Hopewell's Rushel Shell and West Allegheny's Mike Caputo are running backs who also play defensive back, so when their respective teams met earlier this season, they butted heads a few times ... and then some.

"One time he pinched me in a pile and I got a little mad," Shell said with a laugh. "But then he apologized and we just laughed about it."

Shell and Caputo will meet again this evening, and maybe this time everyone else should pinch themselves. Just to make sure this matchup is real.

Hopewell vs. West Allegheny. Shell vs. Caputo. This isn't one for the ages; it's a run for the ages.

It has been at least 30 years since a championship game has matched two running backs such as these. The Post-Gazette has been keeping statistics for the WPIAL since 1979. Since then, there has never been a championship game matching the No. 1 rusher in the WPIAL in the regular season against No. 2.

Until now.

West Allegheny meets Hopewell for the Class AAA title today at Heinz Field (5 p.m. kickoff). An FSN Pittsburgh television audience will be watching a highly unusual battle of the backs.

Shell, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound sophomore, led the WPIAL in rushing during the regular season with 2,043 yards. Caputo, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior, was second with 1,565. Including playoff games, both players have easily surpassed 2,000 yards -- Shell has 2,465 and Caputo 2,211.

"That's surprising that the top two runners have never played [in a championship]," said Hopewell coach Dave Vestal. "I kind of think when you get to this level, it's usually the teams that run the football better who are playing in the championship. So you'd think you would've gotten the top two runners once."

Who knows if the top two rushers in the WPIAL have ever met in the title game? But at least in the 30 years of Post-Gazette statistics, it has never really come close to happening. In fact, only three times since 1979 have two of the top 10 runners met in a title game.

"That's amazing to know that," Caputo said. "I'm excited just to be part of this."

Since 1979, here are the only three championship games that have matched two running backs among the top 10 rushers in the regular season:

In the 1979 Class A championship, Western Beaver's Gary Tammaro was the second-leading rusher in the WPIAL (behind Leechburg's Dan Hauser) and Quigley's Rod Jeter No. 6. Quigley won the title game, 26-6.

In the '89 Class AA championship, Steel Valley's Olando Dulin was the No. 7 rusher and Freeport's Jay White No. 8. Steel Valley won, 20-14, as Dulin gained 121 yards. White was held to 37.

In the '97 Class A championship, Fort Cherry's Mike Vernillo was the WPIAL's second-leading rusher and Riverview's Lucas Heakins 10th. Heakins gained 143 and Vernillo 127, and Riverview won, 19-14.

"I really don't pay any attention to the statistics," said West Allegheny coach Bob Palko. "All I know is, when I turn on the film of games I look at either [Caputo or Shell] and go, 'That son of a gun is pretty good.' "

Vestal said: "When you look at what these two have done, it is a great matchup. Just our game earlier this year, it was amazing with those two."

On Oct. 16, Shell and Caputo combined for 567 yards rushing as Hopewell defeated West Allegheny, 34-26. Shell raced for 349 yards on 23 carries while Caputo had 218 on 27 attempts.

The two seem to have a lot of respect for each other.

"He's real good," Shell said. "He's a Division I football player in my eyes. He makes big plays and a lot of times makes nothing into something."

Caputo said: "He's a great runner. He's fast and he's very strong. I'm impressed every time I see him on film or when I watch one of his games On Demand."

But as good as the two are, they are very different runners -- and have traveled much different paths to where they are today.

Shell has speed and can make excellent cuts. He didn't become a starter until midway through his freshman season. Since then, he has had 100 yards or more in 17 consecutive games and has 3,728 yards in those 17 games. That's 219 yards a game -- for a sophomore.

Overall, he has 3,981 career yards and needs only 19 to become the second player in WPIAL history to rush for 4,000 yards by the end of his sophomore season. The other was Vernillo.

"No one has been able to stop him," Palko said. "You're not going to be able to stop him.

"He is as good a runner as I've ever seen. He's exciting and things like that. Now Mike, is just a football player. He just makes plays. He's awesome. ... People talk about where does he project in college. I don't know. Who cares where they project? People say, 'Does he have speed?' I said 'Yes.' They said, 'How fast?' I don't know his 40 time. All I know is he's fast enough to make the play."

Caputo has had quite an impact on West Allegheny in his first year with the Indians after transferring from Blackhawk before the start of the school year. In fact, this is Caputo's second WPIAL title game in a different uniform. He was in the championship game last year for Blackhawk against Thomas Jefferson.

"To be honest, he's way better than I thought he was," Palko said. "You see him in the summer without pads and think the kid is pretty good. Then you put on pads and go 'whoa!' Then you watch him play a game, and then another and another. You see the yards, you see the tackles on defense and you say, 'This kid can really play.' "

Although Shell and Caputo will be the focal point of this championship game, they downplay any personal showdown.

"Our team knows and our community knows that we play as a team," Shell said. "I'm not the only player on the team. We have a lot of key players. I might get most of the attention, but this still is a team game."

Caputo said: "I feel I just need to do my part, and everyone on our team has to do their part. I know everyone thinks this is me against him, but whether one of us does better than the other doesn't really matter to me. Honestly, I'm just concerned about how well West Allegheny does as a team."

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