Penn Hills' Christian talks about Ohio State recruiting and his team's slow start
By Mike White | Monday, Sept. 28, 9:10 p.m.
Notes and thoughts on area high school football.
Penn Hills' Cullen Christian is now giving Ohio State a good look and says he will put the Buckeyes in his top five if they offer a scholarship.
Christian, a defensive back, visited Ohio State for the USC game a few weeks ago. "They haven't offered a scholarship yet, but they said they probably would sooner or later," Christian said. "If they offer, I'd put them in the top five."
However, Christian's top school hasn't changed.
"Michigan's still No. 1," he said.
Christian was supposed to visit Maryland this past weekend, but didn't. He also was thinking about visiting UCLA in September, but didn't. He plans to attend a Pitt game in the future.
Christian also had some interesting comments on Penn Hills' 1-3 start. Many media outlets had the Indians ranked in the top five in WPIAL Class AAAA at the start of the season.
"Everything will be alright," he said. "We're not that worried about it. The same thing happened last year. We started out 1-3, turned everything and made the [WPIAL] semifinals."
However, Christian said some things have to change with the Indians.
"Just discipline. That goes for a players and coaches," Christian said.
When asked what he meant by a change in discipline, Christian said, "Just listening to what the coaches are telling. And the coaches, some of them aren't on the same page. Some of it is our fault and some of it is their fault. We all have to listen to each other. No coach can be on a different page and no player can be on a different page."
Don't be fooled by Division I players
Penn Hills is a grext example of how simply having Division I college talent can be deceiving. The Indians were highly touted before the season for one reason - Division I college players. The Indians have four players who have either made a verbal commitment to Division I schools or had offers from Division I schools. The general public and media members see four D-1 players on one team and think that team has to be tremendous. But Penn Hills had big holes to fill at many positions, most notably at quarterback.
Other thoughts
* Nice start so far for Peters Township at 4-0, but no way the Indians win the Great Southern Conference.
* With the way "little guys" are being utilized in football these days, look for 5-foot-7 Damion Jones-Moore of Central Catholic to have Division I offers by the time he is a senior. Six or seven years ago, Division I schools would've been afraid to touch him. But with spread offenses, teams are utilizing the quick, small player - getting him the ball in open space.
* After Laurel has won its past three games, that victory over Clairton in the season opener really isn't that big of an upset any more.
* Shaler is off to a nice start and we here at the PG now have the Titans ranked No. 5 in Class AAAA. But Shaler won't be taken totally serious unless it beats North Allegheny in two weeks.
* Chartiers Valley's Wayne Capers could be the next football-basketball star from the WPIAL who gets Division I scholarships in both sports.
* West Shamokin hasn't scored a touchdown all season. If the team doesn't score a TD in the next two games against Deer Lakes and Summit Academy, it might not score all year.
* I saw Montour's Devin Wilson caught six passes for Montour Friday. He's a 6-foot-2 freshman who I hear has a load of potential. I thought someone once told me he is Christian Wilson's younger brother. Does anyone know?
* Seton-LaSalle's rich quarterback tradition is continuing with Anthony Rizza, who might not be a Division I prospect, but leads the WPIAL in passing after four weeks. Seton-LaSalle also has a 6-foot-3, 195-pound freshman QB named Scott Orndoff, who could be a good one in the future. And how's this for travel time to school? Orndoff lives in Waynesburg.
* Do you think the school board members who pushed out Connellsville coach Dan Spanish years ago might regret their decision? The Falcons were perennial playoff participants under Spanish. Some people complained they weren't successful in the playoffs, but Connellsville did win one WPIAL title under Spanish. Now Connellsville can't even sniff the playoffs. It's hard to fathom how far this program has fallen. Connellsville's record the past three seasons is 1-8, 1-8, 0-9 and 0-3 this year. That's 2-28.