7 day forecast
West Xtra: Montour's season ends very quietly
Share with others:
In a season in which all of the defending WPIAL champions were still alive in their respective classes entering last week's quarterfinal playoff games, Montour was the first team to see its hopes for back-to-back titles dashed, as the Spartans were defeated by West Allegheny, 14-2, Friday night at Chartiers Valley.
After starting the season 7-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class AAA, Montour dropped two of its last four games, with both of those losses coming to the Indians (10-1) in remarkably similar fashion.
In their first meeting, the Spartans (9-2) were held to just a field goal on 189 total yards (though they did outgain West Allegheny by 80 yards). Last week, their only points came on a safety as they were again held to less than 200 total yards (157 in this case).
If indeed there were a set formula to stop Devin Wilson and Montour, West Allegheny owned it, as the Indians were the only team to prevent the Spartans from scoring a touchdown all season.
In Montour's nine wins this season, it averaged 37.8 points per game, only twice failing to score more than 30 points.
As for its two losses to West Allegheny? In those games, the Spartans scored 2.5 points per game, more than five touchdowns (with extra points) worse than their scoring average in wins.
With Montour's loss, no Class AAA team has successfully defended its title since Thomas Jefferson won in 2008, which was actually the Jaguars' third consecutive WPIAL championship.
Next season will be one of swift and significant change for the Spartans, at least offensively. Wilson, the team's do-everything star, is a senior. Furthermore, Montour will lose its starting quarterback, two of its top three rushers and its three top receivers to graduation.
Meanwhile, West Allegheny, which finished tied with Montour and Central Valley in the Parkway Conference regular-season standings, continues its quest for its second Class AAA championship in four years. It will play undefeated Thomas Jefferson Friday, with the winner securing a spot at Heinz Field for the Class AAA title game.
Beaver's season ended Friday with a 47-15 loss to Jeannette, but while the final score indicates an unceremonious end for the Bobcats, the loss simply cut short what was one of the program's best seasons in recent memory.
The Bobcats finished 9-2 after an 8-1 regular season, the latter of which was their best regular-season mark since 2007. The program's nine wins were its most since the 2003 team went 10-2 before losing in the Class AA semifinals to Jeannette.
There will be a considerable amount on the line when Washington and South Fayette face off Friday at Chartiers Valley -- a berth in the Class AA semifinals, a chance for championship dreams to live another week, among other things, one of which is the chance to maintain an unblemished record. After a combined 22 games, neither the Lions nor Little Prexies have suffered a loss.
The other undefeated Class AA team, top-ranked Aliquippa, plays Jeannette Friday, with the winner of that game moving on to play the South Fayette-Washington winner in the Class AA title game.
Central Valley got one of its stars back in Robert Foster, after the star wide receiver had to sit out his team's narrow first-round victory over Belle Vernon last week, for its game last week against neighboring Hopewell, but even with their star wideout, the Warriors were still without starting quarterback Nate Climo.
Climo's replacement, John George, made sure to properly fill that void as he was an efficient 4 for 5 passing for 87 yards, with all four of his passes going for touchdowns, in the Warriors' 49-21 victory Friday night. Central Valley has now made the Class AAA semifinals in each season of the school's three-year existence.
Rochester is historically one of the stronger programs in Class A and though its season ended Friday in a 22-15 loss to North Catholic, the past year has been yet another successful one for the Rams.
With a final record of 9-2, Rochester won at least nine games for the fifth consecutive season.
First Published November 15, 2012 12:00 am
