Jeannette feels disrespect despite 12-0 record
The Jeannette football team has been busy the past two days.
They were paraded around the city of Jeannette and attended a bon fire on Wednesday, and before the players sat down with their families for Thanksgiving Day dinner and watching football on TV, they practiced for today's WPIAL Class AA championship game against Beaver Falls at Heinz Field.
The coaches and players met at 9 a.m. for what Jeannette coach Ray Reitz called the team's regular pregame practice.
"I wanted to go at 10, the players voted for 9," Reitz said. "I wouldn't mind practicing every Thanksgiving Day. It was a dress rehearsal for the game. We went over some final details."
Even though Jeannette (12-0) has been ranked No. 1 all season, it hasn't received a lot of credit. Jeannette has scored 674 points this season and scored more than 70 points in three games, including 70 against Aliquippa last week, yet Reitz said people said they haven't played anybody.
A Beaver Valley talk-show host said that before the Aliquippa game, some callers said that Jeannette and Terrelle Pryor were overrated. Terrelle Pryor's response was a seven-touchdown game and a 331-yard rushing performance against the Quips.
And before the East Allegheny game, some of the Wildcat players tried to intimidate Jeannette by calling them out and talking trash before the game. Jeannette scored 77 points.
"We hear that stuff all year," Reitz said. "I hope people continue to talk; it fires up our players.
"We just tell the players to take it one week at a time and don't do stupid things. They saw what happened to the Steelers. The only team that can beat us is ourselves."
One thing Reitz doesn't want his team doing is comparing scores. He's told them just because they defeated Aliquippa (70-48) and Aliquippa defeated Beaver Falls (33-27), that this game won't be easy. He's told them to respect every opponent, and he's confident they do.
"We can't look past anyone," running back Jordan Hall said. "If we want to get back to Hershey, we have to defeat Beaver Falls. The state championship game is too many weeks away to worry about it."
Jeannette's offense has been explosive this season. The Jayhawks have scored 40 or more points in every game, and their first 11 games of the season ended up in the mercy rule, which is a 35-point or more lead in the second half that invokes a running clock.
Aliquippa, which benefited from a couple good bounces last week, forced Jeannette to play a full game (48 minutes), and the Jayhawks produced 707 yards.
Beaver Falls (11-1) will try to do something 12 other opponents couldn't -- namely, stop Jeannette's offense. Beaver Falls prides itself with playing tough, smash-mouth defense.
"We've read some stuff on the Internet and in newspaper articles, and there is some confidence coming from up there," Reitz said. "That's good. If that's the case, we can get a lot of good stuff off the computer and use it.
"We're a mature team. The players have handled everything that is said about them. We just keep telling our players to play fast and physical, and we'll see what happens."
Notes: Reitz said he did not know the status of senior linebacker Mike Matt, who injured his knee and ankle in the quarterfinal round game against Shady Side Academy. He missed last week's game and was hoping to return this week. ... Parking at Heinz Field is $5. ... Jeannette fans are asked to sit in sections from 130 to 144.
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