WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for 8/29

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, August 30, 2014 | 11:34 AM

The curtain rose Friday night on the 2014 WPIAL football season. Once again this season, MSA Sports will take time to look at ackowledge the top performances each Friday night with a little piece we call Friday Night HighLights. Sometimes they have gaudy numbers, sometimes they just grind it out, most times its an individual , but there are times we tip our cap to an entire unit or team. Whatever the case, here are the top performances that led to an opening night victory.

Nicolas Coxon – Plum

Plum ended 2013 with a win, breaking a long 25-game losing streak. They liked it so much, they decided to pick up where they left off a year ago. Sophomore Nicolas Coxon rushed for 137 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 45 and 4 yards to go along with a 28-yard touchdown reception from William Fuhrer as the Mustangs snapped a full two-year conference losing streak with a 45-19 stunning road victory over the Hempfield Spartans in a Class AAAA Foothills Conference opener.

Brett Laffoon – Penn-Trafford

There is no surprise that there is a quarterback named Brett making the HighLights on this first Friday? Yes, Brett Brumbaugh of South Fayette had another great night, but this tip of the cap goes to Brett Laffoon. The Penn-Trafford signal caller connected on 7 of 8 passes for 178 yards and tossed three touchdowns on passes of 2, 2 and 30 yards, plus he added a 12-yard scoring run as the Warriors cruised to a 42-7 Class AAAA Foothills Conference victory over the host Kiski Area Cavaliers. 

Austin Kemp – Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson head coach Bill Cherpak may have been very nervous going into his team’s Class AAA Big Nine Conference opener against highly ranked Ringgold, but those nerves were long gone by halftime. A large dose of TJ senior running back Austin Kemp was the proper antidote to calm those nerves, as he rushed for 249 yards and scored four touchdowns on runs of 40, 1, 3 and 10 yards along with a touchdown toss of 13-yards to Russell Siess in the Jaguars 49-6 thumping of the Rams. 

John George – Central Valley

Over the last two years, John George has done an admirable job of coming off the bench as the backup quarterback when injuries struck at Central Valley. Now, he IS the man under center and his first start as permanent starting quarterback left a lasting impression. George hit on 9 of 12 passes for 189 yards and tow touchdowns, plus he got the scoring started with a 39-yard touchdown run as the Warriors rolled past a pretty good Montour Spartans team 48-28 in a Class AAA Parkway Conference opener.

Curtis Moore – South Allegheny

It has literally been up and down the last three year for the football team at South Allegheny. They struggled in 2011, made the playoffs with a strong 2012 season, but then crashed and burned with a young team in 2013 that produced one lone victory. But the yo-yo is heading up after a strong start to 2014 thanks to Curtis Moore, who rushed for 210 yards and scored six touchdowns on runs of 5, 12, 34, 4, 8 and 35 yards in the Gladiators 49-6 Class AA Century Conference triumph over the Sto-Rox Vikings.

Dewayne Murray – Steel Valley

Dewayne Murray put the rest of the WPIAL and Class AA on notice with an incredible 2013 freshman season. He started 2014 showing no signs of any sort of sophomore slump. In Steel Valley’s Class AA Century Conference opener,  Murray rushed for 178 yards and scored five touchdowns on runs of 4, 6, 54, 45 and 5 yards…all on only 13 carries of the pigskin as the Ironmen cruised at home over the Carlynton Cougars 41-12.

Zach Royba – Beaver

Some high school football quarterbacks may have completed more passes or had a higher completion percentage on opening night, but none threw for more yards and racked up the yards per completion average that Zach Royba did. The Beaver signal caller hit on 8 of 15 passes for 261 yards in the Bobcats 53-0 drubbing of the Brownsville Falcons in a Class AA non-conference game. Of the 8 passes completed by Ryba, six of them went for touchdowns and he end up with an average of 32.6 yards per completion.

Amos Luptak – Quaker Valley

The worst news Quaker Valley could get in the preseason was an injury to star quarterback Dane Jackson. But that’s what happened as the Pitt recruit was lost for the first part of the season. No Great Dane? No problem thanks to Famous Amos. Amos Luptak tossed touchdown passes to Chris Conlan and Blake Lipke, then broke three tackles on a fourth and four play to score on a 7-yard run with only 1 second left in the Class AA Century Conference game as the Quakers stunned the Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 25-19.

Zach Chandler – Avonworth

Avonworth has enjoyed great success in the Eastern Conference the last handful of years, but the WPIAL moved the Antelopes to the Class A Black Hills Conference with off-season realignment. So far, so good in the new digs for the red and gray thanks to the strong play of quarterback Zach Chandler, who hit on 15 of 21 passes for 253 yards in an impressive 37-13 victory over the host Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers.

Anthony Welsh – Beth-Center

The story line coming into the 2014 high school football season in the Class A Tri-County South Conference was once again as the late great Paul Harvey might say…There is Beth-Center and then there is the rest of the conference. The Bulldogs have dominated the conference and show no signs of taking their foot off the pedal with a 34-6 rout of the Mapletown Maples thanks to Anthony Welsh, who rushed for 209 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 16, 73 and 10 yards.

Tags: Avonworth, Beaver, Beth-Center, Central Valley