McKeesport's George Smith said his football team has been passing a lot in practice this week.

Stop it, George. You're killing us.

What a knee-slapper -- McKeesport spending a large amount of time on passing. This is all you need to know about McKeesport's passing attack: The Tigers have played almost as many games as they have attempted passes.

So far this season, McKeesport has attempted 10 passes -- and the Tigers have played six games. Go ahead and laugh. McKeesport's offense is seriously good. The Tigers are fourth in the WPIAL in scoring at 42.3 points a game, have a 5-1 record and are the Post-Gazette's No. 2-ranked WPIAL Class AAAA team.

Smith's teams have never thrown much. The flexbone triple-option offense is designed for success running the ball. But 10 passes in six games is a little low, even for McKeesport.

"We have so many guys who can run the ball and they just get it and go. So why throw it?" Smith said.

McKeesport has six players who have carried at least 20 times and gained at least 175 yards. Nico Price leads with 404 yards on 57 carries. Sam Gooden has 352 on 21 attempts, Parris Perdue 304 on 26, Gabe Patterson 226 on 25, Darrian Robinson 224 on 29 and Ty-Meer Brown 178 on 29.

Brown and Perdue are McKeesport's quarterbacks and they play every other series. Smith has never used two quarterbacks before, but the venture is working.

"Can I be honest? The way we feel is that when our quarterback pitches the ball on an option, that is almost like a pass for us," Smith said. "The way a defense has to prepare to stop that is like the way they have to prepare to stop a pass."

The funny thing is, McKeesport has been highly successful when it throws. Brown is 4 of 8 and all four completions have gone for touchdowns. Perdue is 0 for 2.

While McKeesport's offense has been potent, the Tigers' defense also has been impressive, yielding only 48 points, second in Class AAAA behind Gateway.

McKeesport and Gateway will have a highly anticipated showdown Oct. 23.

"We tell the kids not to talk about that game, although we know they think about it," Smith said. "They're only kids."

At McKeesport, the kids are on the run.

"Some people think we don't even practice throwing," Smith said, " but actually we practice it quite a bit."

Please tip your waitresses. George will be here all week.

You have to be impressed with the job Pat Monroe has done in his first season as South Allegheny's coach.

Monroe, who was Duquesne's coach before the school closed in 2007, has guided South Allegheny to a 4-2 record. The Gladiators are tied for third place in the Class AA Interstate Conference.

In the previous 21 seasons, South Allegheny has finished above .500 only twice (5-4-1 in 1994 and 6-4 in 1988). In the past 10 seasons, South Allegheny has won more than three games only once. The team could win a playoff berth for the first time since 1986, when the Gladiators were 9-2-1, won a conference title and made it to the WPIAL semifinals.

Another turnaround is happening at Quaker Valley, where coach Jeff Besong has the Quakers at 3-3 and tied for fourth place in the Class AA Century Conference. The Quakers haven't made the playoffs since 1999 and were 13-62 in the following eight seasons.

Try to figure this one out: Mars is 0-2 at home, but 4-0 on the road. Mars is averaging 7 points at home, and 35 on the road.

Yes, competition has something to do with those numbers. Mars' two home games were against unbeaten Highlands (6-0) and Hopewell (4-2). But the road games haven't all been against Cupcake High. Mars has defeated Fox Chapel (4-2) and Franklin Regional (4-2) on the road.

Plum's Adam Stawski won the WPIAL boys' golf championship Tuesday, but his days at Plum are numbered.

Stawski will leave Plum Nov. 1 and enroll at IMG Academies David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Besides a few breaks, he will stay there until coming back to Plum one month before graduation.

"He's wanted to be a pro golfer ever since I took him to the driving range when he was 7 years old," said David Stawski, Adam's father. "Our problem is trying to get him a college scholarship. No coaches scout up in this area. IMG says they can almost guarantee him a college scholarship."

Here's one for the strange but true golf stories: North Hills' Ryan Fichter shot 78 and finished 15th at the WPIAL championships Tuesday at Diamond Run Golf Club, and qualified for the PIAA western regional. He would have finished higher if it wasn't for a two-stroke penalty on the first hole.

Fichter was getting ready to hit out of a sand trap when he walked to the top of the trap to check the slope of the green. On his way back to his ball, he grabbed the nearby rake and dragged it behind him, raking away his footprints.

"I just didn't want to have to walk back up to the top of the trap after I hit my shot, so I raked my footprints," Fichter.

Sorry. A player in Fichter's group called him on the move and Fichter was hit with a two-stroke penalty. In golf, a player can't touch the sand with anything before a shot.