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SCHOLASTIC
NOTES, PA.
The Associated Press
The road to Three Rivers Stadium
for PIAA District 7 playoff teams now
runs through ... Three Rivers Stadi-
um.
In recent years, Three Rivers Sta-
dium has been the site for the WPI-
AL (District 7) football champi-
onships. This year, Three Rivers will
also host the league’s Class AAA and
AAAA semifinals on Saturday, Nov.
20. The games will begin at 10 a.m.,
1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The order
has not yet been determined but
they may be televised by Fox Sports
Pittsburgh.
Three Rivers also will be the site
of the Class A, AA, AAA and AAAA
title games on Saturday, Nov. 27.
Pitt Stadium often was the site of
playoff games, but it will be torn
down soon and was not available.
“It just sort of happened,” WPIAL
Executive Director Larry Hanley
said. “I was talking to the people at
Three Rivers about the finals and
was moaning about the fact we
couldn’t use Pitt Stadium and would
probably have trouble putting all the
semifinals on artificial turf. They sug-
gested playing games there.
“They’ve been wanting to do more
with us in recent years and said we
could work it out. With the Steelers
out of town and it being a non-holi-
day weekend, it just made sense.”
Hanley said a crowd of 20,000
would be needed for the WPIAL to
pay all the bills and return some
money to the schools involved.
“We are going to have some
teams in the semifinals who haven’t
been there for a while, so I think it’s
going to work out,” Hanley said.
ä DASH FOR THE RECORD
BOOK: Jesse Jones is only a junior,
but he is rewriting the record book
at Tyrone High School.
Jones, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound run-
ning back, scored four touchdowns
in Tyrone’s 58-13 victory against
United last week. His second score
of the night came on an 11-yard run
in the first quarter and was the 61st
of his career, passing Marcus
Owens’ total from 1994-96. Jones has
scored 29 touchdowns this season
and is closing in on the record of 33
held by Mark Wyland, who is a
sophomore at Bucknell University.
“We’ve been blessed with out-
standing backs since I’ve been here,”
Tyrone coach John Franco said.
“Jesse is another in that line.”
A starter since the fifth game of
his freshman year, Jones finished the
game with 195 yards on 21 carries.
He has rushed for more than 1,600
yards this season.
Tyrone is 10-0 and ranked No. 1
in Class AA by the Patriot-News.
ä RECRUITING NEWS: Pitt coach
Walt Harris has received verbal com-
mitments from two New Jersey of-
fensive linemen.
Rob Petitti (6-6, 320) of Rumsin
and Saul Freund (6-7, 317) of
Somerville plan to sign binding let-
ters of intent in February.
Freund was rated as one of the
top 50 offensive linemen in the coun-
try by Super Prep magazine at the
start of the season.
B-4 THE HERALD, Sharon, Pa., Thursday, November 11, 1999 http://www.sharon-herald.com
Author:
Filename: 543204
Description: TSR WIRELESS
Graphic Not Available!
Contributed photo
Midget champs!
The Farrell midget football team defeated Greenville, 20-16, last Saturday to capture its fourth consecutive
Shenango Valley Midget Football League (ages 11-13) championship. Results were published in Tuesday’s Herald.
Team members are, from left: front row — David Smith, Jarron West-Macklin, William Jones, Ike Williams, Marco
West, Arnold Frieson, Cecil Robinson, Gavin Kinsey, Quentin Graham, Daniel Garlock; second row — Jamel West-
Macklin, Justin Parker, Courtney Hilton, Terrence Wilkins, Donte Garlock, Victor Cleveland, Kelvin Newby, Diondre
Venable, Chris Blue, Phillip Pinkins, Anthony Ciccone; third row — Durrell Ford, Ayinde Sawyer, Teedray Craig,
Justin Jackson, Dominque Blackwell, Pierre Hughley, Travis Huntley; fourth row — coaches Sam Phillips, Kurt
Chester, Kurt Chester, Troy Harrison (head coach) and Al Whitehead. Missing were: coaches Jim Hosey, Tim Harri-
son, Sam Sewall, Robin Hood, Norman Blue, Don Chambers, Willie Odem and Terrence Crumby.
Reimold
Kennedy Christian star to
play at Division I Loyola
from page B-1
us, but we’ll be ready by the time the
season comes around,’’ Reimold said.
“We should be a good team. I hope
we can be. We had a really good
summer. ... A state championship is
in the back of our minds, but we
know we have to take it one game at
a time.’’
A factor to which Reimold was at-
tracted by Loyola — in addition to its
pre-med program (he is considering
becoming a dermatologist) — was
the similarity between his Kennedy
Christian mentor, Joe Votino, and
Gaudio, who previously served as an
assistant coach at both Xavier Uni-
versity and as head coach at West
Point.
“He’ll work your tail off, but that’s
what I want, that’s what I’m used to,’’
Reimold said of Votino, the veteran
mentor who has led Kennedy Christ-
ian to four state titles during his 17-
year tenure. “Coach Votino, he’s a
great coach and he brings out the
best in all of his players. When I
came in, I wanted to be a better play-
er when I left, and coach Votino is a
stern taskmaster, but it’s all been
worth it.”
As for the recruiting process?
“I’m glad it’s over with,’’ Reimold
said. “I wanted to play Division I; I’m
just glad I get the chance to do it.
But it would’ve been worthwhile
even if I didn’t get anything because
I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been at
Kennedy, but, yeah, this is icing on
the cake.’’
Stadium
The end of an era comes
as Pitt Stadium to close
from page B-1
“The Internet is a great way to do
this,” said Pederson, who was aware
of how popular that Internet auction
sites such as E-Bay have become.
Among the happy purchasers, ac-
cording to Pitt officials, was Scott
Breisinger, of Pittsburgh, who
bought a $350 section of bleacher
seats to erect alongside his backyard
basketball court.
“There’s something for every-
body,” Earle said.
One of Pitt’s worries is there also
will be something for those who did-
n’t place their bids on the Internet
site that closes Friday.
Extra security officers and off-duty
policemen will guard the stadium fol-
lowing Saturday’s late-afternoon
game to prevent fans from vandaliz-
ing the stadium or walking off from
items already sold.
Pitt has good reason for its cau-
tion. In 1970, a few blocks down the
street from Pitt Stadium, the Pitts-
burgh Pirates didn’t anticipate such
trouble following their final game at
Forbes Field, only to watch helpless-
ly as fans overwhelmed the few se-
curity guards on hand to cart off en-
tire rows of seats, home plate, the
bases and scoreboard panels.
Many of the scoreboard panels
still exist, displayed prominently in
game rooms and taverns across
western Pennsylvania.
Pitt coach Walt Harris has taped a
video clip that will be shown during
Saturday’s game, urging fans to let
Pitt Stadium die a peaceful and
undisturbed death.
Demolition will begin within days
of the Panthers’ final game, after the
sale items have been dismantled.
“I hope the fans remember we
have to practice there for at least two
more weeks,” Harris said. “I’m not
concerned but, obviously, other peo-
ple are. That’s because I’m buried in
the forest, so to speak, and am prob-
ably very trusting. But I think our
fans will respect it. A lot of great
teams and great players have played
there. I think that’s how the fans
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Levon
said they would.
Back when the Pittsburgh Steel-
ers were 2-3 and had lost eight of 10
dating to last season, Levon Kirkland
saw something in them that others
didn’t.
Namely, a winning team.
That’s why Kirkland, the former
Pro Bowl linebacker, predicted fol-
lowing a 24-21 loss to Buffalo on Oct.
10 that the Steelers would win their
next five games and advance to the
playoffs.
“We’re going to be there at the
end,” Kirkland said. “People want to
put us down, but you had better not,
I’m telling you. There is no sense of
panic. We’re going to do it.”
Now, with three consecutive victo-
ries behind them and a date against
expansion Cleveland (1-8) up next,
Kirkland says his prediction wasn’t
meant to fire up his teammates, but
was made to display his confidence
in them.
“I’m not much of a predictor,” he
said Wednesday. “I was just stating
that we had an opportunity to win
five in a row. If we continue to do
what we’re doing, we definitely have
an opportunity of doing what I
thought we could do.”
Maybe it was because they didn’t
splinter into factions as the defense
played admirably and the offense
was simply awful. Or because his
teammates rallied behind quarter-
back Kordell Stewart, whose slow
start mirrored his poor ending a year
ago. Or maybe, Kirkland said, it was
because he sensed that a team that
had won five division championships
and played in three AFC title games
since 1992 was growing tired of los-
ing.
“After the Buffalo game, even
though we lost, I saw us getting bet-
ter. Even in practice, we were start-
ing to jell as a team,” Kirkland said.
“Sometimes it takes a loss to see that
you’re getting better.
“I knew we had to steal one in
Buffalo or San Francisco, and once
we didn’t get a win in Buffalo, I just
thought we had an opportunity to
win the next few. The jury is still out,
but we definitely have a good oppor-
tunity.”
Seven teams are ahead of them in
the race for six AFC playoff spots,
and the Steelers, who haven’t beaten
a winning team, have four games left
against opponents with winning
records. Stewart’s improving play has
added consistency to an offense that
has moved the ball mostly in spurts
and flurries.
As a result, a defense that has
yielded a league-low seven touch-
downs now has more margin for er-
ror — even if the Steelers them-
selves don’t, with a two-game deficit
in the AFC Central race and a sec-
ond-half schedule that looks rougher
than that of the first half.
As the Steelers practiced Wednes-
day for the first time since beating
San Francisco 27-6 on Sunday, the
message of the day was to forget
about their 43-0 romp over the
Browns on Sept. 12. Coach Bill
Cowher preached it and his players
echoed it.
The Steelers play at Tennessee (6-
2) on Nov. 21, but they insisted to a
man that they have the Browns, and
not the Titans, in their sights.
“This is definitely not the same
team we played the first week of the
season,” safety Lee Flowers said.
“We’re not taking them for granted.
This is not an off week for us. We’re
not preparing for Tennessee or any-
thing like that. We’re preparing for
the Browns.”
Even if center Dermontti Dawson
isn’t. He is listed as questionable, but
will likely miss his third consecutive
game with a pulled hamstring. By sit-
ting out this week, he could be close
to 100 percent for Tennessee.
Still, Cowher said the worst thing
the Steelers can do is start looking
down the road, especially with half of
the season remaining.
“We are where we are,” he said. “I
would like to have a couple of more
wins and a couple of the teams in
front of us to have lost a couple of
more times. But you can’t worry
about that.”
For now, prediction made
by Steelers’ linebacker
Kirkland is coming true
NFL
“There’s something for
everybody.”
Pitt associate AD Jim Earle