3 Things to Watch Round 3 of Playoffs

Alex Christo

November 17, 2021 @ 08:00 AM

In the third round of the playoffs, we got a WR/DB matchup, what to look for in the WPIAL 6A championship game, and TE/WR vs. CB size difference matchup with an injury. St. Joe’s Prep WR [player_tooltip player_id="141016" first="David" last="Washington Jr"] VS Northeast CB [player_tooltip player_id="69461" first="Geo" last="Fabian"] This is a matchup I’m very intrigued by. Washington is currently our top receiver in the ’24 class ranked 10th overall, while Fabian is currently our 4th ranked DB in the ’22 class and 29th overall. Washington does lineup in the slot though so it will be interesting to see if Fabian will follow him or not. There are no stats for either player but if they do face each other 1-on-1, look for it to be a physical battle.   Mt Lebanon Vs Pittsburgh Central Catholic Mt. Lebanon and Central Catholic will be facing each other Saturday in the WPIAL 6A Title. They both met earlier this season where Mt. Lebanon had full control of that game, winning 35-14. All eyes will be on both running backs with Mt. Lebanon’s [player_tooltip player_id="95849" first="Alex" last="Tecza"] and Central Catholic’s [player_tooltip player_id="27644" first="Gannon" last="Carothers"]. Tecza has 189 carries for almost 1,600 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Carothers has carried the ball 180 times for 975 yards and 12 touchdowns. My eyes will specifically be on [player_tooltip player_id="164149" first="Peter" last="Gonzalez"] because that’s who I think the difference-maker will be if Central Catholic wants to win this game. Gonzalez only has 16 receptions for 295 yards and 4 touchdowns. He averages 18.4 yards/catch. Though these stats do not do him justice because the Vikings do not use him. In my mind, Gonzalez is their best offensive player.   Avonworth TE [player_tooltip player_id="92676" first="Peyton" last="Faulkner"] vs. North Catholic CB [player_tooltip player_id="145883" first="Chase" last="Arrington"] Another very interesting matchup I’m intrigued in. Faulkner is currently our 3rd ranked TE and 42nd overall ranked player in the ’23 class. Arrington is currently our 10th ranked DB and 50th overall ranked player in the ’23 class. Faulkner is a TE but he will lineup wide at the receiver position. There is a definite size advantage with Faulkner being 6’4 220 while Arrington is 5’11 170. Faulkner isn’t much of a threat in the receiving game with only 29 receptions for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns. Arrington did his thing early this season against two 6’4 receivers in a game with 10 targets and only allowing 3 receptions for 29 yards. This is also more intriguing because Arrington is playing with a fractured fibula. We’ll see how much of a factor that will be in this game.