The high school football season came to a disappointing end on Friday for the McKeesport Tigers, but coach George Smith and his staff are still hard at work.

"We work on film packages for each of our seniors who are interested in continuing their football career in college," Smith said. "We'll get together almost every day after school until Christmas."

That's where you see just how much of a labor of love coaching can be.

"It's a lot of extra work, but it's something we as coaches should do to help our graduating seniors," Smith said. "The price of a college education is out of reach for many parents. Our goal is to get scholarships or financial help for as many of our seniors as possible."

McKeesport had 27 seniors on this year's squad, which finished with a 9-3 record.

"If you include the [NCAA] Division II and Division III schools, we have at least 15 or 16 kids who have a legitimate shot at playing college football," Smith said.

Smith and his coaching staff use Landro's play analysis software for cataloging its film.

"We pick 25 highlights on each player, then package each with a game tape that showcases that player's best game," Smith said. "We even have some of the seniors working on their own tapes. It's so rewarding to watch a player sign a letter of intent. It shows me our hard work has paid off."

McKeesport will have at least two Division I recruits, defensive tackle Dana Brown and fullback/linebacker Nico Price.

"Dana is the best defensive lineman in Quad-A," Smith said. "Kent State, Ohio University, Buffalo, Delaware and Temple have offered him a scholarship. The same schools have made offers to Nico. Some want him as a linebacker, while others want him to play fullback."

McKeesport earned its 11th consecutive WPIAL Class AAAA playoff berth by placing second in the Foothills Conference.

"We are the second smallest school competing in Class AAAA in the state of Pennsylvania," said Smith, citing PIAA enrollment figures. "To have such great success for so many years is a tribute to the kids, the junior high and midget programs, and especially my coaching staff. Most of my coaching staff has been with me all 28 years."

McKeesport earned its third semifinal berth in four years with victories in the first two rounds. The third-seeded Tigers played Upper St. Clair in the first round and survived a 34-28 shootout. In the quarterfinals, McKeesport recorded a 28-6 win against Central Catholic.

"Overall, it was a good season," Smith said. "Things didn't work out at the end like we had hoped, but I'm pleased with our effort."

Smith was referring to Friday's semifinal game against Bethel Park, which was played at North Allegheny. The Black Hawks (12-0) remained unbeaten with a narrow 20-13 victory against McKeesport.

"We were penalized 11 times for 100 yards and they had one penalty for 5 yards," Smith said. "I haven't had a chance to look at the replay of the penalties, but a few were questionable."

McKeesport's high-powered offense averaged 38.2 points per game. The Tigers had three backs finish with 500 or more rushing yards. Price led the trio of ground gainers with morew than 1,000 yards, while quarterback Ty-Meer Brown added 645 and Sam Gooden had a little more than 500.

Two of the three are underclassmen -- Brown is a junior and Gooden a sophomore.

"We lose a talented group of seniors every year," Smith said. "This year's team also had a good mix of juniors and sophomores who saw considerable playing time."

Ty-Meer Brown and Gooden are among eight underclassmen who saw considerable playing time on offense. Four others return on defense, which gives Smith a good nucleus from which to build next year's squad.