and Deer Lakes hasn’t finished better than 2-7 (its record the last two years and four of the last five) since going 4-5 in 2004 when it still missed the postseason by two games. The win last week means the Lancers will have their first winning season since 1995.

"The big key has been my senior players," Hazlett told the newspaper. "This group just dedicated themselves in the offseason and just thoroughly convinced themselves they were going to be successful this year."

Southmoreland, meanwhile, is 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the Interstate Conference. The Highlanders, who are coming off a 39-0 win over Charleroi, are a game behind Mount Pleasant (4-2) for the fourth and final playoff spot and 1 ½ games (one in the loss column) back of third-place East Allegheny (5-2). Southmoreland faces winless Yough this week, and if it beats the Cougars, will most likely be playing for a postseason bid when it travels to Mount Pleasant Oct. 29.

2. Eight conference races till tied at the top: In half of the WPIAL's 16 football conferences, races for the conference titles are tied heading into the final two weeks of the season, including seven of them between teams without a conference loss.

* In Class AAAA, McKeesport and Gateway (Monroeville) are both 4-0 in the Foothills Conference with the Tigers traveling to Gateway Oct. 29. Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair are both 3-0 in the Great Southern Conference with the Blue Devils hosting USC Oct. 29.

* Class AAA has three ties. In the Great Allegheny Conference, Knoch (Saxonburg) and Mars are both 4-0 with the teams meeting Oct. 30 at Mars. In the Keystone Conference, Joe Montana’s Alma Mater Ringgold is tied for the top spot with Franklin Regional at 5-0 with Ringgold hosting Franklin Regional Friday night. A Franklin Regional win could set the stage for a three-way tie for first place, as the Panthers host one-loss Greensburg Salem, which lost to Ringgold 14-7. The Parkway Conference features a pair of 5-0 teams at the top with Montour hosting West Allegheny Friday night.

* In Class AA, Seton LaSalle (Pittsburgh) and South Fayette (McDonald) are tied at 5-0 in the Century Conference with the Lions facing Seton-LaSalle Thursday night. In the Interstate Conference, long-time rivals Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette are both 6-0 with GCC hosting the Jayhawks Oct. 29.

* Class A currently features only one tie, but it is a doozy of a deadlock with Avonworth (Pittsburgh), Canevin Catholic (Pittsburgh) and Springdale all at 5-1 in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of 4-2 North Catholic (Pittsburgh) and Riverview (Oakmont). Avonworth lost to Bishop Canevin 21-14 way back in Week one before beating Springdale 26-10 the following week. Springdale, though, rolled past Bishop Canevin 35-0 Oct. 1. Avonworth plays winless first-year program Our Lady of Sacred Heart this week and two-win Northgate in Week nine, Bishop Canevin plays Riverview this week and North Catholic in Week nine and Springdale plays two-win Leechburg this week and Riverview in Week nine.

3. Shell carries Hopewell back into contention: Rushel Shell looks like a man on a mission. The Hopewell (Aliquippa) junior running back put together his second straight 300-yard game (302 yards, 3 touchdowns) in a 26-22 win over Central Valley Friday night that lifted the Vikings into a tie with CV for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Class AAA Parkway Conference. Hopewell (3-4 overall, 2-3 conference) plays 2-5 Ambridge this week and 6-1 West Allegheny (Imperial) in Week nine, while Central Valley (Monaca) (4-3, 2-3) plays 5-2 Blackhawk (Beaver Falls) this week and Ambridge in Week nine.

Shell's second big game (he had 392 yards against New Castle the week before) gives him 1,705 yards for the season and 5,961 yards for his career. According to the Post-Gazette, he needs 295 yards to become the fourth player to rush for 2,000 yards in the regular season joining himself last year (2,043), Laurel Highlands' (Uniontown) Jim Smith (2,026 in 1989) and Mars’ Ben Bair (2,112 in 2007). Shell also needs just 39 yards to become the 21st runner in Pennsylvania history to eclipse the 6,000 career-yard mark.

4. An inside look at Derek Buganza’s Pennsylvania career passing record: When Brockway's Derek Buganza broke Pennsylvania's career passing mark Saturday night against Elk County Catholic, he did it with a 268-yard, one-touchdown performance that gave him 8,549 yards in his career. It marked the 22nd time in 29 career games he has thrown for at least 250 yards and the 26th time in 29 contests he has thrown a touchdown pass.

WHAT’S IN STORE IN WEEK 8
1. West Allegheny at Montour: As mentioned above, both teams are 5-0 in the WPIAL Class AAA Parkway Conference with Montour (McKees Rocks) sporting a 7-0 overall record and West Allegheny (Imperial) a 6-1 mark.

Montour is a well-balanced team with 1,227 passing yards and 1,475 rushing yards this season.

Quarterback Dillon Buechel leads the offense completing 58 percent of his passes (83 of 143) for 1,227 yards, 15 touchdowns and three picks. His top targets are Devin Wilson (30 catches, 534 yards, 7 TDs) and Darren Massey (26 catches, 369 yards, 3 TDs) while Julian Durden leads the rushing attack with 1,140 yards and 13 scores while averaging 8.77 yards per carry.

West Allegheny (Imperial) has more than survived the injury to star running back/linebacker Mike Caputo, a Wisconsin recruit, thanks to the steady play of running backs Aaron McKinney (650 yards, 12 TDs) and Alex Sinclair (412 yards, 5 TDs) and first-year starting quarterback Dylan Bongiorni (50 of 79, 794 yards, 7 TDs, 1 Int).

2. Port Allegany at Cameron County: In District 9’s Allegheny Mountain League Northern Division, Cameron County (Emporium) has shook off an 0-2 start to find itself alone in first place in the conference at 5-2, while Port Allegany has survived a 1-3 start to climb to 4-3, within a game of the Red Raiders.

Cameron can clinch its fourth straight division title with a victory Friday night, but a Port win would mean the Gators need only to beat rival Coudersport in Week nine to claim their first divisional title since 2000.

Running back Jason Blose, the starting quarterback the last two seasons, leads Cameron County with 747 yards rushing and six touchdowns in only five games, while new starting quarterback Zack Austin has 333 yards rushing and five scores while going 26 of 69 passing for 399 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Running back Andrew Fragale (383 yards rushing, 6 TDs) gives the Red Raiders three players with at least 300 yards rushing.

Quarterback Matt Bodamer (62 of 100, 1,222 yards, 13 TDs, 4 Ints; 388 yards rushing, 8 TDs) leads Port Allegany and gets plenty of help from running back Seth Lowery (609 yards, 4 TDs) and wideout Camrin Stuckey (21 catches, 421 yards, 8 TDs).