First, it was the WPIAL record. Then, the state record. Now, Carmen Connolly has a chance at a national record.

Connolly, a senior receiver at Seton-LaSalle, caught nine passes for 178 yards in a 42-35 victory against Aliquippa yesterday in the WPIAL Class AA championship at Heinz Field.

He has 112 receptions this season, which ties him for 10th place all-time nationally with Cody Cardwell of Stephenville, Texas (1998).

But Seton-LaSalle's victory puts the Rebels into the PIAA quarterfinals next weekend. If they make it to the title game in Hershey Dec. 11, Connolly might have a chance at the national record of 132, set by Chris Martin of Nitro, W.Va., in 1997. Martin was J.R. House's top receiver. House is now a catcher in the Pirates' minor-league system.

Connolly (6 feet 1, 185 pounds) is averaging nine receptions a game. In the final regular-season game, he set the WPIAL record for receptions in a season with 86. One week later, he broke the state record (91).

Yesterday, Connolly had a terrific first half, catching seven passes for 151 yards. Seton-LaSalle scored the first 28 points and led at halftime, 35-13.

"I was a little surprised things opened up the way they did in the first half," said Seton-LaSalle quarterback Bill Stull.

Aliquippa came into the game with 23 interceptions, and the Quips had allowed 89 yards passing a game.

"Aliquippa was playing a lot of man-to-man on defense, and we were ready for that," said Greg Perry, Seton-LaSalle's offensive coordinator

"If you're going to play man, we think Carmen is better than any defensive back in the WPIAL. We thought with a little time, we could hit Carmen.

"It's tough to play man-to-man against us -- if we get some time to throw. We run a lot of rubs and crossing routes."

Connolly had two receptions in the second half.

"If we have enough time, I don't think anyone can stop our offense because it's high-powered and complex," Connolly said.

Stull chases record
Seton-LaSalle quarterback Bill Stull yesterday became the first quarterback in WPIAL history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. He has 3,195 yards and is close to the state record, even though it changed Friday night.

The state record was 3,224 yards, set by Clearfield's Chad Kroell in the 1990s. But Zach Frazer of Mechanicsburg broke Kroell's record two days ago in a 34-31 District 3 semifinal victory against Garden Spot. Frazer, a junior, passed for 339 yards in the victory and now has 3,500 for the season.

"I don't really care about that [state record]," Stull said. "We have the WPIAL title. That's all I care about."

Five for Cerro
Seton-LaSalle coach Lou Cerro has now been part of five championships. Besides yesterday, he won one two years ago. He was an assistant coach at Seton-LaSalle under Greg Gattuso in 1990 when the Rebels won the Class AAA championship. He also was an offensive lineman on two championship teams in 1979 and 1980.

Cerro wore a navy blue shirt on the sideline yesterday, making him look more suitable to coach West Mifflin in the Class AAA championship. West Mifflin's colors are blue and gold; Seton-LaSalle's are green and gold.

"I wore this shirt when we beat South Fayette down here [at Heinz Field] earlier this year," Cerro said. "I figured I'd wear it again."

The point of it all
The 77 points in the Class AA game set a record for most points in a championship game. The old record was 75, set in 1997 when West Allegheny defeated Brownsville, 51-24. Next is 69, set in 1976 when Western Beaver beat Avella 42-27.

In the Class A final yesterday, Rochester and Clairton combined for 29 points, the third-lowest total in a Class A final in the past 15 years. Coincidentally, Rochester was involved in the other two. Rochester defeated Monaca, 13-6, in the 2000 final and knocked off South Side Beaver, 20-7, in the 1991 championship.

Seton-LaSalle scored 21 points in the first quarter, which tied the most in the opening quarter in any championship game over the past 20 years. Central Catholic scored 21 in the first quarter last year and West Allegheny scored 21 in 1997.

Check this out
Clairton had four players attempt a pass in its loss to Rochester.

Clairton running back Dana Brown had 91 yards on 22 carries. It was the first time since the third game of the season he was held below 100. He finished the season with 2,137 yards. But, in two games against Rochester, he had only 194.