NWPASports.com

(Statistical Information Courtesy of NWPASports.com archives, The Herald and Erie Times-News. Coach comments courtesy Bob Greenburg interviews on PIC SportsLine November 24)

WEEK FIFTEEN FOOTBALL PREVIEWS

After a one-year hiatus in 2024, Mercer County high school football returns to the state semifinal stage this week. Appropriately enough for Thanksgiving Weekend, it's a double helping of teams as both Greenville and Farrell will play in the state semifinals.

Greenville makes its first trip to the commonwealth's "Final Four" in 29 years when the Trojans face District 7 champion Clairton in Class 1A Friday night at Ellwood City. Saturday afternoon, Farrell makes the trip to Ellwood City's Helling Stadium when the Steelers meet Seton La Salle in the Class 2A semifinals.

The winners advance to the state championship games at Cumberland Valley High School next week.

FRIDAY NIGHT
CLASS 1A SEMIFINAL

Greenville vs. Clairton, Helling Stadium, Ellwood City Lincoln High School, 7:00 p.m.

Series History: First Meeting
PIAA Playoff Record: Clairton 18-7, Greenville 4-4

District 10 champion Greenville continues its postseason journey Friday night by facing perennial powerhouse Clairton in the Class 1A state semifinals. The two squads earned their respective state semifinal berths with narrow, albeit quite different, victories last week. Greenville held off defending state runner-up Port Allegany in a state quarterfinal, 36-28, at Corry High School. Meanwhile, Clairton captured the District 7 title last Saturday at Acrisure Stadium with an 8-6 decision over Laurel.

After facing the high-scoring, run-heavy offenses of Wilmington and Port Allegany in each of the last two weeks, Greenville must contend with Clairton's balanced and explosive offensive attack. The Bears (13-1) average 47.6 points per game while featuring near 50-50 balance in rushing and passing yardage.

Clairton averages 157 rushing yards per game and 170 passing yards per game this season. Senior quarterback Jeffery Thompson has thrown for 2,243 yards and 34 touchdowns this year while leading Clairton's offense. A two-year starter at quarterback, Thompson has completed 74 percent of his passes this year. He has 60 career touchdown passes and 4,251 career yards.

Clairton's receiving corps could also be easily described as "balanced," as four men have caught between 23 and 33 passes this year. Sophomore Brandon Murphy leads Clairton with 33 catches for 635 yards and eight scores. Senior Taris Wooding has 25 catches for 521 yards and seven touchdowns while classmate Michael Ruffin owns 24 catches for 448 yards. Senior Donte Wright has scored on 10 of his 23 catches this fall. His 459 receiving yards rank third on the squad.

Wright (6), Murphy (4) and Ruffin (2) have also combined for a dozen rushing touchdowns. The bulk of the rushing chores have been handled by senior Deon Lovelace-Pompey, who has piled up 922 yards and 15 touchdowns on only 96 carries this year. He averages 9.6 yards per carry this year. As a team, Clairton averages 8.0 yards per rushing attempt.

Greenville averages nearly eight yards per carry as Trojan backs average 7.8 yards per attempt this year. Senior halfback Rudy Gentile has rushed for 1,413 yards and 24 touchdowns while junior halfback Kaysom Mataria has added 688 yards and eight scores. Mataria has averaged 12.1 yards per attempt in his first year as a starter.

Junior quarterback Cael Thurber has rushed for 346 yards and nine touchdowns. He has also piloted Greenville's proficient passing attack, having completed a Mercer County-high 22 touchdown passes. Thurber has thrown for 1,737 yards while completing 64 percent of his attempts.

Classmate Justin Schell leads Mercer County with 48 catches for 1,002 yards. Junior Keith Covert has hauled in 23 passes for 299 yards.

"We always like to run the ball if we can. I did play here at Greenville, so you're kind of born with the idea that you run the football," Greenville head coach Mike Menold said with a laugh. "Week to week, we've tried to become better at taking what we feel we can take advantage of."

Gentile ran for 199 yards and three touchdowns last week against Port Allegany. Thurber and Mataria also ran for touchdowns. Schell caught five passes for 50 yards. Greenville went 5 for 8 on third downs and is now 17 for 31 (55 percent) on third down in the postseason.

Greenville faces a Clairton defense that held Laurel to 94 total yards and nine first downs last Saturday. Murphy leads Clairton with 111 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss and three interceptions. He also has four sacks. Tahvaz Armstrong leads Clairton with eight sacks.

"They're athletic, they're tough and physical," Menold said. "They play excellent team defense. They fly to the football."

Neither team has lost since Week One. Greenville fell to Wilmington in the season opener, 21-7. The Trojans avenged that defeat in the District 10 title game by downing Wilmington, 25-22. Clairton fell to District 7 Class 3A finalist Imani Christian in the season opener, 19-12. The Bears have won 13 straight games since then, including nine straight shutouts.

Clairton defeated Eastern Conference rival Jeannette in the District 7 quarterfinals, 38-33, then downed Bishop Canevin in the semifinal round, 42-22.

"I'm impressed with their aggression and how hard they play on both sides of the ball," Menold said. "We know that we have our work cut out for us."

Greenville has not faced a District 7 opponent since a 12-0 win August 29, 2003 at New Castle. Greenville is 1-5-1 all-time at Ellwood City. This will be the Trojans' first trip to Ellwood City in 80 years. Ellwood City Lincoln defeated Greenville (Penn High) 24-0 October 26, 1945. Greenville first played at Ellwood City 109 years ago, dropping a 15-0 decision November 11, 1916.

Clairton owns a 7-3 record in the state semifinals, including a 6-2 mark against Mercer County in that round. Clairton is 0-6 against Mercer County teams in the regular season and other postseason rounds, however.

The winner faces Bishop Guilfoyle or Belmont Charter at 1 p.m. Thursday in the first of six state title games at Cumberland Valley. Guilfoyle plays Belmont at 7 p.m. Friday at Mechanicsburg High School.

The game will be broadcast on Sports Radio 96.7. Live Stats available here.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON
CLASS 2A SEMIFINAL
Farrell vs. Seton La Salle, Helling Stadium, Ellwood City Lincoln High School, 1:00 p.m.

Series History: Tied 1-1-1
Last Farrell Win: September 22, 1973 (21-6 over South Hills Catholic)
Last Seton La Salle Win: November 15, 1980 (35-0, District 7 Class AA semifinal at North Allegheny)
First Meeting: September 22, 1973 (Farrell won 21-6)
PIAA Playoff Record: Farrell 26-11, Seton La Salle 2-3

Farrell (12-2) looks for its first trip to the state championship game since 2019 when the Steelers play a state semifinal matinee Saturday against District 7 kingpin Seton La Salle (12-1). Farrell carries a seven-game winning streak into the game while the Rebels have won 12 consecutive games after falling to Class 3A North Catholic in the season lidlifter, 47-14.

Farrell has an extra day of preparation after winning its state quarterfinal with Richland last Friday night, 32-14, at Armstrong. Seton La Salle will play its second straight Saturday afternoon game after rallying from a 14-0 hole to down Steel Valle, 21-14, in the District 7 title game at Acrisure Stadium.

The Rebels trailed 14-0 early in the third quarter before storming back. Senior Will Miller, a standout defensive end who has committed to Duquesne, scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns with 8:04 left in the third quarter. Miller tied the game with a six-yard run at the 4:05 mark of the fourth quarter, then scored the game-winner on an 11-yard jaunt with 30 seconds left in the game.

"They didn't waver," Farrell head coach Amp Pegues said. "They stayed the course and fought through it. We have a really tough opponent for us this weekend, but we're looking forward to it."

While Miller scored all three touchdowns, Seton La Salle produced a pair of 100-yard rushers in the title win. Kymarr Freeman ran for 129 yards on 18 carries while quarterback Kia Miller had 100 yards on 14 attempts.

Seton La Salle's defense also corralled Steel Valley standout running back Da'ron Barksdale. Barksdale, a 2,000-yard rusher this year and Pitt commit, did run for 144 yards and a touchdown but needed 33 carries to reach that total.

"(Seton La Salle) has a talented bunch," Pegues said. "They're playing at a high level. They're well-coached and they don't hurt themselves. (Will Miller) is the heart and soul of that defense."

The Rebels will, of course, face another prolific running back this week as Farrell features senior tailback Juelz Johnson. Johnson, a Nebraska commit, leads Mercer County with 1,973 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns. His 39 total touchdowns and 254 points are also tops in the area.

He ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns against Richland last week. Johnson also caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from junior Aaron Pegues that gave Farrell a 26-14 lead. Farrell held a 20-0 lead before District 6 champion Richland rallied in the second half.

Aaron Pegues is 43 of 48 (90 percent) in the playoffs. He has thrown for 548 yards and five touchdowns in those four games. Overall, Pegues has thrown for a Mercer County-high 1,776 yards this year, along with 19 touchdowns. Only one of his 186 passes has been intercepted this year.

Senior wide receiver Nemo Jones leads Farrell with 29 catches for 376 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns. Junior Jadon King-Vincent has added 28 catches for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He also has five combined kick return touchdowns this year. Junior Dorean Cain leads the Steelers with 443 receiving yards on his 19 catches.

Farrell owns a plus-20 turnover margin, along with a county-high 27 takeaways. Cain leads the county with six interceptions while Johnson has four picks. Rhashaud Dunbar leads Farrell with 11 sacks, including 2.5 in the state playoffs. Jason Marshall, Carlao Lowe and Zaiden Thomas also had sacks last week against Richland.

Farrell is 15 of 24 (62.5 percent) on third down in the postseason. For the season, Farrell has converted 54 percent (46 of 85) of its third downs.

"At this time of year, you are who you are as a team," Amp Pegues said. "There's been a lot of mental focus in practice, things like lining up correctly. You don't want to reinvent the wheel."

Farrell owns an 11-7 all-time record at Ellwood City. The Steelers first played at Ellwood City 104 years ago, dropping a 37-0 decision October 8, 1921. Farrell left District 10 for District 7 in 1944 and the Steelers' first District 7 game took place at Ellwood City. Ellwood City defeated Farrell, 39-7, September 15, 1944.

Farrell is 6-6 in the state semifinals. This is Farrell's first trip to the semifinals since a 27-18 loss to Serra Catholic in 2021.

Seton La Salle is 3-1-1 all-time against Mercer County teams. Seton La Salle first faced a Mercer County team September 28, 1968, when the team earned a 40-31 win at Kennedy Christian. Kennedy's head coach that year? Anthony Paulekas - the same man for whom Farrell's home field is named.

Seton La Salle is 2-0 in state semifinals. The Rebels defeated Perry in the 1990 Class AAA semifinals, 10-6, at South (now Cupples) Stadium. Twelve years later, Seton La Salle secured a 42-18 win over Forest Hills in the Class AA semifinals at Altoona.

Seton La Salle opened the District 7 tournament with a 42-7 win over Mohawk in the quarterfinals. The Rebels then downed Century Conference rival Washington in the semifinals, 27-19.

The winner faces Southern Columbia or Lansdale Catholic at 1 p.m. next Friday in the state title game. Southern Columbia faces Lansdale Catholic at 7 p.m. Friday at Lehighton.

The game will be broadcast on Sports Radio 96.7.