Seven unbeatens in area football

Related Photos

Cory Isenberg File Photo

Discussion

September 16, 2012

Seven unbeatens in area football

BY CORY ISENBERG cisenberg@tribdem.com The Tribune-Democrat Mon Sep 17, 2012, 10:36 AM EDT

JOHNSTOWN — Three weeks down, seven to go in the high school football regular season.

As with most years, there are some teams that have forged to the top and some that have struggled. There has also been a sprinkling of surprises.

There are seven area squads that are 3-0.

Penn Cambria, Richland and Somerset top the Laurel Highlands with spotless records. From the WestPAC, Berlin Brothersvalley, Blacklick Valley and Windber are all unbeaten while Ligonier Valley and surprising Homer-Center are undefeated in the Heritage.

Among all of the undefeated squads, both of the Rams squads have scored the most points. Ligonier Valley has accrued 159 points and Richland has 135.

Defensively, Ligonier allowed its first points of the season with the 15 that Blairsville scored against them last Friday, but Penn Cambria has given up just seven points in the Panthers’ first three games.

Forest Hills, 2-1, has had two shutouts and allowed just 10 points in its loss to Bishop McCort while North Star has given up 20 points.

The Mountaineers defense has yielded 21 points and the Golden Eagles have given up 27 points.

There are still eight area teams looking for those elusive first wins.

Among the surprises have been some of the squads that were flying under the radar, including Somerset and Portage.

The Golden Eagles victory over Bishop McCort was their first over the Crimson Crushers in 23 meetings and added an impressive legitimacy to their 3-0 record.

The 2-1 Mustangs opened many eyes with their Week 1 victory at North Star over the Cougars, who were touted as preseason favorites in the WestPAC.

Northern Cambria got off to a strong start with its Week 1 victory over Penns Manor, but stumbled against the Wildcats the second week before getting back on track against United.

The Colts will face a huge challenge this week against Blairsville, which held its own for a time against Ligonier Valley last week.

The brother combination of sophomore quarterback Scott Thompson to older sibling Bobby has helped the Bobcats to their 2-1 record.

Bishop Guilfoyle has also raised some eyebrows with its 2-1 record and has a meeting with Forest Hills this week.

In terms of district rankings, Somerset is just behind unbeaten Clearfield in District 6 Class AAA while Penn Cambria is tied with Bald Eagle Area atop District 6-AA followed by Richland and Ligonier.

In the very competitive District 6 Class A battle, the top four teams are all unbeaten with Juniata Valley sitting on top, followed by Bellwood-Antis, the Wildcats and the Vikings.

State College and DuBois are both 3-0 In Class AAAA.

In District 5 Class A, Northern Bedford sits on top at 3-0 followed by the Mountaineers and the Ramblers. In Class AA, Chestnut Ridge is 1-2 while Bedford and Everett are each 0-3.

__________________________

Finishing what they started: Ferndale will head back to Conemaugh Valley at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday so the teams can complete their Week 1 contest.

The game was called because of lightning with the Blue Jays leading 40-18. There was 7:35 remaining in the third quarter.

Both teams are 0-2.

Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.

To read stories in their entirety, visit one of these links:

Click here to subscribe to The Tribune-Democrat print edition.

Click here to subscribe to The Tribune-Democrat

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Local Columnists

Local Columnists
Robin L. Quillon
Chip Minemyer
Tom Lavis
Mike Mastovich
Cory Isenberg
Eric Knopsnyder
Ralph Couey
Zachary Hubbard
Michele Bender
Bill Eggert
David Knepper
William Lloyd

July 6, 2010
MIKE MASTOVICH: Junior put his stamp on tourney
This year, Junior won’t be on the Point Stadium field for the pregame hoopla associated with opening night of the 69th annual AAABA Tournament.
He won’t watch as dozens of Corvettes and hundreds of baseball players enter through the left-field gate with their respective teams from cities such as Baltimore, New Orleans, New Brunswick and Altoona.

May 12, 2013 1 Photo
MIKE KOVAK| Blending schedules a challenge for athletic directors
Bishop McCort basketball gets it. So does Greater Johnstown basketball.
Go ahead and count Somerset baseball among the mix. The same goes for Ligonier Valley softball and Northern Cambria volleyball.
What is it that these different programs from various locations within The Tribune-Democrat coverage area get exactly?

May 10, 2013 1 Photo
CORY ISENBERG| Stakes rise as schedules shrink
There are fewer events on the daily high school sports schedules, but the stakes are going up for area athletes as the spring season heads into its final weeks.
In track and field, the three area conferences will hold their championship meets this week.
In Portage today, the WestPAC athletes will gather for their championships while the Laurel Highlands and Heritage meets will be on Tuesday at Somerset and United, respectively.

May 5, 2013 1 Photo
MIKE MASTOVICH | Stockenus' scoring feat is impressive
Shanksville senior Kayla Stockenus’ surpassing the 2,000-point mark in Tuesday’s loss to Windber brought a rare milestone back into the area’s spotlight.
While 1,000-point scorers have become fairly common in both boys and girls basketball, 2,000 is a much more rare feat.

February 6, 2013 1 Photo
MIKE MASTOVICH | Basketball statistics get their due
“Heroes of the Hardwood” makes its debut in this edition of The Tribune-Democrat.
“Heroes” is the extension of our statistical spotlight on area student-athletes. Our “Legends of the Fall” football stats package has run on Thursdays for the past decade or so.

January 16, 2013 1 Photo
CORY ISENBERG| Season coming into focus early
It’s still only the second week of the high school hoops season and already some patterns are beginning to emerge and two players have topped the 1,000-point plateau.
With a strong starting rotation returning, the defending District 5 Class A champion Shade boys have their eyes set high again this season and are currently 6-0. The Panthers emerged with the tournament title from the 35th annual Mountain Cat Tournament at Pitt-Johnstown over the weekend, downing a talented Northern Bedford squad in the title game to win the championship.

December 16, 2012 1 Photo
MIKE MASTOVICH | Players benefit from solid foundation
Dalvin Williams and Gap Barbin are two of the area’s most dominating players this football season, but the foundation of their respective success might be traced to last season.
That’s when Williams, Johnstown’s big-play senior linebacker, learned valuable lessons while playing on a unit led by Tribune-Democrat Defensive Player of the Year Alkwan Williams.
“I just watched them in practice and learned from them and how they reacted to plays and how fast they could read them,” said Dalvin Williams, the area’s leading tackler with 91 stops through six weeks. “I picked it up from there.”

October 10, 2012
CORY ISENBERG| Lonely Lions looking for company
Chestnut Ridge is courting a new conference relationship for football.
In late September, the Ridge school board voted unanimously to give Lions Athletic Director Mark Clevenger the green light to send a letter of application to the Mountain League for football only, beginning in 2014.

October 7, 2012 1 Photo
MIKE MASTOVICH| Shade senior piling up the yardage
Shade’s Brock Medva darted his way to the top of the area rushing statistics and landed in the No. 4 spot in the state, according to MaxPreps.com.
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior back gained 338 yards on 22 carries last Saturday at Ferndale. Medva scored three touchdowns in a 35-12 win.

September 26, 2012 1 Photo
More Local Columnists Headlines

Local Columnists

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Seven unbeatens in area football

Do we have too many economic development agencies in our area?

Contact Us