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The Fumbler: Pardon this interruption
Weekly high school football picks
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Fumbler rarely watches MTV, but the batteries in the remote control died the other night as he was flipping through the stations, so his screen was stuck on the station that used to show videos.

On came this Kanye West character, and for some reason he jumped on stage and interrupted this precious little girl who had just won some kind of award.

It really was an awful scene.

Shame on Kanye. Interrupting someone rarely is acceptable behavior. But there are a few times The Fumbler can live with it.

When some public address announcers at high school football games try to be play-by-play announcers, The Fumbler is all for interruption.

When The Fumbler goes to basketball games with his cousin, The Dribbler, and people scream "three seconds!" even though the ball keeps hitting the rim, The Fumbler is all for interruption.

When Serena Williams screams at tennis officials, The Fumbler is all for interruption.

What cannot be interrupted is this: The Fumbler's ability to do very well prognosticating games. Last week, he was 52-14 (.787 percentage). His season record is 105-31 (.772 pct.).

Here are his views on this weekend's top matchups:

Aliquipppa (2-0 overall, 1-0 in conference) at Beaver Falls (2-0, 2-0), 7:30 p.m. today -- Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac has been saying how this is not a great Aliquippa team because of its inexperience and the presence of only a handful of seniors. He is right. The Quips might be pretty good by the end of the year, but they are not in Beaver Falls' class right now. Winner: Beaver Falls.

Upper St. Clair (2-0, 0-0) at North Allegheny (2-0, 0-0), 7:30 p.m. today -- The Fumbler will attend this game and have his favorite pregame meal at Popcorn N That, which is a stone's throw away from North Allegheny. He might bring some of the popcorn into the stadium and enjoy the show because this could be a good one. Upper St. Clair quarterback Alex Park might be the difference. Winner: Upper St. Clair.

Belle Vernon (2-0, 0-0) at Chartiers Valley (2-0, 0-0), 7:30 p.m. today -- The Fumbler noticed that Belle Vernon's first-year coach, Aaron Krepps, is only 25 years old. The Fumbler's car is older than that. Belle Vernon has not started 3-0 since 2000 -- and won't get there this year, either. Winner: Chartiers Valley.

West Mifflin (2-0, 0-0) at Elizabeth Forward (2-0, 0-0), 7:30 p.m. today -- Over the past two seasons, these teams have won five conference games between them. One of them is about to go 3-0. Winner: West Mifflin.

Brashear (1-1, 1-1) vs. Schenley (2-0, 2-0) at Cupples Stadium, 7:30 p.m. -- The talk of the City League in the preseason was Brashear and Perry. But, after knocking off Perry last week, Schenley now has a chance to establish itself as the team to beat. A Brashear win will complicate the debate over who has the best team. Winner: Brashear.

Laurel (2-0, 0-0) at South Side Beaver (2-0, 0-0), 12:30 p.m. tomorrow -- First-year South Side Beaver coach Jim Winner is living up to his last name. The Fumbler is hearing that this Laurel team is for real, but a Saturday afternoon game at South Side Beaver is never easy. Winner: Laurel.

And now the rest (home teams in capital letters):

This afternoon

CITY LEAGUE -- Oliver over Allderdice (Cupples Stadium).

Tonight

WPIAL CLASS AAAA -- (Foothills Conference) Erie McDowell over NORWIN; McKeesport over CONNELLSVILLE; HEMPFIELD over Penn-Trafford.

WPIAL CLASS AAA -- (Big Seven) THOMAS JEFFERSON over Trinity. (Keystone) Greensburg Salem over ALBERT GALLATIN; Uniontown over DERRY; LAUREL HIGHLANDS. Over Yough. (Parkway) NEW CASTLE over Blackhawk; Hopewell over AMBRIDGE; West Allegheny over MOON.

WPIAL CLASS AA -- (Allegheny) FORD CITY over Deer Lakes; Freeport over APOLLO-RIDGE; Shady Side Academy over KITTANNING; BURRELL over Summit Academy; VALLEY over West Shamokin. (Century) Keystone Oaks over SOUTH FAYETTE; Seton-LaSalle over BISHOP CANEVIN; South Park over NORTHGATE; Steel Valley over CORNELL; Sto-Rox over QUAKER VALLEY. (Interstate) Charleroi over BROWNSVILLE; Jeannette over SOUTH ALLEGHENY; McGuffey over EAST ALLEGHENY; Mount Pleasant over WAYNESBURG; GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Washington. (Midwestern) CENTER over New Brighton; Riverside over MOHAWK.

WPIAL CLASS A -- (Big Seven) ROCHESTER over Union. (Black Hills) FORT CHERRY over Bentworth; Chartiers-Houston over AVELLA; CLAIRTON over Frazier; Serra over BURGETTSTOWN. (Eastern) AVONWORTH over Brentwood; CARLYNTON over Leechburg; Springdale over NORTH CATHOLIC; RIVERVIEW over Wilkinsburg. (Tri-County South) Beth-Center over CARMICHAELS; JEFFERSON-MORGAN over Geibel; MONESSEN over Mapletown; CALIFORNIA over West Greene.

NON-CONFERENCE -- SENECA VALLEY over Baldwin; Bethel Park over NORTH HILLS; PENN HILLS over Butler; WOODLAND HILLS over Canon-McMillan; MONTOUR over Ellwood City; Fox Chapel over FRANKLIN REGIONAL; SHALER over Hampton; PINE-RICHLAND over Highlands; Kiski Area over INDIANA; PETERS TOWNSHIP over Knoch; MARS over Plum; RINGGOLD over Southmoreland; HARRISON CENTRAL (Ohio) over Westinghouse.

Tomorrow afternoon

NON-CONFERENCE -- CENTRAL CATHOLIC over Mt. Lebanon (Carnegie Mellon University).

Tomorrow night

WPIAL CLASS AA -- (Midwestern) BEAVER over Freedom.

WPIAL CLASS A -- (Big Seven) Shenango over Neshannock; MONACA over Western Beaver.

First published on September 18, 2009 at 12:00 am