I'm headed to North Hills' Martorelli Stadium tonight for the game of the week between Central Catholic and North Hills. Follow the game on my live blog. Also next to the live blog are tweets with score updates from many games around the district. For score updates, follow @PGVarsityXtra on Twitter. Or you can tweet score updates to @PGVarsityXtra and use #wpial.
One last note: Tune in the "High School Roundup" show tomorrow morning from 7 to 8 a.m. on The Fan 93.7. Hosted by yours truly and Don Rebel of MSA Sports, there will be plenty to talk about after the second week of the season. Our guest on "Talking With A Legend" segment will be Greg Gattuso, who played on great Seton-LaSalle teams, coached Seton-LaSalle, Duquesne University and was an assistant at Pitt. He is now an assistant at Maryland.
Before we get to picks of top games this week, a little bit of sad news concerning a standout former player from the WPIAL.
Dakota Conwell, who starred at quarterback and linebacker at Upper St. Clair, has given up playing at the University of Arizona. The reason? Concussions. Daniel Berk of the Arizona Daily Star has the story.
Conwell (pictured) is actually one of two Arizona players forced to quit because of concussions. Conwell would have been a sophomore linebacker, and he showed plenty of promise last year. He is a former Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 selection.
Predictions
Here are picks for some of the top games around the WPIAL this weekend. Last week: 15-2
CLASS AAAA
Central Catholic at North Hills - A quick history lesson. The first game Central Catholic played in the WPIAL was 1975. It was against North Hills at Martorelli Stadium. Central Catholic won, 20-0. Tonight is Pat Carey's first home game as North Hills' coach. His squad will face a Central Catholic team that has more talent than North Hills, but when Carey was defensive coordinator, he got North Hills to stay in big games with its defense. I don't if North Hills can do enough offensively to win. The play of NH QB Jake "Bruiser" Bruder will be key. I've been hearing about this North Hills student section and how, after a few years of low school spirit, this section is strong, vibrant and full of energy. I've even heard Moses might show up and part the "red sea" tonight in the student section. Might be something to see. As for on the field: Winner: Central Catholic.
Other top Class AAAA games - Bethel Park over Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township over Penn Hills, McKeesport over Woodland Hills (I know, an upset).
CLASS AAA
Elizabeth Forward at Thomas Jefferson - What should we think of TJ after struggling some last week against Ringgold? Maybe we should think Ringgold is pretty good. I know EF QB JaQuan Davidson is good. But the Warriors' supporting cast must step up. Winner: Thomas Jefferson.
Central Valley at Montour - Don't sleep on Montour just because they don't have a big star like Devin Wilson. But Central Valley might have more talent. Winner: Montour.
Other Class AAA top games - West Mifflin over Belle Vernon; Franklin Regional over Indiana, although FR better be careful. I think Indiana is pretty good.
CLASS AA
Burrell at Valley - Burrell has won four in a row in this rivalry. Does surging Valley break the streak? I say no. Winner: Burrell.
Other top Class AA games - Mount Pleasant over Greensburg Central Catholic; Ford City over Freeport.
CLASS A
Brentwood at Monessen - Brentwood has star running back Justin Vickless, but I'm hearing he has a bad knee that might bother him a while. He missed some of last week's game against Serra. With a healthy Vickless (pictured), I'd take Brentwood. If he doesn't play or is less than full strength, it could be a different story. I took Brentwood on our "Varsity Xtra" show this week. But I'd like to change. Winner: Monessen.
Other top Class A games - Neshannock over Laurel, Avonworth over Riverview, North Catholic over Springdale, Carmichaels over Frazier.