Published Friday, Dec. 4, 1998
BACK TO HERALD...
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WPIAL AA champs will meet Sharon
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TIGERS LOOKING FOR RETURN TRIP TO TITLE CONTEST
Herald Sports Writer
Sharon, Shadyside at a glance Starting lineups SHARON Offense No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 89 Bear Shimrack TE 6-4 235 12 76 Jim Nelson T 6-3 290 12 54 Russell Porterfield G 5-6 180 11 68 Ashten Beach C 6-0 220 12 55 Jon Anderson G 6-0 220 12 75 Robbie Martell T 6-1 260 12 16 Jeff Valentino QB 6-4 195 12 6 Chris Anderson FB 5-9 175 12 4 T.J. Phillips RB 6-2 215 12 2 Jon Murray SE 6-1 185 12 3 Marlin Jackson SE 6-2 170 10 8 Jesse Coon SE 6-2 170 12 22 Ralph Odem FL 6-0 180 12 57 Jim Morocco PK 5-8 190 9 Defense No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 89 Bear Shimrack E 6-4 235 12 55 Jon Anderson T 6-0 220 12 54 Russell Porterfield T 5-6 180 11 9 Mike Roberson E 6-0 195 12 4 T.J. Phillips LB 6-2 215 12 5 Terrence Phillips LB 6-1 180 12 6 Chris Anderson LB 5-9 175 12 3 Marlin Jackson CB -2 170 10 1 Carmone Parchman CB 5-10 160 10 8 Jesse Coon SS 6-2 170 12 16 Jeff Valentino FS 6-4 195 12 57 Jim Morocco P 5-8 190 9 SHADYSIDE ACADEMY Offense No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 80 Stuart Ferguson TE 6-0 225 12 70 Mike Romano T 5-10 285 12 66 Justin Atkinson G 6-0 190 12 53 Mike Parker C 6-3 260 12 62 David Felder G 5-8 185 12 74 Khalil Bey T 6-2 220 12 12 Adam Frederick QB 6-2 210 12 34 James Ruggiero FB 6-2 240 12 7 Ian Alexander RB 6-3 210 12 2 Jarius Acie WR 6-0 180 12 88 Maurio Medley WR 6-5 195 12 11 Ashley Bower PK 5-10 145 11 Defense No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 88 Maurio Medley E 6-5 195 12 79 Rich Greer T 6-4 240 12 34 James Ruggiero NT 6-2 240 12 3 David Gombkoto T 6-1 195 11 12 Adam Frederick E/P 6-2 210 12 66 Justin Atkinson LB 6-0 190 12 80 Stuart Ferguson LB 6-0 225 12 2 Jarius Acie CB 6-0 180 12 10 Clarence Jackson CB 5-9 160 12 7 Ian Alexander S 6-3 210 12 15 Scott Booker S 6-0 180 12 |
Saturday's PIAA Class AA western regional final could be the best last chance at a state championship for Shady Side Academy head coach Art Walker. And maybe for his counterpart, Sharon's Jim Wildman.
During a 21-year Mount Lebanon tenure, Walker amassed a 170-56-6 ledger and his clubs won WPIAL titles in 1970, '80, '81, '83 and '84, while losing in the finals in '67, '73 and '87.
"But this is the first time I've been this far,'' the 62-year-old Walker, whose Mount Lebanon clubs dominated in the pre-PIAA playoffs days, admitted.
And when asked if this year's edition is his best, Walker -- 36-18 in five years at Shady Side -- admitted, "Oh yeah, no question, I think so.''
Shady Side (13-0) meets Mercer County Athletic Conference and District 10 titlist Sharon (12-1) at noon Saturday at Erie's Veterans Memorial Stadium. The winner will meet the eastern regional titlist -- Mount Carmel (12-1) or Marian Catholic (10-3), who play Friday night in Shamokin -- at noon Dec. 12 at Hershey Stadium for the PIAA crown.
Wildman -- The Herald coverage-area's all-time winningest coach (177-68-6) -- twice has taken Sharon to the Class AAA finale where the Tigers bowed in back-to-back meetings with Berwick. And although he is not considering hanging up his headset, he readily admitted this team may be his best.
"At the expense of offending kids I've coached before, because I know they'll read this, this team's better,'' Wildman said in response to how his '94 and '95 PIAA finalists compared. "It's more balanced, this team is just as tough physically, and the thing we have going for us this year is we have more athleticism at some key positions.''
Walker, who club has outscored opponents by a collective 543-99 margin, would concur while discussing Sharon, which has amassed an aggregate 549-75 margin over a dozen victims since a 20-6 season-opening setback to WPIAL Quad-A semifinalist Woodland Hills.
"I would really estimate them to be the best team we've played this year, so far, both defensively and offensively. They have great athletes, some (NCAA) Division I players,'' Walker said, while allowing, "Quite a few (Shady Side Academy) kids were offered (scholarships) in the Mid-American in Ohio and a couple other Division I (programs). But I do believe they (Sharon) have three or four solid Division I kids.''
The Indians feature a pair of 1,000-yard running backs in fullback James Ruggiero and tailback Ian Alexander, a 1,000-yard passer in Adam Frederick, and a pair of big-play bookends in 6-foot-5 Maurio Medley and Jarius Acie, both of whom average approximately 20 yards per catch.
"Offensively, you start with the quarterback; he's happy if he's running or throwing the ball. He's a make-things-happen kind of kid,'' Wildman said of Frederick. "Then up the middle, they have a fullback who has a noseguard's mentality, a tailback who can run inside or outside, a 6-6 wide receiver, a good tight end, a good offensive line. ... They're very balanced and they try to mix it up. Defensively, many of those same people are on the other side of the ball. They're not too many weaknesses, believe me.''
Wildman acknowledged that referring to the two teams as a mirror image, "is a fair oversimplification.
"Defensively, we have to be able to utilize our talents, our athleticism to counteract their's,'' Wildman summarized.
Many members of this year's Shady Side squad, including 16 seniors, have tasted success, losing to eventual state champion South Park in the 1997 WPIAL AA championship game. It is that defeat, apparently, that was the Indians' motivator this season.
"We got lucky with this senior class. We have some real good athletes, and they've been dedicated. They're the most dedicated kids,'' Walker praised. "They're the heart of the team, and many, including our quarterback, started as freshmen. This group has been extremely dedicated, particularly after the ('97) loss to South Park. They began to set goals in the weight program, and everything was geared toward coming back to Three Rivers Stadium. And they've been playing well. It's been fun this year.''
A near-flawless season conceivably could have ended in disaster, however, when Shady Side Academy committed seven turnovers in the WPIAL title tilt with Washington.
"We played well until Saturday. ... If we do that this Saturday, I don't think we can beat Sharon,'' Walker admitted. "We have to play a better ballgame as far as holding onto the ball.''
Walker salvaged that performance by reasoning that it served to awaken his club.
"The scary thing is that they turned the ball over so many times and still won by 18," Wildman said. "But, certainly, turnovers are part of any football game; you just hope you're not on the losing side of that ledger.''
Whereas some teams fall into the trap of thinking that winning the WPIAL crown is the penultimate prize, Walker believes his team can overcome any such problem.
"I would've thought that would definitely have been a major problem," Walker said. "And I see exactly why: You play at Three Rivers Stadium. In western Pennsylvania, you have a shot for the WPIAL championship, and then after it's over, one of the things is you usually have terrible weather (in the state playoffs), but it's been 70 degrees all week. And the other thing is, we had played five games without turnovers, then had seven on Saturday at Three Rivers Stadium. The seniors wanted to play well there. They were a little disappointed at how we played on television in front all those people. So when they came into practice on Monday and watched film, it was like, 'We can do better than that.' And our practices have been good. It's like 'How many times are you gonna get an opportunity to play in the state playoffs? How many chances are you gonna get to be opportunists?'
GAME-BY-GAME SHARON (12-1) 6 Woodland Hills 20 37 Boardman 3 45 Grove City 0 62 East Canton 19 49 Mercer 6 70 Reynolds 0 41 Hickory 7 40 Wilmington 13 62 Slippery Rock 6 DISTRICT 10 PLAYOFFS 42 Fort LeBoeuf 8 35 Wilmington 7 PIAA PLAYOFFS 41 Brookville 6 25 United 0 ------ SHADY SIDE (13-0) 49 Laurel Highlands 7 35 South Park 28 49 Ford City 0 53 Deer Lakes 14 46 Mars 7 40 Freeport 12 41 Northgate 0 40 Apollo-Ridge 0 39 North Catholic 7 DISTRICT 7 PLAYOFFS 40 Quaker Valley 0 42 North Catholic 12 39 Brownsville 0 30 Washington 12 |
As for keys to the game?
"For one thing, we can't turn the ball over on these people, and we've got to stop them from making the real big plays,'' Walker said. "We'll have to try to keep (Sharon 2,000-yard rusher T.J.) Phillips reduced, to some extent, make sure he doesn't get over 200 yards because that would make things difficult. He's capable of making big plays, Valentino's capable, Bear Shimrack is quite a player. ... I'm real impressed with their defense; they're, by far, the best defensive team we've seen. They create some problems. They're tough kids, have good quickness, they tackle well, and they have good athletes in the secondary; they can play man, put eight guys in the box when they want to, they have three great linebackers, outstanding down linemen, and ends."
Wildman admitted the advent of the state playoff system created a sense of urgency for coaches to win.
"I haven't really thought about it from a personal standpoint," he said. "I probably won't do that until it's all over. But the No. 1 focus is our kids. They've been a great group to work with, they're fun, they make coaching high school football -- in this day and age of 'Me' and not 'We' -- fun. This group is very unselfish. But I'm not gonna look at it from a Jim Wildman perspective until our kids get something done.''
However, the Tigers' taskmaster admitted he has comtemplated this, too, could be his best opportunity to win that elusive state crown.
"Oh sure. More than 10 years ago if you had asked myself or any other coach about an urgency to win state, it'd be a moot question because there was none. Those teams went 10-0 and felt they had a pretty good year. But since the state playoffs evolved, it seems society tends to say there's only one way you can hang your hat, and that is if you play on the 11th or 12th of December."
