USC, NA Battle For WPIAL Crown Saturday Night

The winner will carry the WPIAL Class AAAA trophy off Heinz Field and will have their season continue in a quest for the PIAA state title; The championship game between and North Allegheny will be a must-see.

The Panthers have not ruled out star quarterback/linebacker Dakota Conwell from playing in this contest with his injured ankle. The team says there "may" be a chance he'll play.

However, USC knows they can win this game without Conwell. Back-up quarterback Pete Coughlin contributed last week with a herculean performance. He rushed for 209 yards—including the game-winning 73-yard touchdown run— and passed to Mike Wilcox for a touchdown to seal the .

North Allegheny has had an interesting job preparing for USC because of the quarterback circumstances. Will they be facing Dakota Conwell all game? Will they have to deal with Conwell some of the game and Coughlin some of the game? Will Conwell just play offense, or just play defense? No one knows for sure.

There was a lot of drama the last time the two teams met on Sept. 17. USC raced out to a 14-0 halftime lead and it looked like they were going to upset the Tigers on their home field. Then Ryan Boyd fumbled the opening second half kickoff and the Tigers quickly cut the lead to 14-7. USC went on to fumble the ball four times in the opening 13 minutes of the second half and the .

"Turnovers and penalties were the difference, we fumbled it at key times, they didn't," said USC head coach Jim Render.

The game against North Allegheny was also the first time the USC starters had to play a full second half of football. Render admitted many of his players were cramping up and not ready for a full four quarters. Their first few games resulted in the starters spending the second half on the bench due to the mercy rule and his desire not to run up the score on opposing teams.

USC outgained North Allegheny that night 329 yards to 312, and rushed for 202 yards compared to the Tigers 160. It was anybody's game—as will be the case on Saturday night. The team that executes better will win the football game.

North Allegheny enters the contest on a 19-game win streak which includes a WPIAL championship and a PIAA state title last season. USC has won nine in a row since that loss to the Tigers early in the season.

Both teams have stellar offensive and defensive linemen and both coaches agree that will be the key to game.

The Panthers' quarterback situation may be up in the air, but the Tigers will be going with Mack Leftwich—who has passed for 1,835 yards and 17 touchdowns, and rushed for another 462 yards and seven touchdowns this season. 

Render told an interesting story following USC's dramatic win over Central Catholic last Friday. Apparently there was a chance Leftwich could have played for the Panthers this season. His family moved from Oklahoma during the offseason when his father came over to be on the coaching staff for the Pitt Panthers. Render said they were planning on visiting USC as a possible place for Leftwich to play this year and had promised to visit in the offseason. They did not make that visit and Leftwich ended up playing for North Allegheny. That was probably because USC already had Conwell at the quarterback position, but it makes for a championship game storyline.

Upper St. Clair will take center stage at 8 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field as an encore to the four title games. The Panthers have not failed to display exciting football in November, and at this time of year, the township of Upper St. Clair should be giving thanks for the type of effort their team has given.