It will be the Western Finals this weekend for the two remaining PIAA Football Playoffs. In Quad A Pittsburgh Central Catholic will face Cumberland Valley at Mansion Stadium in Altoona. The kickoff is Saturday at 1pm. The Aliquippa Quips will face Martinsburg Central at Hempfield High School Friday night. WBVP-WMBA airtime is 6:30. Kickoff is at 7pm. The winners of these games will advance to the PIAA Championships Decenber 18-19 in Hershey.
The Penguins went 1-3 in California. After beating San Jose 5-1 Wednesday, they dropped a 5-3 decision to the Los Angeles Kings Saturday. Sunday night the Penguins got an early goal from defense man Ollie Maatta but nothing more as the Penguins dropped a 2-1 decision to the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks got goals from Corrie Perry and the game winner from Chris Stewart. The Penguins are on their way to Denver for a Wednesday game against the Avalanche. The game is on WBVP-WMBA starting at 8PM.
To nobody’s surprise, Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State, and Oklahoma are the four schools in the Second Annual College Football playoffs. The semi-finals have Clemson vs Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Alabama vs Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. Locally, Pitt will play Navy in the Military Bowl Monday December 28th at Annapolis Maryland. Penn State will be in Jacksonville Florida January 2nd. They will play Georgia in the Tax Slayer Bowl. West Virginia will play in the Cactus Bowl on January 2nd. They will play Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl in Phoenix.
The Quips move onto the P.I.A.A. Semi-finals after escaping a serious threat from the Gremlins.
The NCAA has rejected the appeal of Syracuse Basketball Coach. His suspension for academic miss doings, can start right now. The 71-year-old legendary coach will miss six non-conference games and three ACC games. One of the games will the December 30th against Pitt at the Peterson Event Center. He will return for the January 9th game against North Carolina. Assistant Coach Mike Hopkins will direct the team. That starts Saturday against Georgtown. In other college basketball news. There was a huge upset Thursday Night. UCLA knocked off #1 Kentucky 87-77. The Bruins were lead by Thomas Welsh’s 21 points. It is UCLA’ first win over a #1 team since 2003.
Coming off their best start in eight years, the Duquesne Dukes face their cross town rival Pitt tonight. It is THE CITY GAME. The Dukes are 6-1 including a 26-point romp over Penn State a couple of weeks ago. The Panther are coming off a loss to #11 Purdue Tuesday night. The Panthers have won the last 14-games in a row. Dukes coach Jim Ferry says that has not come up during his preparation for the game. The Game is at the Console Energy Center with tipoff at 7pm.
The Steelers may have to start a rookie at tight end Sunday Night against the Indianapolis. Penn State graduate Jesse James may start. Tight End Heath Miller did not practice Thursday. He suffered a rib injury during the Seahawks Game last Sunday. Matt Spaeth is nursing a knee injury. James played a little on Sunday . Also not practicing was safety Will Allen (ankle) and linebacker Sean Spence (hamstring). Ben Roethlisberger and linebacker Ryan Shazier who are in the NFL concussion protocol. They were concussed in the Seattle. Both practiced on Thursday. The Steelers and Colts game is on WBVP-WMBA. The pregame is 6:30
The PIAA Quarter Finals in Football start tonight . The AA Game Aliquippa vs Karnes City will be played at Reeves Stadium Geneva College. WBVP-WMBA airtime is 6:30pm. KIckoff is 7:00pm. Meanwhile the Aliquippa Girls Basketball Team is in New York City for a weekend tournament.
Good News and Bad News on the injury front for the Steelers Ben Rothlersberger was cleared and did practice on Wednesday. Tight end Heath Miller didn’t practice due to a rib injury. Also sitting out is wide receiver Martavis Bryant with a hip. Suffering knee injuries are linebacker James Harrison, safety Mike Mitchell. Linebacker Ryan Shazier is still is going through the NFL concussion Proticol.