5 things we learned in high school football Week 6: North Allegheny’s Walker hits 250 wins

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, October 5, 2024 | 9:05 PM

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Art Walker as a kid witnessed plenty of wins at Mt. Lebanon’s stadium, a place where his father coached for years.

On Friday, Walker celebrated a milestone of his own there. North Allegheny’s victory over Mt. Lebanon was win No. 250 for Walker, who is approaching the top 10 on the WPIAL’s all-time list.

The venue was a fitting backdrop.

“I grew up on the sidelines with my dad,” said Walker, whose father coached Mt. Lebanon from 1967-87. “Thinking about it today, it’s kind of special that (win No. 250) was there. If it wasn’t going to be at North Allegheny, being at Mt. Lebanon, it’s a pretty significant place.”

This is Walker’s 20th season as North Allegheny’s coach after seven at Central Catholic. He and Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak are the only active WPIAL coaches to reach the milestone.

Cherpak, hired in 1995, won his 300th game two seasons ago.

“When I first started out, Bill and I were the young guys,” said Walker said. “Here we are after about 30 years for him and 27 for me. The last time I saw him I was like, ‘Hey, we’re now the old guys.’ ”

Yet, both are still going strong. North Allegheny is a two-time defending WPIAL Class 6A champion and improved its record this season to 6-1 with Friday’s win.

Walker, 54, can retire as a teacher in three years. But his approaching retirement as an educator doesn’t mean his coaching career is winding down, too.

“I’ve always thought of football as a completely separate decision,” he said. “When it’s time for the education part of it to be done, that’s one thing. But the coaching part … until further notice, I’m doing this.”

Walker ranks 11th on the WPIAL’s all-time coaching wins list. He passed Bob Palko and Don Yannessa this season. Five more wins would tie him with Gateway’s Pete Antimarino for 10th.

Walker credited his wins total to a collaborative effort of players, coaches, players and school administrators. His teams have averaged better than nine wins per season over his 27 years.

The next big milestone would be 300 wins, a total four WPIAL coaches have reached.

“I didn’t really think about 250. I’m not thinking about 300,” Walker said. “If I were to get there, that would be spectacular. I’d be blessed and honored and humbled. If I don’t and I’m out before that, I’m OK with that, too.”

A family reunion

The Barksdale brothers are a dynamic duo for Steel Valley, but they haven’t shared the field as often as they’d like.

Junior quarterback Da’Ron Barksdale missed last season and the first few weeks this fall with a knee injury. But he and brother Donald, a senior running back, are making up for lost time.

They scored three rushing touchdowns apiece in Friday’s 55-10 win over Apollo-Ridge, and Da’Ron also threw for a touchdown. Donald Barksdale scored on runs of 74, 68 and 4 yards, and Da’Ron reached the end zone on runs of 35, 14 and 10 in his fourth game back from injury.

They contributed to six touchdowns a week earlier in a 49-0 win over Shady Side Academy.

Da’Ron Barksdale (5-foot-11, 170 pounds) is also a highly regarded defensive back who had Pitt and West Virginia among his early offers. Donald Barksdale (5-10, 180), a 4,000-yard career rusher, also has 10 college offers, largely from FCS schools.

Steel Valley (4-3, 2-1) has won three games in a row.

Hungry for more

Upper St. Clair improved its record to 7-0, but Friday’s win left the Panthers hungry for more — quite literally.

That’s because a fourth-and-8 touchdown pass by South Fayette early in the fourth quarter cost them some slices with pepperoni or sausage. Upper St. Clair won 17-7 as the team’s shutout hopes faded.

“Coach promises a pizza party if we get a shutout,” said USC defensive end Nate Stohl, a Princeton recruit. “So, no pizza party, I guess.”

They’ve had their chances. The defense also held Peters Township, Franklin Regional and Hampton to seven points apiece, and Canon-McMillan scored just six. The Panthers have games remaining against Bethel Park, Moon and Baldwin.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” said USC coach Mike Junko, who’s on the hook for the bill if there’s a zero on the scoreboard.

Record-setting season

South Allegheny’s strong start is also rewriting the team’s record book.

Senior quarterback Ryan Cortes and junior receiver Drew Cook already have broken single-season yardage records with three weeks left on the schedule. Both had big games Friday.

Cortes passed for 273 yards, giving him a team-record 1,499 for the season. Cook’s 951 receiving yards are also a record. He had eight catches for 154 yards in Friday’s 56-22 win over Shady Side Academy.

The previous records had stood for two decades.

The Gladiators are 6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference.

Going for 2

This week saw coaches make some daring late-game decisions, but daring doesn’t always lead to success.

Century Conference teams Carlynton and Keystone Oaks were stopped on 2-point tries that could’ve earned them wins Friday. Carlynton lost to Waynesburg, 27-26, in overtime. Keystone Oaks fell to Washington, 26-25.

Kicking woes could’ve contributed, because each had missed kicks earlier.

Elsewhere, South Side succeeded on a 2-point gamble Friday and defeated Northgate, 36-35, in overtime. South Side’s Andrew Corfield scored on a 10-yard run and added a 2-point run for the win.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.