PG East/North: Trip to Heinz at stake for Central-NA winner
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Pat Kelly and his Central Catholic teammates will have their hands full against North Allegheny in the WPIAL semifinals.
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Ask North Allegheny football coach Art Walker what phase of his team has been more impressive this season -- the offense that is the top scoring unit in WPIAL Class AAAA, or the defense that has allowed the least points in the classification -- and he can only let out a nervous laugh.
That's like choosing between which of your two successful children you're proudest of.
"There's not one I'm going to say because you don't want to single that side out," Walker said. "The players on both offense and defense have done an unbelievable job, and I have so much respect for the coaches on both sides who have gotten the kids prepared."
Statistically, the rest of the WPIAL has been playing catch-up with the Tigers all season long. North Allegheny outscored its first three opponents by a combined score of 117-7 and have been at the top of the WPIAL Class AAAA scoring offense and scoring defense lists virtually all season.
But the No. 5 seed Tigers (10-1) have finally met their match in Central Catholic, their opponent 7:30 p.m. Friday at Fox Chapel in a WPIAL semifinal.
After allowing just 10 points in two postseason games, the No. 1 seed Vikings (11-0) have pulled to within one point of what North Allegheny has allowed in the teams' respective 11 games this season (83-82, both round to an average of 7.5 per game).
Central Catholic's offense is almost as statistically impressive, too. The Vikings rank third in Class AAAA with 32.2 points per game as opposed to North Allegheny's classification-leading 35.5.
Like with his own team, Walker doesn't see a weakness worth exploiting on Central Catholic.
"They create challenges on both sides of the ball," said Walker, a former coach of the Vikings.
Interestingly, both coaches expressed more apprehension in facing the other's offense as the most challenging matchup for their own team.
"They just have a tremendous offense. I think we're going to have to play our best game to stop them," Vikings coach Terry Totten said. "It's a combination of size, execution and speed at the tailback position. We're really going to have to be on top of our game to control them."
Tigers senior tailback Alex Papson was the WPIAL's third-leading rusher in the regular season and surpassed 2,000 yards for the season with 301 yards in a 23-13 win against Bethel Park in the quarterfinals last weekend.
He benefits from one of the top offensive lines in the WPIAL, and the Tigers also boast a strong passing attack in quarterback Mike Buchert (833 yards, eight touchdowns) and receiver Dan Slivka (19 catches, 472 yards). North Allegheny is averaging 7.5 yards per play this season, accumulating 4,034 yards while giving up only 2,077.
First Published November 18, 2010 12:00 am
