Published: November 05, 2009 11:31 pm      

Football Week 10: Lions back in District 6 playoffs

ARMAGH — United’s regular season ended with a Heritage Conference title and a huge celebration throughout the Armagh community.

Now, the Lions are prepared for their first trip to the District 6 playoffs since 2005.

Coach Greg Mytrysak’s team is the No. 4 seed and will host No. 13 Bishop Guilfoyle at 7 tonight in 6-A action.

“We have a lot of momentum. We have a lot of confidence. That’s what winning does,” said Mytrysak, whose 8-1 Lions have won eight straight after falling in overtime at Laurel Valley during the season opener.

“You win, it breeds confidence. We had another excellent week of practice. We’re ready to go.”

The Lions have made believers throughout the district, especially as they marched toward their first Heritage Conference crown. After last week’s 36-18 victory at Marion Center in a meeting of then 7-1 squads, a large crowd of supporters was waiting to greet the Lions when they returned to the high school.

“We came home Friday night from Marion Center and our gym was packed,” Mytrysak said. “The band was here. Cheerleaders were here. The community was here. These people are so supportive. I think they’ve taken some ownership of this football team. They’ve adopted us. We’re feeding off of what the fans are doing for us. A lot of good things are happening here at United.

“For a couple hours on a Friday night, the football players, the team, the community get away from everything else that is happening in the world and enjoy what is going on.”

What’s not to enjoy?

United’s rushing game features Kody Oliver (213 carries, 1,174 yards) and Dom Chero (132-851). Overall, the Lions have gained 2,329 yards on the ground, or 258.8 a game. Patrick Fuller has passed for 492 yards, with Zack Waddell catching seven passes for 186 yards.

The offensive line has made that success possible.

“They’ve improved. They continue to work and do the things that you need to do to get better,” Mytrysak said. “We don’t change too much. We’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing. The linemen have responded.”

Bishop Guilfoyle is a deceiving 3-6 with three straight losses. The Marauders play in the LHAC, mostly against schools in higher classifications. The only Class A opponents in the league were Bishop McCort, an undefeated powerhouse, and a Bishop Carroll squad that has finished strong.

Guilfoyle has a history of knocking off higher seeds in the postseason, and the Marauders have taken some flack over the mountain for entering the playoffs with only three wins.

That should provide extra motivation for coach Marty Georgiana’s team, thus making the Marauders even more dangerous.

Guilfoyle’s Eugene Ehredt is one of the toughest power backs in the LHAC. The Marauders’ size also concerns Mytrysak.

“Bishop Guilfoyle is large. They’ve got a couple big tackles, one is 270 and the other is 265,” Mytrysak said. “They run the wing-T. They like to run the ball. There is a lot of misdirection. They have some real good backs. One back is a speed back. The other one is about 6-2, 205, a big boy (Ehredt). The other kid, No. 36 (Stefan Beard), they put at fullback to run the inside trap. They’re going to present a lot of problems. Defensively they play a lot of different fronts.”

Mytrysak isn’t paying much attention to Guilfoyle’s three-win total or the Lions’ eight victories. He’s not comparing the LHAC and Heritage.

“We have a lot to play for. We’ve talked this week. Getting to the playoffs is one thing. Now we have something at stake,” Mytrysak said. “Everybody has the same record at this point.”

District 5 Playoffs

n Berlin at Everett: The

4-5 Mountaineers would have preferred to enter the postseason in a different manner, but once there, Berlin has a chance to shoot for an upset.

Berlin opened the season 4-1 but four straight losses to WestPAC frontrunners Blacklick Valley (21-14), Windber (42-35), Conemaugh Township (35-8) and undefeated Portage (54-0) sent the Mountaineers out on a four-game losing streak.

Ian Sayler leads Berlin with 1,282 rushing yards on 177 carries. He has 17 touchdowns for 102 points.

Everett is 6-3 and has won five straight games. The Warriors ground game is fronted by Zach Millin, who has 813 yards on 108 carries, and Luke Hoover, who ran for 423 yards on 71 attempts.

The Warriors have homefield advantage, but during the regular season Everett went 1-3 at home and 5-0 on the road.

Regular season

n North Star at Ligonier Valley: Ligonier had to scramble to fill this 10th date, but its finally here, thanks to the Cougars accepting the invitation.

Ligonier is 6-3 after back-to-back wins over Northern Cambria (26-7) and at Homer-Center (28-7). The Mounties needed to fill what had been a vacant 10th date before entering the

6-AA playoffs next week.

The Mounties’ Jackson Corcoran has 850 yards on 142 carries, a 5.9 average. Last week, Russell Markosky rushed for 168 yards and scored three touchdowns, including one on a punt return.

North Star is 3-6. The Cougars won 42-0 against Ferndale last week, snapping a four-game losing streak.

The Cougars’ Josh Kuncher ranks second in the area with 1,516 rushing yards on 178 carries, including 17 rushing touchdowns. Max Strasiser had thrown for 898 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions. Tony Strasiser has 27 catches for 515 yards.

n Chestnut Ridge at Bedford: Act I of a two-part performance opens tonight at Bedford.

The same two teams will meet in the District 5 Class AA championship game on Thursday at Northern Bedford High.

Ridge (5-4) has won four straight after opening the season at 1-4. Last week the Lions edged Philipsburg 14-13. An independent, Chestnut Ridge has played five WestPAC opponents as well as teams such as Northern (Md.), DuBois and Greenville.

Jude Donatelli leads the Lions with 944 rushing yards on 196 carries. Brad Hengst (437) and Justin Taylor (414) each have run for more than

400 yards. Hengst has passed for 729 yards.

Bedford (3-6) lost 48-13 at Bishop McCort last week, ending a two-game winning streak.

The Bisons’ Marcus Shippey is among the area leaders with

108 tackles, including 70 solo stops. Brian Gibbons has

95 tackles. On offense, Paul Detwiler gained 886 yards on 117 carries. Shippey has thrown for 539 yards, with 374 of those to Kyle Deenen, who has

16 catches.

Ridge has won the last three meetings of the series, but Bedford went on a 17-0-1 run from 1986 through 2000. The teams didn’t play for five years after that season.

n Forest Hills at Somerset: Veteran Rangers coach Don Bailey sits one victory shy of the 300-win milestone entering this LHAC meeting.

Bailey took over as the Rangers as a head coach in 1974.

He’s had 32 winning seasons during his 36 years, including this undefeated team’s 9-0 record.

The Rangers have used a strong rushing attack, gaining 2,065 yards on 351 carries, a

5.9 average per run. Nick Dudukovich has 1,082 yards.

Jeff Meier (424) and Anthony Unger (392) also are running threats. Experienced quarterback Zack Glessner has passed for 732 yards, hitting Chris Moss 25 times for 292 yards.

Somerset 3-6 missed starting quarterback Trevor Niemiec in last week’s loss to Central Cambria. Niemiec was out due to an injury suffered in Week 8. He leads the Golden Eagles with 628 rushing yards and 342 passing yards.

n Greater Johnstown at Central Cambria: Johnstown won four of its past five games and earned a spot in the 6-AAA championship game next weekend against Hollidaysburg. The 6-3 Trojans will have a stiff test in the LHAC against a physical Central Cambria squad with a

5-4 record, including last week’s 17-8 victory at Somerset. The Red Devils will be in the 6-AA playoffs next week.

Johnstown quarterback John Siciliano has thrown for

563 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. Siciliano has rushed for 582 yards.

Last week, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling ran for 115 yards on

11 carries in a 36-8 win over Penn Cambria. The Trojans defense limited explosive back Zak Newton to 15 rushing yards on 12 carries.

Central Cambria’s defense was outstanding at Somerset.

The Devils held the Eagles to a net 55 rushing yards, intercepted three passes and made a key fourth-down stop at the

12-yard line.

n Penn Cambria at Richland: Penn Cambria will have a tough task to rebound from the disappointing loss at Johnstown. The Rams are playoff-bound and are coming off a

52-19 win over Cambria Heights. Richland is 7-2 with its lone losses to undefeated teams Forest Hills and Bishop McCort.

Quarterback Gino Ramires leads the area with 1,498 passing yards, completing 103 of 206 attempts. Receiver Ryan Sylvia has 36 catches for

628 yards. Jordan Rozich (338) and Adam Ludwig (247) also are big-play threats. Big back John Rizzo has 531 of Richland’s 1,412 rushing yards.

Newton leads Penn Cambria with 1,446 rushing yards on 250 carries, an average of 5.8. Adam Zaliznock has rushed for 714 yards.

n Rockwood at Northern Bedford: The 3-6 Rockets put up a good fight against a strong Blacklick team last Saturday before falling 16-13.

The Vikings had built a 16-0 advantage before Rockwood came back with a 14-yard touchdown run by Ben Miller, and Miller’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Nick Foreman.

Northern Bedford is 3-6 but four of the Black Panthers’ losses have come by fewer than 10 points, including a trio of three-point losses and one by eight points.

Preston Albright leads Northern Bedford with 1,027 rushing yards on 214 carries.

n Westmont Hilltop at Cambria Heights: Cambria Heights has one last shot at picking up its first victory. The 0-9 Highlanders are led by quarterback Caleb Vescovi’s 1,414 passing yards via 89 completions on 239 attempts.

Bryce Brawley has 30 catches for 553 yards, and Erik Welteroth has 31 receptions for

514 yards.

Westmont is 1-8, with its lone win coming against visiting Bishop Carroll (21-16) in Week 5. The Hilltoppers Casey Eckenrod has passed for 957 yards, 82 of 157. Luke Gindlesperger has 18 catches for 315 yards and Steve Popchak has 12 catches for 200 yards.

n Bishop Carroll at Southern Huntingdon: The Huskies (2-7) are one a two-game winning streak after beating Bishop Guilfoyle (26-22) in the final seconds last week, and Cambria Heights (32-13) on the road two weeks back.

Carroll’s Shawn Perich has rushed for 865 yards on 158 carries. Last week Perich ran for 121 yards on 30 attempts. Quarterback Drew McCabe threw for 129 yards, including a game-winning touchdown to Josh Barzdo with 12 seconds left in the win over Guilfoyle.

Southern Huntingdon is 4-5. The Rockets have won three straight after snapping a five-game losing streak.