Football
Chicks Picks – Week 11 – 2013
November 7, 2013
Welcome to Week 11. It is not unusual for Chick’s Picks to be flooded with requests for guest appearances around the WPIAL—a small part of the price of fame that has come along with her celebrity prognosticating career. A rather extraordinary request came in last week, however—one that Chick’s Picks could simply not refuse.The City of Pittsburgh reached out late last week seeking her availability to serve as a parade Grand Marshal—a role that Chick’s Picks had always aspired to be. Looking back at other famous Grand Marshals throughout history—Paula Deen, Mr. Rogers, Pele, and even Mickey Mouse himself—Chick’s Picks knew at that moment that she had made it.Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 11
November 6, 2013
Quarterfinals! They are all big now, makes my job a little more difficult but, don’t cry for me Argentina! I will keep my promise to bring you what I think will be the biggest game in each of the classifications. Exit number two on the Highway to Heinz is approaching. There were not a huge amount of upsets in the first round but certainly a couple and some games that were a lot closer than most thought they would be. That is just another of the reasons WPIAL playoff football is such a blast. Now you have to be extra careful about choosing where you will go, you don’t want to miss a great game. Take your smart phone so you can track the scores and listen to whatever turns into THE game of the week on the MSA Sports Network.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/04/2013
November 4, 2013
With the WPIAL soccer and volleyball playoffs behind us, we focus on the ride on the Highway to Heinz as well as open up a new chapter of winter high school and college sports this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We continue our exclusive coverage of the District 7 football playoffs with all 16 WPIAL Quarterfinals games starting Friday with the expanded MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding with the one and only WPIAL High School Football Scoreboard Show.WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Ten
November 2, 2013
To the victors go the spoils. Or in the case of the WPIAL football playoffs...to the victors goes a spot on Quarterfinals Friday. Round One is on the books on this years ride on the Highway to Heinz as 32 teams prevailed and live to fight another day for the gold at the end of the rainbow which splashes down at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in three weeks. Sometimes the first postseason win is a walk in park or a fight to the bitter end. Whether is one one extreme or the other, or somewhere in the middle, here are the players that got their primetime jaunt off on the right foot in the First Round of the district playoffs.Luigi Lista-Brinza, Riley Redman and J.J. Cosentino - Pittsburgh Central CatholicWPIAL Football First Round Recaps 2013
The four week journey on the Highway to Heinz is underway as the orange barrels have been replaced with spread offenses and suffocating defenses. All 32 First Round games in the 2013 WPIAL Football Playoffs are in the books from Friday night. Here are ALL of the game recaps from those postseason contests that were heard here on the MSA Sports Network.Scholastic Notebook – 11/01/2013
November 1, 2013
Moon’s running game went from Colaianni to Cole, and now everything is cool with the Tigers on the ground.Moon is in the WPIAL football playoffs this season for the first time since 2006, and one of the main reasons for the turnaround is Cole Blake, a senior running back who is the fifth-leading rusher in the WPIAL heading into the playoffs.Blake has made a name for himself, rushing for 1,457 yards. He set a school record with 342 yards in one game. But Blake’s story is interesting in that he only got a chance to be the featured back this year because of an injury. Suffice to say, Blake has run with that chance.WPIAL Football Scores for Friday, November 1st
The winds of change are in the air (and i do mean winds). On Friday, we say goodbye to October and hello to November while at the same time, we say so long to the WPIAL Football regular season and usher in the 2013 District 7 Postseason. All 32 First Round games on the Highway to Heinz will kick off at 7:30pm tonight and all can be heard live and archived here on the MSA Sports Network. Stay caught up with the scores on your mobile phone at m.scores.msasports.net or click here on your laptop or desktop http://www.msasports.net/scoresWPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:Upper St. Clair Panthers 44 - Kiski Area Cavaliers 13 (F)North Allegheny Tigers 28 - Bethel Park 0 (F)Woodland Hills Wolverines 35 - Pine-Richland Rams 14 (F)Chicks Picks – Week Ten – 2013
October 31, 2013
Welcome to Week 10. As yet another high school football season begins to wind down, Chick’s Picks spent some time with Team MSA Sports simply reflecting on her tenure at the network. She shared her stories with the team, from her first day as an intern many moons ago, to her first venture in prognosticating.One of the network’s newer members, who shall remain nameless, seemed preoccupied during the team’s storytelling session. Unable to make sense of this reaction, Chick’s Picks said, “Young man, are we boring you with this MSA Sports history lesson?” He responded, “Chick’s Picks, it’s just that I was only two years old when you started working here. So, please forgive my disinterest.”2013 Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 10
October 30, 2013
I’m on the Highway to Heinz, the Highway to Heinz, with apologies to AC/DC there will in fact be stop signs. In fact 32 teams will get off this Friday night after the shortest trip imaginable on the Highway to Heinz. But for those naysayers who claim there are too many teams in the playoffs, I dare you to ask any member of those 32 teams if they would give back the memory of making the playoffs even after getting dumped in round one, the answer is no, they would not. In fact, they would do it all again even knowing the heartbreak was coming right at them. That’s why the playoffs in the WPIAL are perfect just the way they are. Now let’s stop bickering about it and go Big Game Hunting!MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football Playoff Rankings – 10/27/2013
October 27, 2013
The WPIAL will unveil the playoff brackets Monday night for the upcoming journey that we call the Highway to Heinz. The committee does not rank the teams 1 through 16, they seed them. First they figure out the top 4, then the rest of the top 8 that will be home for the opening round adhering to some basic rules including...you can't play a team in your own conference in Round One and you can't be seeded beneath a team that you finished ahead of in your own conference. You start plugging in the rest of the puzzle until the picture is complete. Here is a completed picture of a football bracket as drawn by the artists here at the MSA Sports Network.CLASS AAAA:#1 Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings (9-0)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/27/2013
While others use smoke and mirrors to trick you, we have a week full of various postseason treats this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We open up the Highway to Heinz with exclusive coverage of all 32 First Round WPIAL football playoff games all starting Friday with the expanded MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding with the one and only WPIAL High School Football Scoreboard Show. We also have high school football regular season finale's from District 6 and District 9 with a pair of college football games, the WPIAL girls volleyball Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships, the WPIAL boys and girls soccer Semifinals and Championships, plus This Week in the WPIAL and the WPIAL Football Playoff Pairings Show ALL here at MSAsports.netWPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz for Week Nine
The curtain has come down on the 2013 WPIAL football regular season. A final Huzzah to all of the great players and their highlight performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday throughout the past nine weeks. Here is the final encore from the top six stand outs in District 7 on the final day of this years campaign.Elijah Hardy and Nathaniel Cofer - Summit AcademyWPIAL Football Scores for Saturday, October 26th
October 26, 2013
The 2013 WPIAL football regular season has come to an end on Saturday after results from five contests. Actually, there were only four games after Geibel Catholic forfeited for the second straight week and third time this season due to a lack of healthy players. The forfeit gives Jefferson-Morgan a victory to close out the campaign. Here are ALL the results from the five Saturday games, three of which were heard here on the MSA Sports Network.WPIAL CLASS AA Allegheny Conference:Summit Academy Knights 38 - Freeport Yellowjackets 20 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS A Eastern Conference:Springdale Dynamos 28 - Riverview Raiders 0 (MSA)WPIAL CLASS A Tri-County South Conference:WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Nine
Friday night in Week Nine. One last chance for ALL of the teams around the WPIAL to shine. Some will move on to the Highway to Heinz in the hopes of making this a lucky 13th season in the 21st century. Others who will not move on just wanted to close out the campaign on a high note. Here are the players who sang like soprano's Friday night with large performances that had the crowd calling for an encore. Trevor Morrow - Upper St. ClairFINAL WPIAL Football Playoff Picture
The 64 teams and their positions out of their respective conferences are now set. Now it is up to the WPIAL football steering committee to seed the 16 teams in each classification. Here are ALL of the final playoff teams and their position through the nine week regular season.CLASS AAAA Foothills Conference:McKeesport Tigers (8-0) have clinched CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPPenn-Trafford Warriors (6-2) have clinched Second Place (Take second based on head-to-head tiebreaker with Gateway)Gateway Gators (6-2) have clinched Third Place2013 WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League Football Standings – 10/25
October 25, 2013
Here are the latest WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football standings through Week Ten of the 2013 high school football season...plus the FINAL WPIAL football playoff clinchings. Standings are updated after each game on Thursday, Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Standings can be also seen on each teams football webpage here on the MSA Sports Network.# - Clinched at least a share of the conference title * - Clinched playoff spot x - Eliminated from playoff chase % - Not eligible for WPIAL playoffsWPIAL CLASS AAAA: (SET WITH 16 PLAYOFF TEAMS)Northern Eight Conference:Scholastic Notebook – 10/25/2013
West Allegheny doesn’t have a running back among the WPIAL’s top 40 rushers. The team’s quarterback isn’t among the top 30 in passing yardage.Yet, when you look at the top offenses in Class AAA, West Allegheny is near the top of the list. And when you look at the rankings of the best teams in Class AAA, West Allegheny is right at the top.So how does it work? No big offensive star, but yet a powerful offense? Well, if ever a team was indeed a “team,” it is West Allegheny. And they are the MSA Sports No. 1-ranked Class AAA team heading into the final Friday night of the regular season.WPIAL and City League Football Scores for Friday, October 25th
For several WPIAL teams headed into the final Friday of the 2013 football regular season, it was now or never. As Apollo Creed told Rocky Balboa..."there is no tomorrow' (echo trails off). There weren't many playoff berths up for grabs, but the chase was on for conference titles, home field advantage, playoff seeding and those precious remaining postseason openings for one final night. Here are the Week Nine final scores of games in the WPIAL plus the Pittsburgh City League Semifinals schedule.WPIAL CLASS AAAA Southeastern Conference:Upper St. Clair Panthers 35 - Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 7Woodland Hills Wolverines 19 - Penn Hills Indians 7Washington Back in Football Playoffs After PIAA Overturns Forfeits
October 24, 2013
In again out again in again Washington. The case involving the Washington football team and the eligibility of one of its players is over. Washington wins and now the Little Prexies can start thinking playoffs once again.On Thursday afternoon, the PIAA overturned a previous WPIAL ruling that ordered Washington to forfeit five wins for using a player who is in his fifth year of high school. Under PIAA and WPIAL rules, a student only gets four consecutive years to play sports when the student starts ninth grade. Regardless of whether the student doesn’t play sports for a year, he/she gets only four continuous years.Chicks Picks – Week Nine – 2013
Welcome to Week 9. After nearly a decade of dominating fantasy football leagues, Chick’s Picks decided to throw her hat into fantasy hockey, hoping for at least a bit of a challenge. While her league mates spent weeks researching and preparing for the draft, Chick’s Picks sat back and chuckled, knowing her prized crystal ball was the only research she needed.Draft day was finally here. Chick’s Picks packed up her crystal ball and headed to meet the gang at league headquarters. It was no surprise to see the gaggle of league mates in line awaiting her autograph when she arrived. Chick’s Picks is, after all, kind of a big deal around the WPIAL.
