Highlands football coach Sam Albert is optimistic -- but he also has a clearly discernible caution when he speaks about the Golden Rams' 3-0 start to the season.

"You have to keep your kids level-headed when something like this happens," Albert said of a stretch in which the Rams beat Fox Chapel Area, Albert Gallatin and Indiana. "You can get excited about winning and you should get excited about winning, but you have to sit back and say, 'You know, we need to take this thing week by week and not ever look ahead.'"

This week's opponent in a non-conference home game for Highlands is Uniontown (1-2), a squad that posted an impressive 37-0 win against Albert Gallatin last week.

So as it stands, Highlands will head into tomorrow looking to make it 4-0 and, truth be told, not a whole lot of people expected as much because of a lack of experience on the roster. Highlands returned just two starters on offense this year, and the same number on defense.

Junior running back/linebacker Billy Devlin returned this year as did senior two-way lineman Robert Rutkowski.

That stat, though, is a tiny bit of a misnomer.

"We only had two starters back, but we have a lot of juniors and seniors on the team this season," Albert said. "They were just hard-working kids the past couple of years who were behind some kids in the grade above them."

Also, Albert has raved about the improvement made by junior quarterback Jeff Sinclair, who is 23 for 43 for 293 yards and three touchdowns heading into the Uniontown game.

Big Mac Attack continues

Last week in this notebook, the merits of Knoch junior running back Tim McNerney were outlined. McNerney started the season as a guy who was in the mix at running back for Knights coach Mike King, but definitely not a guy who many expected to be among the top running threats in the WPIAL.

Well, McNerney has turned into exactly that, as he rolled for 233 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead Knoch (2-1, 1-0) to a 28-point Greater Allegheny Conference win against Greensburg Salem.

McNerney has quickly become one of the best storylines in the WPIAL, but a big test comes tomorrow when Pine-Richland pays a visit.

Coaches react to 'spy games'

The Bill Belichick spying story and subsequent fallout has enthralled National Football League fans for a couple of weeks now. So it was only natural to ask a few PG North coaches their thoughts about the situation and here's what they had to say:

Highlands coach Sam Albert: "I think what Belichick did was over the line. Anything that gives you an unfair advantage, well, I just don't agree with."

Shady Side Academy coach Dave Havern: "I'm surprised by it, but you would think it probably happens at every level to some degree. From Little League on up, people are trying to steal signs and get an advantage. This situation, though, is almost like Richard Nixon when he was going to win 49 states anyway because the Patriots are very good as it is without doing anything like this."

Avonworth coach Jason Kekseo: "It just shows that, with anything, there are people working to try to cheat the system and other people, [NFL commissioner] Roger Goodell in this case, who are working to try to stay on top of them. It is driven by competition, but this time, it went too far."

Legging it out

Seneca Valley is off to a 2-1 start with back-to-back wins against Penn-Trafford in Week 2 and then a 19-0 shutout against Kiski Area this past Friday.

One reason the Raiders are off to the hot start is the leg of kicker Ryan Zipf.

Against Kiski Area, he booted a second quarter field goal of 23 yards and added a fourth quarter effort from an impressive 42 yards.

Zipf is tied for the WPIAL lead in field goals with Drew Hareza of South Fayette. Both have kicked four overall in the first three games.

You tell me

Last week's question was "What has been the biggest surprise in the PG North area this season?"

Some responses are as follows:

Barb of Ross: "The way Art Walker has turned North Allegheny around."

Tom of Huntingdon: "My biggest 'surprise' is the total collapse of Butler football, a once powerful, proud powerhouse. And while enrollment has shrunk substantially over the seasons, it's still one of the biggest schools in the WPIAL."

Mark of Rochester, N.Y.: "The biggest surprise has to be those 3-0 Shaler Area Titans. I'm a 1987 graduate and it is good to see Shaler back where it belongs as one of the best teams in the north suburbs."

Now for this week's question, and it is a simple one:

Should the high school football season be shortened?

Please send me your email responses with your name and hometown by next Monday morning and I'll include some of the better responses in next week's notebook.