Bishop Carroll (0-6) at Cambria Heights (4-2) Friday 7:00
Bishop Carroll is the only team in the league without a win. They are a young team, and they do not have a lot of depth. They still have plenty to play for. They have virtually everyone coming back next season, and any experience can help. David Maruca has done OK in his first season as the starting quarterback. He will look to add some consistency to his game. Dane Woo and Dan Lesney have been good big play threats, Marty Lessard has done well when he has space to run. The defense is the glaring weakness. Every team has managed at least 26 points against the Huskies. They will have a tough go at it this week as well. Cambria Heights is not a flashy offense, but it is an effective one. Tyler Crawford has excelled as the feature back. He has 538 yards and seven touchdowns. Donnie Contorchick contributes 44 yards a game to that rushing attack as well. Nathan Bearer has done well as a game manager. He has not been asked to win games, but run the offense and add a nice passing compliment. The Highlanders have a long way to go to securring a playoff berth, but they are well on their way. They still have games with Bishop McCort, Somerset, and Northern Cambria. They need to take care of the task at hand and not look ahead. I think coach Lewis will have the team focused, and they will get the win in week seven.
Highlanders 32 Huskies 6
Westmont (1-5) at Richland (6-0) Friday 7:00 Herlinger Field
This cross town rivalry has all things pointing towards a blowout. Richland is coming off a 47-0 win, whereas Westmont is coming off a 35 point loss. These two teams are on opposite ends of the spectrum of LHAC football. Westmont has very little to be happy about after the 35-0 loss to Bishop McCort. They were not able to establish any sort of rhythm on offense. Liam Moran and Sam Curry are the two keys to the offense, but have struggled with the new offense. The running lanes have not been there. They will need a methodical, mistake-free game on offense if they want any chance of beating Richland. The Rams boast a top ten state ranking in AA. They have a powerful offense that can beat you in the air or on the ground. They have a defense that has only surrendered 20 points once in the whole season, including two shutouts. They seemingly have it all, and all things considered they should roll in this game. Tanner Solarczyk is turning out to be one of the best backs in the whole district. Solarczyk has 784 yards and nine touchdowns. Kyle Flick has 23 catches for 482 yards and eight scores. The quarterback duo of Matt Shaffer and Nico Pecora
is effective. They click so well. You can not forget about the great line play led by Josh Dinninym either. This team is complete and seem to be a collision course to Mansion Park in November.
Rams 42 Hilltoppers 7
Central Cambria (1-5) at Bishop Guilfoyle (5-1) Saturday 7:00 Mansion Park
The struggling Central Cambria Red Devils will travel to Altoona to take on the upstart Marauders of BG on Saturday night. Central Cambria has been off for a few seasons. This season they just can not find a way to put it in the endzone. The offense has had trouble all season long only putting up 26 points through six weeks. Will Seymour is a tough sophomore who will be a pretty good player down the line. He has given the team a passing threat, and somewhat reminds me of former Bedford QB, Marcus Shippey. He will need to have a Shippey like performance against a stingy Bishop Guilfoyle defense. The Marauders are the surprise of the LHAC, and perhaps the whole district. They have posted three shutouts as a defense, and only Richland has figured out the Marauder defense. Nick Ceschini and Jextin Pugh have led a strong defense line that is the key to it all. The offense is going to be without starting quarterback, Brandon Chadbourn, but Pat Irwin has filled in nicely. They are not a great scoring team, and the defense allows them to get away with it. I like BG to take care of business yet again. The defense of BG, and the struggling offense of CC has me think Guilfoyle.
Marauders 27 Red Devils 0
Somerset (4-2) at Bedford (1-5) Friday 7:00
Somerset was not expecting the outcome of week seven, I don't think anybody was expecting that one-sided of a game. The Golden Eagles will need to regroup to keep their name in the AAA sub-region playoff race. The offense is built around the junior quarterback, Tanner Stull. He is the leading rusher on top of handing the offense. Richland was able to shut him down, and it showed. Stull needs to have a complete game. He has good targets on the outside, and he is at his best on the move. Somerset must show a better effort at stopping the run this week. Bedford has not had the best offense in 2012, but they have gotten better. The return of Luke Campbell is a big reason why. Campbell already has three touchdowns and has added another element to the Bedford offense. Aaron Henry has done well, but they have yet to be consistent. They can certainly catch Somerset snoozing though. Ever since the week three win over Bishop McCort, Somerset has not been the same team. The game will be played on grass and it may slow down the Somerset spread. I think Bedford can keep things interesting. Campbell will need to make a few plays on special teams as well as offense. I'll take Somerset, but they need to go back to being that team from the first three weeks of the season.
Golden Eagles 27 Bisons 14
Johnstown (3-3) at Bishop McCort (4-2) Friday 7:00 Point Stadium
The neighboring schools will take to Point Stadium Friday night in the renewal of this great rivalry. The Trojans hold a 17-10 edge in this game, and have won the past two meetings. Johnstown enters this game in a bit of a rebuilding mode. They have plenty of young talent, and they can take some chances Friday night and try to take down their arch rival. Johnstown has turned to Wuanyai Mayo at Quarterback. He has gone over the 100 yard mark the past two weeks. Deion Moore is the other QB, and comes in as the leading rusher for Johnstown. The team speed of Johnstown is outstanding, and they have plenty of guys that are one cut away from taking it to the endzone. The defense has been off an on all season long, and they will need to prepare for a formidable McCort passing game. Tomkowski has 948 passing yards and six touchdowns. His main targets are Jordan Spangler and Luke DiFrancesco. The running game has been inconsistent, but Dustin Belskey has helped out since his return. The Crusher defense has been the one constant. They have given up yards, but not many points. They were able to come up with a defensive score last week by team leader Gap Barbin. I think the key to the game is Barbin and that defensive line. Johnstown relies on getting out in space, but McCort's defensive line eats up running lanes. I like McCort. Johnstown seems like they are about a year away. McCort has the defense that can control this game.
Crimson Crushers 24 Trojans 10
GAME OF THE WEEK
Penn Cambria (4-2) at Forest Hills (3-3) Friday 7:00 G.H. Miller Field
HUGE Playoff implications are on the line in Sidman Friday night. The most recent playoff rankings have Penn Cambria coming in at number eight, and Forest Hills at nine. Nobody at the start of the season could have imagined that these teams would be clawing into a playoff spot, but that is the reality for both teams. Forest Hills has had some tight losses. They also are dealing with an injury to the starting quarterback, Joe Donoughe. Jared Shope has stepped into the QB role, and has filled in nicely. Shope went for 194 yards and two touchdowns last week, and is always a threat to run the ball. Doltyn Snedden has had a breakout season at receiver. The Ranger offense has the weapons, they need to show it. There is a lot of pride on the team and on the coaching staff. They are really going to be geared up Friday night. Penn Cambria is on a two game losing skid. The preseason favorite by the LHAC coaches have been struggling mightily on offense. They have not found a consistent player to rely on, and I think it is hurting them. The depth they have is nice, but nobody on offense has stepped up and really put the team on their backs. The defense led by Mack Behe and Devin Lawhead is still a force. They had only given up 35 points, before surrendering 27 to Cambria Heights. They also have a great coaching staff and pride on that team. Penn Cambria will do just about anything to avoid a three game losing streak. The coaching chess match of Bailey and Fetzer, the playoff implications, and the talent on the field makes this a sure fire game of the week. Both teams are more than capable of winning some games in the playoffs. I'm expecting a low scoring, hard fought game in Sidman. I'm going with a bit of an "upset" ....I am taking the Rangers in a close one.
Rangers 10 Panthers 8
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