The day has come. Each team has competed for 10 weeks and the final attempts for playoffs spots came to a close as we know who will now participate in the post-season. In the ACMFL, the top six teams in each of the age/weight categories make the playoffs. “This is the most successful year that we have had thus far as a league,” said ACMFL President Jose Regus. “We are excited about the (onset) of this year’s (post-season) as we are expecting to see some huge matchups.” HOPE FOR THE FUTURE—The undefeated Wilkinsburg Twerps with coaches Omar Doss, Jeffrey Jones, Cliff McCaulley, Milo Gaskin and Tom Harris.
It was a fun game for the Steelers as they eased past the hapless Cleveland Browns 27-14, but now they must face a real team in the undefeated Minnesota Vikings (6-0). This game will go a long way in determining what the Steelers are made of. The Steelers received a lot of help in the AFC North with the Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) and the Baltimore Ravens (3-3) losing. This puts Pittsburgh in a tie for first with the Bengals. HAVING FUN— Hines Ward laughs as he fends off two Browns defenders along the sideline. Ward had another outstanding game with eight catches for 159 yards including a 52-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger.
The walk on Monday was long, the mourners sang loud and the ashes of the deceased were spread over turbulent waters. These were not the ashes of the average cadaver; these were the remains of a proud franchise located on the banks of a “very interesting” body of water that is appropriately named Lake Erie. AUBREY BRUCE If you add one vowel the lake could sport the name; “Lake Eerie” which is not too farfetched, especially if you have ever been to a night game in Cleveland. The Browns’ 27-14 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field last weekend prompted the funeral.
The WPIAL has had some of the world’s greatest quarterbacks in Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath and Terrelle Pryor. Let’s not forget about ‘the new kid on the block’, Paul “The Bionic Man” Jones. When you talk about offensive talent in the WPIAL, the first name in the conversation has to be Jones. At 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Jones often looks like a man among boys. In two years at Sto-Rox, he has completed 228 of 398 passes for 3,870 yards, 44 touchdowns and has made a verbal commitment to play quarterback at Penn State. Jones is ranked as the fifth best pro-style quarterback in the country. ‘BIONIC MAN’—Sto-Rox quarterback Paul Jones was 15 of 28 passing for 234 yards, threw two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Vikings to a thrilling victory over Steel Valley.
For the time being Schenley and Brashear are tied for first place in the City League with 5-1 records—No disrespect to Oliver who has only played five games (4-1 record). In the process, Schenley had to get past Peabody (3-3), 28-6, who is showing why they’re the League’s “other team to watch.” SPRINTING FOR YARDAGE—Schenley’s Darren Jackson sprints for yards against Peabody Oct. 10 at Cupples Stadium. “We are gaining a better understanding of what it takes to be a winner,” said Schenley’s head coach Jason Bell. “Each and every week presents a different challenge and this team is always doing what they need to do to win games.”
There is now more insight as to what has taken place with the West Pittsburgh midget football organization. In a conversation with the president of the ACMFL, Jose’ Regus, the West Pittsburgh team has been voted out—in a league vote for contention this season. STAR OF THE DAY —James Newton was the star of the day for the North Side Steelers running the ball several times for about 100 yards and was presented the game ball. “We summoned (West Pittsburgh) to a meeting in which we wanted discuss some potential violations of the league’s policies,” said Regus. “In the process, we determined that they were, in fact, in violation of several league rules. From there, we made the final decision to move on without that organization for the remainder of the season.”
It has become the norm. The Steelers play to their opponent. They jump off to big leads, playing like Super Bowl champs in the first half then, to make the game more exciting I guess, let their opponent back into the game in the second half, particular the fourth quarter. Now the question is, how will they keep the game against the 1-4 Cleveland Browns close or exciting? This was again the case Sunday as they played the lowly Detroit Lions who were winless last season and 1-4 this season. After jumping off to a 21-13 halftime lead, and a 28-13 lead going into the fourth quarter, it appeared they would more than make up the 10 point margin they were picked to win by. But instead went scoreless in the fourth while veteran quarterback Duante Culpepper led the Lions to one score in the fourth quarter and was moving them in for a second score before the defense decided they had enough and began to play Steelers football. During the final minutes of the drive the defense sacked Culpepper three times for huge loses thus killing the comeback and preserving the victory for the Steelers. AIRBORNE—Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Ike Taylor (24) flies over teammates Ryan Mundy (29) and Ryan Clark (25) and into the end zone while breaking up a pass for Detroit Lions wide receivers, including Bryant Johnson (80), during the fourth quarter in Detroit, Oct. 11.
MIAMI (AP)—San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich quickly pointed out that former Pitt and Schenley star DeJuan Blair only had one defensive rebound Sunday night.“Not good enough,” Popovich said, barely keeping a straight face. So far, Blair is showing the Spurs—and probably the rest of the NBA—that he’s certainly good enough. The rookie scored 28 points on 11 of 13 shooting, 15 of those points coming in the final 7 minutes, and the Spurs erased an 11-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 in a preseason game. MAKING AN IMPACT—Spurs’ rookie Dejuan Blair shoots as Miami’s Anthony Tolliver, (35) and Shavlik Randolph, (42) defend during preseason basketball action in Miami, Oct. 11.
The talk around the halls of professional football was that the beleaguered Detroit Lions have been mismanaged, misquoted, mislead and misguided. It has even been alleged that the faint scent of ex-GM Matt Millen can still be picked up in the executive washroom. It seems as if Millen used the Lions as his own pre-Obama stimulus package but contrary to popular belief, it would not have been cheaper to keep him. Detroit will win more than one game in 2009. Hey they played the Super Bowl champs tough for 55 minutes, right? AUBREY BRUCE
Don’t look for Woodland Hills (4-1, 1-0) and Central Catholic (3-2, 0-1) to “friend” each other on Facebook anytime soon. These two powerhouse teams faced off at the Wolverena Friday night, Oct. 2, and it was time for Syracuse recruit Dom Timbers to make a statement. RELENTLESS—Dom Timbers of Woodland Hills ran through the rain for 162 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Central Catholic. Timbers rushed for 162 yards—his fourth consecutive 100-yard effort—and three touchdowns to lead Class AAAA No. 3 Woodland Hills 27-3 over No. 4 Central Catholic.
