ALTOONA —
Throughout the postseason, Bishop McCort coach Ken Salem and his Bishop Carroll counterpart, Craig Sponsky credited the level of competition their teams faced on a weekly basis in the LHAC with preparing them for the district playoffs.
Bishop Carroll entered the District 6 Class A field as the fourth seed and McCort joined as the No. 7. The two programs, each with a distinguished history of District 6, were underdogs on paper only.
After running the LHAC gauntlet of teams such as eventual 5-6 Class AA winner Forest Hills, 6-AAA champion Greater Johnstown and solid opponents Central Cambria, Penn Cambria and Richland, teams such as McCort and Carroll are battle-tested for the playoffs.
The same might be said for the Double-A and Triple-A squads.
For the second consecutive season, the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference produced champions in all three district title games involving District 6 squads. No LHAC teams play in Quad-A.
Johnstown won the 6-AAA crown two weeks ago against Bellefonte, 49-8.
On Friday, Forest Hills shut out top-seeded Tyrone 14-0 in the District 5-6 Class AA title game at Mansion Park.
On Saturday, Bishop Carroll and Bishop McCort guaranteed a conference winner in that class.
“It's great competition against Double-A and a Triple-A team in Johnstown,” Bishop Carroll senior fullback-defensive end David Kephart said after the Huskies beat Bishop McCort 32-13 in the 6-A final. “Forest Hills is one great football team we had the privilege of playing this year. It gets you prepared for games like this. We played a Laurel Highlands opponent in the final. We expect it. Laurel Highlands gets you at the top of your game and prepares you for the season.”
In 2009, Johnstown (AAA), Forest Hills (AA) and Bishop McCort (A) all won district titles. Bedford, another LHAC team, won District 5-AA in 2009 before the two districts merged their playoffs again in that classification this year.
The Bisons entered the 2009 5-AA playoffs one game under .500 (4-6) but rolled to a district title and advanced deep into the playoffs to finish 7-7.
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Bishops Battle: Bishop Carroll had won the only two district playoff meetings against Bishop McCort prior to Saturday’s 6-A title bout. The Huskies won 21-9 in the 1998 and 21-14 in 1999 – both 6-A semifinal contests.
The LHAC series between the two programs has a streaky pattern.
Bishop Carroll won the first five conference meetings in 2001 (34-14), 2002 (21-14), 2003 (34-8), 2004 (17-14) and 2005 (14-13, OT).
McCort took the next five in 2006 (27-7), 2007 (13-7), 2008 (31-7), 2009 (28-6) and this year (24-10).
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Up next: Clairton’s defense stepped up again as the Bears claimed the District 7 Class A title via a 12-0 victory over Rochester at Heinz Field on Saturday morning.
Clairton (13-0) next plays District 5 champion North Star (9-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Somerset Area High School.
The WPIAL champs posted their ninth shutout and have allowed a state-low 26 points in 13 games this season. Rochester finished with 64 yards of offense on 44 plays from scrimmage.
Bears versatile quarterback Desimon Green ran for a touchdown and threw for another on Saturday.
Last year Clairton edged Bishop McCort in the state championship game.
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It’s Sharon: Forest Hills (12-1) will play District 10-AA champion Sharon (11-2) at
1 p.m. Saturday at Slippery Rock University in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals.
Sharon defeated Hickory 14-6 for the District 10 crown.
Mike Mastovich is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.
Mike Mastovich
LHAC schedule preps teams for playoffs
- Mike Mastovich
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MIKE MASTOVICH | Roberts, Kent State up to old tricks
George Roberts and his Kent State University teammates reached a familiar destination on Saturday afternoon, but took a somewhat different route in winning their third consecutive Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season title.
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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. -
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Earlier this week, Steve Costea quietly reached the 300-win milestone as Somerset High School’s baseball coach.
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Mountain Cats no strangers to adversity
The Pitt-Johnstown baseball team has faced plenty of adversity this season. So, why should the fact that the Mountain Cats must finish on an extraordinary run to keep their postseason hopes intact create any additional pressure?
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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. -
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. -
No news, good news for Charity Classic
The Johnstown Tomahawks Charity Classic sold out in a Cambria County War Memorial Arena-record 7 minutes.
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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.” -
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. -
MIKE MASTOVICH | Movie teams renewing old rivalry
Once the initial pregame hoopla subsides, Johnstown (Ampipe) and Westmont Hilltop (Walnut Heights) must play a LHAC football game on Friday night at Trojan Stadium.
Until then, there’s plenty to talk about as showtime nears. - More Mike Mastovich Headlines
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