Juggernauts do not live by offense and defense alone. Upper St. Clair is a special team thanks, in part, to its special teams.

"We try to make our special teams a very important part of our team every year," said Panthers coach Jim Render. "Each of our coaches takes a segment of that. We don't have one guy do it all."

Upper St. Clair blocked two more punts last Friday, one by Grant Serdy, who picked up the ball and rambled 30 yards for a touchdown during a 24-14 victory at Mt. Lebanon.

Block parties are prevalent throughout the Upper St. Clair community during the summer. It's been almost a weekly occurrence with the Panthers this fall, as they've deflected a number of punts, converting three into TDs.

Render has a special interest in special teams for a reason. "I used to be a place-kicker and have always had an appreciation for the kicking game," he said. "We have an outstanding punter [Ben Fraudin] and an outstanding kicker [Alex Romanis]. And we have a lot of linebacker-type kids who like to cover and block kicks."

Serdy, a junior, and classmates Oliver Hawk and Rob Colditz have been punt blockers this season. Hawk has blocked several and returned two for scores.

The Panthers (9-0) enter the playoffs as a bona fide force, worthy of their No. 1 seed. They are the only unbeaten team in WPIAL Class AAAA, and are second in scoring in Quad-A (32.3 per game) and third in scoring defense (10.8).

Render's squad is expected to have a fruitful evening tomorrow when it tackles Plum (3-6) in a first-found game that will kick off at 7:30 off McLaughlin Run Road. The Mustangs are the Quad-A wild card, the fifth-place finisher from the Big East Conference. And the possessor of a victory against Mt. Lebanon.

Trivia question

Thirty years ago, a PG South team allowed only three touchdowns en route to a perfect regular season -- and didn't qualify for the playoffs. (This was three years after the WPIAL opened the postseason to all conference champs.) Who was this team and why was it denied?

Hampton faces KO without Paskorz

Keystone Oaks (6-3), the No. 2 seed from the Big Seven Conference, will tackle a familiar foe at 7:30 tomorrow evening -- and a diminished foe.

The Golden Eagles will face Hampton (4-5) in Class AAA first-round game at Dormont Stadium. Both were in the Greater Allegheny the past two years.

The Talbots smacked KO both times, 42-0 last season, 49-20 in 2004. But this time, they won't have Steve Paskorz.

A hamstring injury ended Paskorz's scholastic career a couple of weeks ago. His resume includes 4,000 career rushing yards, a Notre Dame commitment, and two torchings of KO: a school-record 330 yards in 2004 and 232 last season.

He had help

Bob Jacoby is ecstatic about his 200th coaching victory. Not because it was a milestone. Not because it ended a three-game slide. Not because it came against his alma mater.

"More significant than anything, it got us into the playoffs," said Jacoby, whose Bishop Canevin Crusaders edged North Catholic, 13-12, Saturday night to earn the No. 3 seed from the Big Seven.

The Crusaders (4-5) will tackle Riverview (7-2), the No. 2 seed from the Eastern Conference, on the road at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the first round of Class A play.

Jacoby has been a head coach for 34 seasons, all at the school six blocks from his Crafton home. He was an assistant at Canevin the previous five years, and for one season at Mon Valley Catholic.

His record is 200-145-7, which is praiseworthy. Just don't tell him.

"I get credit for this, when so many kids and coaches and parents have had so much to do with our success," Jacoby said. "A top rusher gets acclaim, but he certainly doesn't do it by himself."

City sights

The four City playoff qualifiers have been determined. Seeding will be settled this week, the last in league play.

Oliver (6-1) and Brashear (6-1) will get the top two seeds. If they end up tied, Oliver will be No. 1 based on the first tiebreaker, head-to-head play. The Bears beat the Bulls.

Both are favored this weekend. Oliver will face Westinghouse (1-7) at noon Saturday, the Bulls will meet Langley (0-8) at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Perry (5-2) and Schenley (5-2) will face off for third and fourth at 7 tonight.

Trivia answer

Duquesne. There were just two Class A conferences in 1976, and the top seed from each was to face off for the title. There were so many teams in the Dukes' conference, no one was able to face everyone else.

The Dukes were in a grouping that included several Beaver County teams. Going into the final week, Duquesne, Western Beaver and Midland were unbeaten. Duquesne had not played the other two, and were behind both in Gardner Points. That meant the Western Beaver-Midland winner in Week 9 would qualify; the Dukes were out.

Western Beaver beat Avella for the crown. A year later, Duquesne toppled Western Beaver in the title game.