CoverThreeAthletics Top 10 Best WPIAL Football Games From The 2018 Season (1-5)
Last season, Cody Ross helped Freedom Area get into the WPIAL football playoffs.
SOURCE: TRIB LIVE HSSN
Myself, along with my three other co-workers at "CoverThreeAthletics", picked 10 WPIAL football games, that were played in 2018, and we put those 10 games in a list of our "Top 10 WPIAL football games of 2018". This article will list the games that we had placed from 1-5.
#5. Freedom Area (7) @ Burgettstown (6) 11-9-18 (WPIAL 2A 2nd Round Playoff Matchup)
- There was only 13 points scored in this playoff football game; but that was because of the good defense that was played by both teams. Before the 2018 WPIAL football season started, we talked to Freedom Area football player, Cody Ross, and he was excited for the season.
He helped lead Freedom to the WPIAL playoffs in 2018 and he made big plays for the team in this game.
This game was ranked fifth on our list because it was one of the best defensive games of the season. A lot of people think that games with no scoring is boring; but this game was not boring because the defenses for both teams were good.
Cody Ross scored a rushing touchdown for Freedom in the game and he made an even bigger play later in the game. So, it's late in the fourth quarter, and Burgettstown has the ball with 1:30 left in the game as they are trailing 7-6. They were driving down the field about to get in field goal range for their field goal kicker. All of a sudden, a miscommunication play between Burgettstown's quarterback and running back led to a fumble in which Cody Ross recovered.
Burgettstown would eventually get the ball back with 48 seconds left; but, four straight incompletions ended the game and ended Burgettstown's season.
Freedom Area was considered the underdog in this game and the fact that they won shocked people. The way that Freedom reacted after winning the game made you feel happy for those kids as you can see that they really wanted to win.
#4. Bethel Park (35) @ West Allegheny (36) 9-7-18 (Week 2)
- West Allegheny and Bethel Park both made the WPIAL football playoffs in 5A. It would have been fun to see both teams play each other in the playoffs. However, the regular season matchup that they had back in September felt like a playoff game.
Throughout the whole game, the score was close. The game was tied at 21 halftime and tied at 28 going into overtime.
It's rare that you see overtime thrillers. Bethel Park had the first possession in overtime as their running back, Jehvonn Lewis, scored his third touchdown in the game. Their extra point attempt was good to give them the lead at 35-28.
Then, in West Allegheny's first possession of overtime, Dante Flati scored a rushing touchdown and that made the game 35-34 Bethel Park. So, you think all West Allegheny has to do is convert the extra point to extend overtime, right? Well, they wanted to end the game right then and there.
West Allegheny decided to attempt a 2-point conversion. If they made it, they would win the game. If they didn't make it, they would lose the game. West Allegheny quarterback, Kam Kruze, had the football his hands on the 2-point attempt and threw it in the back of the endzone to an open Isaac Longstreth. That catch by Longstreth gave West Allegheny the win. West Allegheny's student section was happy as they realized their team now had won their second straight game of the 2018 WPIAL football season.
We asked Kruze after the game if he was nervous before the 2-point attempt. "Not too nervous. We always had a time out if I didn’t like it," said Kruze.
#3. South Fayette (33) @ Upper St. Clair (34) 9-7-18 (Week 0)
- It's too bad that South Fayette and Upper St. Clair don't play each other more in sports. There would be a bigger rivalry between those two schools if they did. Both high schools separate each other by 20 minutes.
This game was basically the WPIAL football game of the week in Week 0. Two legendary coaches in Joe Rossi (South Fayette) and Jim Render (Upper St. Clair) faced off against each other. Anyone who attended this game knew they were in for a treat.
Upper St. Clair quarterback, Jason Sweeney, had himself a game in his first game as the starting quarterback for the Panthers. He threw four touchdowns in the game as the Pantellis brothers, Chris and David, caught all of Sweeney's touchdown passes. Their running back, Antonio Orsini, also scored a touchdown on an 80-yard run.
This was also the first football game that Jamie Diven played as a member of the South Fayette Lions. Diven also threw four touchdowns in the game as little did he know that the 2018 season was going to be one that he would never forget in his life. Joe Rossi's son, Charley, caught two of Diven's touchdown passes.
After Rossi caught his second touchdown pass with 3:04 left in the fourth quarter, South Fayette decided to go for 2 as they were down 34-33. If the Lions converted the two-point conversion, they would have a 35-34 lead. Diven threw an incomplete pass on the two-point conversion and Upper St. Clair still had the lead 34-33.
South Fayette would have the ball for one more drive in the game. With 0:35 left in the fourth quarter, Diven threw an interception that was picked off by Upper St. Clair player, Brandon Shearer, to end the game. That would be Render's 399th win as Upper St. Clair's head coach.
Even though South Fayette came out with the loss, they would later win 12 straight games that involved a WPIAL 4A championship win over Thomas Jefferson. This game showed that both South Fayette and Upper St. Clair were going to be good in 2018.
#2. Penn-Trafford (35) @ Peters Township (38) 11-9-18 (WPIAL 5A 2nd Round Playoff Matchup)
- After Penn-Trafford lost the first two games of the 2018 regular season, they won nine straight games to see themselves in the second round of the WPIAL 5A football playoffs.
I could tell you each scoring play that happened; but I won't go into too much detail to save you all time. Star players in the game such as Logan Pfeuffer & Josh Casilli (Peters Township), and Caleb Lisbon & Gabe Dunlap (Penn-Trafford) all helped their respected teams score.
Big players make big plays and the reason why this game was considered second in our "Top 10" list was because of the offensive scoring and the clutch play that Peters Township field goal kicker, Brian Bruzdewicz, made. The game was tied at 35 until Brian made a field goal for Peters Township with less than a minute left in the game to give his team the win by a score of 38-35.
Peters Township and Penn-Trafford both had their share of turnovers. Michael Peyton's second interception of the second half for Peters Township helped set up the game winning field goal made for Bruzdewicz. He also played soccer for Peters Township as he will continue his soccer career in college. He will play NCAA Division 1 Men's soccer at Duquesne University in the fall.
#1. South Fayette (31) @ Thomas Jefferson (24) 11-17-18 (WPIAL 4A Championship Game)
- A lot of people were not surprised that these two teams were in the WPIAL 4A championship game. Two legendary coaches faced off in this matchup in Joe Rossi (South Fayette) and Bill Cherpak (Thomas Jefferson).
It honestly looked like Thomas Jefferson quarterback, Shane Stump, was going to win his third straight WPIAL football championship in his junior year of high school. His team was winning 21-10 at halftime with all the momentum on their side.
South Fayette would rally back in the third quarter. Their quarterback, Jamie Diven, was not going to go down without a fight. Early in the third quarter, Andrew Franklin rushed for a touchdown for the Lions to make Thomas Jefferson's lead only 21-17. AJ Meshanko would later make a field goal for Thomas Jefferson to increase their lead to 24-17. Then in a span of 5 minutes, Diven would throw touchdown passes to Mike Trimbur, and Charley Rossi to give the Lions a 31-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.
South Fayette only scored 10 points in the first half and the fact that they were able to score 21 points in the third quarter was amazing!
With the game still 31-24 South Fayette with 0:47 left in the fourth quarter, Shane Stump was on the 8-yard line on 3rd & 7 trying to tie the game up for Thomas Jefferson. All they needed to do was to get 8 more yards to score a touchdown and convert an extra point to tie the game at 31.
So, on the third down play, the Thomas Jefferson Center, snapped the ball to Stump. Stump would then roll out right out of the pocket and throw a pass that was intended for his receiver, Bowen Dame. Dame was standing in the endzone and was open. However, Mike Trimbur would step in front of Dame to intercept the pass and lead South Fayette to a 31-24 win a WPIAL 4A football championship. Stump would have to wait to win another WPIAL football championship.
There are some moments in a person's life that they will remember for a lifetime. Trimbur will remember for the rest of his life having a game winning championship interception. He will play NCAA Division 1 Men's football at Cornell University.
No doubt, this was the most entertaining WPIAL football championship game of 2018. For us at "CoverThreeAthletics", this was our 2018 WPIAL Game of the Year.
BY Hilton: bythebossandgoat@gmail.com and Twitter @BYHilton13