Just Another WHAT IF? Situation
Pine Richland Rams football and basketball player Kenny White had a fun Senior Year has he won the WPIAL 6A football championship in November and won the PIAA 6A football championship in December. It is clear that he accomplished what he wanted in football when he transferred to the school last March. He was a force on the basketball court as well for the Rams but the team just was short of winning the WPIAL 6A basketball championship and short of getting to the PIAA 6A basketball championship game. Kenny White has now 2 WPIAL football championship rings with two different teams (West Allegheny and Pine Richland).
This football season Kenny rushed for 633 yards for Pine Richland while last year he rushed for 1,313 yards with West Allegheny. Kenny didn't have to rush for that many yards this year because Pine Richland's offense is balance with passing and rushing. Pine Richland's quarterback Phil Jurkovec kind of helped taked the load off Kenny a little as Phil rushed for 1,211 yards. That helped Kenny a little knowing that Jurkovec would run when he wanted to do so that gave Kenny a little extra time to focus more on playing defense.
Montour football player Brandon Lipford turned the Montour football program around this year as he got them into the playoffs and he got them to the WPIAL 4A championship game. But the Spartans lost in the championship game however to Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson knocked Montour out in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs in the 2016 season so Thomas Jefferson had their way with Montour in the past two years. Lipford had 664 receiving yards this year which was worst than the 797 receiving yards he had with West Allegheny last season. Lipford has been in situations of knowing what it takes to win games and the practice it takes to get to the top so he helped his fellow Montour teammates succed and know how to win games. If Lipford could've won two WPIAL championships with two different teams just like White would've been pretty awesome.
I could bet money that if you ask White and Lipford right now if they wished they didn't transfer to the schools they went to and stay in West Allegheny they would say no. Both of them became better leaders at the school they went to and they got the recognition for that by other Pittsburgh high school sports writers and media websites.
But as I am typing this article I think to myself what could've happened if White and Lipford stayed at West Allegheny. Other people might have their own opinons on what they think could've happened if they both stayed there but what I think could've happened is that they would've became section champions in the 5A ALLEGHENY NINE CONFERENCE instead of Upper Saint Clair and have a 8-0 record in conference play instead of 6-2. I feel that with White and Lipford there they would've demolished all the teams that WEST A played in the regular season no matter who the quarterback was for their team. And they would've lost to Moon or Upper Saint Clair. Those two games they lost in the regular season were both away by the way. Instead of the 5 or 6 different running backs the Indians used during the season it would only be White doing all the heavy work. I felt that if White was still with the Indians that he would get more attention there than he did in Pine Richland. But that maybe just because Pine Richland has so many good players and stars on offense, defense and special teams. But anyway I feel if they were both there they would become Section champs and they would easily defeat Franklin Regional at home and then move on to play Penn Trafford and make that one play to get them back to the WPIAL championship game at Heinz Field and play Gateway and I could not even predict if they could win that game or not.
All I am trying to say in the end is that Lipford and White had productive senior years and the schools they went to and that if they stayed in West Allegheny that the Indians could've won back to back WPIAL football championships even though their was no quarterback like Nick Ross on that team and I think deep down in Bob Palko's mind he thinks that could be possible. And it is just something interesting to think about.