Jeannette's offense rivals best in state history
When the Jeannette score is boomed over loudspeakers on fields throughout the WPIAL on Friday nights, fans stop and listen. People seem to enjoy hearing how many points the Jayhawks score, but the more important question is this:
How does Jeannette rank among the great high school teams of the past?
Jeannette, the No. 1-ranked Class AA team in the WPIAL and Pennsylvania, scores points in bunches, an average of 56.2 per game. At 10-0, Jeannette has become one of the WPIAL's most prolific scoring teams in the past 50 years. The Jayhawks scored 49 against Seton-La Salle in the first round of the playoffs last Friday, and that was not among its seven best scoring efforts.
They scored 77 against East Allegheny, 71 at Carlynton, 64 at Southmoreland and 53 against Yough. The Jayhawks' smallest output is 40 against McGuffey.
Jeannette will play Shady Side Academy at 7:30 tonight in the Class AA quarterfinals at Penn-Trafford while approaching Pennsylvania and WPIAL marks for scoring.
The WPIAL record is held by the 1927 Mt. Pleasant Hurst team, which went 11-0 and outscored its opponents, 615-0. Harrisburg Tech was 12-0 and scored 701 in 1922. Also in '22, Jersey Shore, which was located near Williamsport, scored 676 in nine games for an astonishing 75.1 per-game average.
Jeannette, which scored 529 in 16 games while winning the WPIAL title and finishing second in the state last year, has scored 562 and its starters have yet to play a complete game. All 10 games have finished with the mercy rule, which results in a running clock when a team gets a lead of 35 or more points.
Former Yough athletic director and Swissvale football coach Bill Priatko hasn't missed many WPIAL championship games over the past 30 years. He said this Jeannette team is special, and is at least the equal of the best teams he has seen.
"I've seen a lot of great teams and great players over the seasons," said Priatko, who played for North Braddock Scott, Pitt and the Steelers. "The Chuck Klausing-Braddock teams from the late 1950s were tremendous. They won six consecutive WPIAL titles.
"The 1944 and 1945 Donora teams with Arnold Galiffa, Bimbo Cecconi, Roscoe Ross and 'Deacon' Dan Towler has been considered one of the best teams ever. They were awesome. You also had the 1947 New Kensington team with Willie Thrower, teams from Upper St. Clair, Woodland Hills and North Hills, and all those great Pete Antimarino teams at Gateway. This Jeannette team has to be up there."
Gateway coach Terry Smith played for Antimarino in 1985-86 when the Gators battled North Hills for the WPIAL Class AAAA title in back-to-back classics at Three Rivers Stadium.
The 1985 game ended in a scoreless tie. The 1986 game, with more than 20,000 people in attendance, was won by Gateway, 7-6.
Smith is impressed by Jeannette.
"I watched them on television and they're a very, very good football team," said Smith, who played quarterback at Gateway and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown in 1986. "It's hard to gauge them on how good they are playing in Class AA because it's a different level of competition. When you play in Quad-A, you play good teams week-in and week-out, and you really see how good teams are."
Smith said the 1986 game was a classic Quad-A matchup. North Hills was ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and Gateway had several stars, including linebacker Curtis Bray.
"It was a big time matchup," Smith said. "You had big bodies. The big difference between those teams and Jeannette is what those teams had up front. Jeannette's skill players can match up with any Quad-A team, but I don't think their lines can."
North Hills coach Jack McCurry, who also was the man in charge in 1986, said he's seen Jeannette twice on television. He was impressed and agreed the Jayhawks skill players can play for anybody. But he does place a disclaimer on Jeannette's achievements.
"They have kids who are athletic and Terrelle Pryor is very talented," McCurry said. "But I like to temper how I look at teams. How good would have LaVar Arrington been if he played in Class AA? There is a vast difference between the classifications. You have to judge them on the teams they play."
Jeannette assistant coach Roy Hall played on the 1981 Jeannette team that won a WPIAL title. He said this year's team has more top athletes on the field than any he has seen.
"We had no superstars," Hall said of the '81 team. "We were just average and played together as one. We didn't have the speed that they have and we didn't have the opportunity to lift weights. Some of these players lifted all year. You get a player like Terrelle Pryor once a century.
"The 1983 team had three Division I players (Maurice Chamberlain, Dante Wiley and Mark Brasco), but this team is special. They have to rank as one of the best Class AA teams of all time."
Hall said he agrees with Smith's assertion that Quad-A teams probably have better lines because they have a lot of players playing on only one side of the ball. In Class AA, a lot of players have to play both ways.
Jeannette assistant coach John Danton and head coach Ray Reitz played on the 1971 Jeannette team that won a WPIAL championship. Danton said the 1971 squad had talent but not the skill players of this year's team.
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