As the No. 2 back on last year's No. 2 team in the state, Bre Ford ran for more than 700 yards but was always the understudy to standout running back Lyle Marsh.

Now, Ford and Bethel Park (3-0) are trying to prove they are second to none.

Ford is averaging more than 100 yards per game and three touchdowns per contest, to lead the Black Hawks, the Post-Gazette's fourth-ranked team in Class AAA, as they try to defend their WPIAL title.

None of the Black Hawks' wins have come against teams with winning records. Their biggest test of the early season will come at the hands -- or the feet -- of Dom Timbers and Woodland Hills (2-1), No. 5 in the Post-Gazette's Class AAAA rankings.

Timbers, like Ford, is averaging more than 100 yards per carry. After an early hiccup in an interstate game against Steubenville (Ohio) to start the season, Timbers and the Wolverines offense scored 37 points in each of their next two games.

Their defense has been just as strong, limiting opponents to an average of fewer than seven points each game.

The top-five showdown will be the last non-conference game of the regular season for both teams.

Thomas Jefferson has long had a stranglehold on conference bragging rights, but if any team is going to challenge the Jaguars, it will likely emerge this week.

The Big Seven boasts three teams in the Post-Gazette's Class AAA rankings: No. 1 Thomas Jefferson, No. 3 Chartiers Valley and No. 5 West Mifflin. Two of them -- Chartiers Valley and West Mifflin -- will square off tomorrow at WM's Titan Stadium.

The Colts and Titans are both 3-0 heading into the showdown.

Chartiers Valley quarterback Wayne Capers Jr. and wide receiver Beau Carson lead a Colts passing attack that is nearly as potent as Peyton Manning's.

Capers averages more than 100 yards passing per game, and when he's not throwing for touchdowns, he's running for them. Last week against Belle Vernon, the son of a former Steelers wideout ran for five touchdowns. The Colts average 41 points per game.

Running back Imir Sanders leads a West Mifflin squad that narrowly escaped Elizabeth Forward with a victory last week, 10-9. The Titans squeaked by with a one-point win that came courtesy of a missed extra point.

Keystone Oaks could not establish its notorious running game, nor could it overcome a 28-6 fourth-quarter deficit last week.

The Golden Eagles, previously the Post Gazette's No. 3 team in Class AA, lost, 28-22, to South Fayette last week in Century Conference action.

Quarterback Mike Barrett's 10-for-18, 158-yard passing performance was not enough to rally a Golden Eagles running game that slumbered until the fourth quarter.

Keystone Oaks standout rusher Matt McCann averaged more than 150 yards per game before last week's game, but, despite two late touchdown runs, could not eclipse the 100-yard plateau.

The Golden Eagles will look to rebound tomorrow night against winless Northgate.

Few would have been surprised by the halftime score of the Mt. Lebanon-Central Catholic game last Saturday -- that is, if the names were reversed.

The Blue Devils crushed Central Catholic, 36-21, in a game that wasn't as close as the final tally indicated.

The Blue Devils (2-1) entered Saturday's game as heavy underdogs. They claimed a one-point victory against North Hills in the season opener, and lost by three touchdowns against North Allegheny.

Meanwhile Central Catholic scored an impressive win against Youngstown Ursuline in West Virginia, then knocked off Mike Hull and Canon McMillan the following week.

But, for one day, Mt. Lebanon looked like the best team in the area.

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 30-0 lead and held standout Vikings running back Damion Jones-Moore to fewer than 100 yards rushing. Jones-Moore had sped by defenses for more than 200 yards in both of Central Catholic's first two games.

Mt. Lebanon travels to Shaler Saturday with hopes of knocking off another undefeated team.

Mt. Lebanon's dethroning of the Post-Gazette's No. 1 Class AAAA team in the WPIAL and the No. 3 team in the PIAA wasn't the biggest upset of the week. Lancaster Catholic -- which entered the week No. 1 in the state in Class AA -- was manhandled by Manheim Central last week, 42-12.

California running back D.J. Martinak had three rushing touchdowns -- all runs of more than 20 yards -- in the Trojans' 43-0 win against West Greene. Martinak had 151 yards rushing on the night, but on those three scores alone he had more yards than the entire West Greene offense, which finished the game with 53 yards of total offense.