Notes, anecdotes and thoughts after Week 7 of the high school football season. Latest rankings are at the end of this blog.
One of the leading rushers in the WPIAL is a quarterback - and a Wise guy.
Darius Wise is a junior who plays quarterback at Beaver. He had the top rushing game of any player in the WPIAL 
this weekend when he ran 335 yards on 16 attempts in a 41-20 victory against Laurel Friday.
The performance gave Wise 1,107 yards rushing for the season. He is averaging 11.7 yards a carry.
Wise (pictured) is 5 feet 11, 170 pounds and is getting some Division I looks as a receiver or defensive back. Besides his running, he has completed 53 of 99 for 681 yards for a Beaver team that is 5-2.
Wise finished with 427 yards offense against Laurel. He also completed 4 of 8 passes.
Fantastic Finish
It wasn't quite as good as yesterday's Michigan-Michigan State game, but the finish to Friday's Deer Lakes-Freeport game was memorable. It was the final regular-season home game at Freeport's Swartz Memorial Field, which the Yellowjackets have called home since 1940. The team will move to a new stadium next year.
It was a big game between Freeport and Deer Lakes. Freeport entered unbeaten in conference play and Deer Lakes had one loss. Freeport had a late scoring drive to take a 26-25 lead with one minute left. Then came the fantastic finish.
Deer Lakes drove down the field and lined up for a 33-yard field goal on the last play of the game. But Sam Saldutte's kick was blocked by Freeport's J.J. Brestensky and returned 72 yards for a touchdown by Kris Keppel.
Elsewhere
Another example of how passing has increased dramatically in recent seasons: Bentworth quarterback Rob Hughes threw for 501 yards, completing 21 of 29. That's the second-highest yardage total in WPIAL history. Riverside's Jason Dambach threw for 551 earlier this season. And don't forget Avonworth's Zach Chandler has thrown for more than 400 yards twice this season.
But then you look at the other side. Teams don't throw much and still can be successful. Woodland Hills didn't complete a pass Friday in its showdown with West Allegheny. And Woodland Hills won, despite going 0 for 2 in passes.
The question: Can you win big without a passing game? I say it's much harder these days. Oh, you can win, but I don't think you can win a state championship without at least a little bit of a passing game. Look how a lack of much of a passing game hurt Central Catholic the past two seasons in big games.
**** Former Woodland Hills star and NFL player Steve Breaston was at the West Allegheny game. He looks good, 
but is out of the game now. It wasn't all that long ago he was playing in the Super Bowl for the Cardinals against the Steelers. Breaston lives in the Pittsburgh area nowadays. His brother, Mike, is a Woodland Hills assistant coach.
I still say Steve Breaston was one of the most exciting players in WPIAL history, one I will never forget. (The photo is of Breaston in his Woodland Hills days. He has some dirt on the chin these days - ha ha).
**** Root Sports has decided to televise the showdown Friday at Pine-Richland, with the Rams hosting Central Catholic. Central has all of those Division I players on defense. How will that defense do against sophomore sensation Phil Jurkovec? On the flip side, how will Pine-Richland's defense do? The Rams gave up 28 points to Seneca Valley and 30 to Butler the past two weeks, but I would guess the starters didn't play all that long in the blowout of Butler.
But there is another Class AAAA showdown at the Wolvarena Friday. It's a battle of undefeateds when Woodland Hills plays host to Mt. Lebanon. How will Mt. Lebanon's defense fare against Woodland Hills' running attack?
**** But back to Jurkovec. He now needs only 160 yards rushing in the final two games to become the third 1,000-1,000 guy in WPIAL history. He has 840 yards rushing and 1,461 throwing.
**** The other top game this Friday is Seton-LaSalle at South Fayette.
**** Not to look ahead, but I will. Week 9 showdown: Aliquippa against Beaver Falls. It's likely both teams will be undefeated. Biggest game in that series?
WPIAL-State rankings
Here are the latest Post-Gazette WPIAL and state rankings. There was little change. West Allegheny stayed at No. 1 in WPIAL Class AAA, despite the loss to Woodland Hills. Hey, a close 22-15 loss to the No. 1 AAAA team might have improved West Allegheny's resume.
In Class A, Frazier moves into the No. 5 spot. Frazier plays in the Tri-County South, a conference that has been horrible in the playoffs (0-16 the past four seasons). Frazier is undefeated and it will be interesting to see what kind of seed the Commodores get for the playoffs. I say five is the highest they go. They might even get a 6 because where do you put Avonworth? The Antelopes have two losses, but are they better than Frazier? Or how about Neshannock, whose only loss was to Shenango?
How much will the Tri-County South's history hurt Frazier?
WPIAL
CLASS AAAA
1. Woodland Hills 7-0
2. Penn-Trafford 7-0
3. Pine-Richland 7-0
4. North Allegheny 6-1
5. Central Catholic 6-1
CLASS AAA
1. West Allegheny 6-1
2. Belle Vernon 7-0
3. Central Valley 6-1
4. Franklin Regional 6-1
5. Ringgold 6-1
CLASS AA
1. Aliquippa 7-0
2. South Fayette 7-0
3. Beaver Falls 7-0
4. Washington 7-0
5. Steel Valley 6-1
CLASS A
1. Clairton 7-0
2. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic 7-0
3. Jeannette 6-1
4. Shenango 6-1
5. Frazier 7-0
CITY LEAGUE
1. Allderdice 4-3
2. Brashear 5-2
3. University Prep 4-3
PIAA
CLASS AAAA
1. Woodland Hills 7-0
2. Central Dauphin 7-0
3. Downingtown East 7-0
4. Upper Dublin 7-0
5. Wilson 6-1
CLASS AAA
1. Imhotep Charter 7-0
2. Archbishop Wood 7-0
3. West Allegheny 7-0
4. Conneaut 7-0
5. Bethlehem Catholic 6-1
CLASS AA
1. Aliquippa 7-0
2. South Fayette 7-0
3. Wyomissing 7-0
4. Berks Catholic 7-0
5. Southern Columbia 7-0
CLASS A
1. Clairton 7-0
2. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic 7-0
3. Sharpsville 7-0
4. Camp Hill 7-0
5. Guilfoyle 7-0