The Highlands Golden Rams are on the brink of making football history this week.
If Highlands defeats Burrell or if Valley loses to Kittanning, Highlands will become the first Alle-Kiski Valley school to make the WPIAL playoffs in three different enrollment classifications.
The Golden Rams occupy first place in the Class AA Allegheny Conference. Highlands made the Class AAAA playoffs in 1982 and '83 and have made the Class AAA postseason 17 different times.
No WPIAL school has made the playoffs in all four classifications, but Pine-Richland came close.
In 1988, the Rams were a Class A school playing in the Eastern Conference at tiny Santacroce Stadium across from the Pittsburgh North Golf Club. A late-season loss to Apollo-Ridge in a torrential downpour eliminated Pine-Richland.
Other than that, the school has made the playoffs in the other three classifications.
Technically, Plum has made postseason play — but not the WPIAL playoffs — in three different classes.
The Mustangs have made the Class AAAA and Class AAA playoffs a combined 15 times. But in the 1960s, Plum was a member of the Class AA Allegheny Interscholastic Conference and played in the old AIC Bowl game, designed for teams that fell short of WPIAL playoff qualification.
Mustangs rising
Speaking of Plum, the Mustangs have an excellent chance of making the WPIAL playoffs and are in the midst of a quick turnaround under second-year coach Matt Morgan.
Plum (4-2, 4-1) is in second place in the Quad East, 1 1⁄2 games behind front-running Penn-Trafford. The Mustangs play host to McKeesport, the team they are tied with, Friday in the Valley News Dispatch Game of the Week.
I realize I take some heat from coaches, fans and even my media brethren whenever I suggest that these 10th Week nonconference games are good for teams who want to finish the season on a winning note.
Plum snapped a 25-game losing streak with a 30-22 victory at Greensburg Salem last Oct. 30.
It can't be disputed that the looks on the Plum players' faces when they broke from the post-game, on-field huddle at Offut Field was one of relief and getting a burden off their shoulders.
That feeling carried over into the offseason conditioning programs and into the current regular season.
The A-K in Venice
Three Alle-Kiski Valley natives spent the weekend in Venice for a series of official events.
Leechburg graduate John Phillips, U.S. Ambassador to Italy, welcomed his older brother, Ernie, and 1963 Freeport quarterback Ron Canterna to the City of Canals for a variety of functions.
Canterna lives in Venice and maintains ties with a number of former teammates, including Al Yates and Chip Young.
Among the activities for the official traveling party over the weekend was an honorary citizenship and gifts from Frisanco, Italy mayor Sandro Rovedo.
Phillips and his delegation also viewed a registry where the births of his ancestors, who went under the name of Filippi, were recorded.
After that, the 1960 Leechburg High School graduate received an award from a winery in the village of Cormons and visited Borgo to take part in the local tradition of roasting chestnuts.
Canterna guided the Yellowjackets to an undefeated regular season in 1963 before losing in the WPIAL finals to Montour.
Yates is a Pittsburgh-based attorney who lives in the North Hills, and Young is an insurance agent in the South Hills.
If there's a better gig than covering high school sports, it's probably holding an ambassadorship.
George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.
