Chartiers Valley almost came up with the shocker of the season. The surprising Colts lost to Thomas Jefferson, the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked Class AAA team in the WPIAL and the state, 3-0, on a field goal with 7.9 seconds remaining.

Playing and staying with the top team in the state had to be something of a moral victory for Chartiers Valley, right?

Nope.

"We respect TJ. They're the No. 1 team in the state, but we're disappointed that we didn't win," Chartiers Valley coach Chris Saluga said. "We had our chances."

The Colts fumbled away a golden opportunity early in the fourth quarter. They lost the football at the Thomas Jefferson 5-yard line. Had they scored there, it might have been a different story.

"We went in thinking we had a chance against them and we did," Saluga said. "We weren't looking for a moral victory."

Chartiers Valley moved into the Post-Gazette's rankings in Class AAA this week. The Colts are No. 5.

"It took a loss for us to move up [in the rankings]," Saluga said with a laugh.

Perhaps Chartiers Valley, which is 6-2 and closes out the regular season at home against Keystone Oaks tomorrow night, hasn't been taken seriously enough this season. After all, the Colts' two losses have come against Thomas Jefferson and Montour, 7-0. Both are undefeated and ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in Class AAA.

All of which raises the question, is Chartiers Valley better than No. 3-ranked Pine-Richland and No. 4 Knoch?

The Wickline watch

Riverside running back Jake Wickline continues to rush toward the 4,000-yard mark for his career.

This past Friday, Wickline gained 120 yards on 21 carries in a victory against Laurel. That leaves him 189 yards short of 4,000 going into tomorrow night's home game against rival Ellwood City.

Riverside (7-1, 7-1) has secured a spot in the playoffs, so Wickline will have at least two more games in which to reach 4,000. For the season, he has 1,176 yards on 132 carries for a neat 8.9 yards per carry average. He has also scored 23 touchdowns.

The name game

Now that Beaver has made it Pat Tarquinio Field at Gypsy Glen Stadium, there are a few other schools that might think about honoring one of their own.

The field behind the Beaver Falls Middle School, which is complete with stands and lights, serves as a varsity practice field and is used for junior varsity, junior high and community football games. Why not name it Joe Namath Field after the school's most famous graduate? Or, better yet, why not name it Namath-Walton Field and add Robert Morris coach Joe Walton, who played at Beaver Falls, Pitt and in the NFL before turning to coaching?

At West Allegheny the field at Joe DiMichela Stadium could be named after coach Bob Palko. Palko has guided the Indians to three consecutive WPIAL Class AAA titles and a PIAA championship.

Western Beaver could name its stadium Rich Niedbala Field for the school's long-time coach who guided the Golden Beavers to three WPIAL Class A titles and had them in the final four other times.

And how about Joe Hamilton Field at Blackhawk's Northwestern Stadium in Darlington?

Finally, Rochester should consider naming the field at its stadium Lauryn Williams Field. After all, the Olympics medal winner spent as much time running around the turf there as anybody. Besides, it would be neat for a school to have a woman's name on its football field.

Tough task

South Side Beaver is 2-3 in the Class A Big Seven Conference, but still has a shot at a playoff spot. To do so, the Rams must defeat visiting Western Beaver (7-1, 5-0) Saturday afternoon.

Even if South Side loses, it could end up in a three-way tie with Avonworth (2-4) and North Catholic (1-4) if North Catholic defeats Bishop Canevin (0-5) tomorrow night.

If a three-way tie occurs, WPIAL tiebreaker points will be used to decide which team advances and that's where South Side could be in trouble.

So, the Rams best chance is to knock off Western Beaver.

This week's best bets

For those who can't make it to the Beaver Falls-Beaver game at Gypsy Glen Stadium tomorrow, here are a few other games worth the price of admission.

Montour (8-0, 5-0) at Hopewell (4-4, 2-3) tomorrow night at Tony Dorsett Stadium. Hopewell has been a disappointment and won't be in the playoffs, so the Vikings should be looking to make a statement against undefeated Montour.

Aliquippa (6-2, 6-1) at Center (4-4, 3-4) tomorrow night at Sarge Albert Stadium. Forget the records, Center always plays the neighboring Quips tough.

Monaca (6-2, 4-1) at Rochester (6-2, 4-1) tomorrow night. The Battle for the Bridge has lost some luster, considering it might not have Big Seven Conference title implications (that will depend on how current leader Western Beaver fares), but it will decide which team gets a home game in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.