Alumni Football USA is coming to Lawrence County.

On Monday night, the Shenango Area School Board approved the use of Glenn “Pop” Johnston Stadium for the first scheduled game.

The game, pitting Laurel against Shenango, is set for 7:30 p.m., Nov. 27.

Alumni Football USA is organizing up to 20 high school alumni football games in western Pennsylvania between Nov. 24 and Dec. 5. The games, which are full contact with pads, are open to all alumni of the two schools and the ages of the players range from 19 to 49 or older.

The Laurel-Shenango game is unique because both teams filled their player roster of 50 in less than two weeks.

“Since I finished school I have wanted an opportunity to get back in the game,” said Chris McConnaughy, a 1997 Shenango graduate. “This is fulfilling a dream of mine to play one more game against Laurel.”

“What an opportunity,” said Chris Niles, a 1995 Laurel graduate. “It’s going to be a great feeling suiting up one more time and stepping out on the field under the lights with players I watched as a kid, players I grew up with, and players I read about in the New Castle News years after I graduated.

“Throw the age factor out the window and expect nothing less than a hard-nosed, hard-hitting Laurel-Shenango rivalry game.”

There are two other Alumni Football USA games scheduled in Lawrence County this year. Mohawk is tentatively slated to play Union and Wilmington will host Slippery Rock.

Former Mohawk and Union players can sign up at www.alumnifootballusa.com or by calling Alumni Football USA event coordinator Robert Bishop at (724) 456-3000 for more information.

Tickets cost $8 for adults and $6 for students. Children under 10 are free.

Sports editor Kayleen Cubbal captured the championship of the 2010 high school football picks with a record of 52-14.

She was 4-2 last week.

Sportswriters Ron Poniewasz Jr. and Joe Simon tied for second with records of 50-16.

Poniewasz was 3-3 last week and Simon went 2-4.

By RON PONIEWASZ JR.

New Castle News

An unfamiliar team crashed the WPIAL football pairings meeting last night.

And it hopes to make some noise once the playoffs start.

The Ellwood City Lincoln High football program last qualified for the district playoffs in 2000, but this season the Wolverines earned an invitation to the party at the Radisson Hotel in Green Tree.

Ellwood City will open the WPIAL Class AA playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it travels to South Fayette. The 14th-seeded Wolverines (6-3) locked up the final spot out of the Midwestern Athletic Conference when they knocked off rival Riverside in the regular season finale, 24-21.

The third-seeded Lions (9-0) are ranked No. 3 in the WPIAL in Class AA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. South Fayette, which competes in the Century Conference, concluded its second straight unbeaten regular season, while boasting a 10-game home winning streak.

“You have to play who (the WPIAL) schedules you to play,” said third-year Wolverines coach Don Phillips of last night’s draw. “South Fayette is a good football team and they do a lot of good things.”

The Lions are averaging 40.4 points a game and yielding just 16.4.

“We thought that’s where we’d be,” said South Fayette coach Joe Rossi of his team’s seed. “We’re not surprised by that.”

Ellwood City’s postseason appearance in 2000 ended in a first-round loss to West Mifflin, 17-0.

The Wolverines snapped a 31-game losing streak last year with a 33-21 win over New Brighton in the eighth game of the season. Ellwood City continued to grow this year, standing tall against the MAC heavyweights — Beaver, Aliquippa and Beaver Falls — which handed the Wolverines their three setbacks.

Ellwood City finished 1-3 against playoff teams, knocking off Mount Pleasant on the road, 35-0. The Wolverines were stopped on the goal line as time ran out at Beaver Falls in a 10-3 loss and hung in until early in the fourth quarter of a 29-7 defeat at Aliquippa. Ellwood City committed five turnovers in a 21-3 loss at home against Beaver.

“We got a chance to see them against Beaver Falls (in Week 8); we thought that might be who we draw in the first round,” Rossi said. “Ellwood is physical and disciplined. They will be a good challenge for us.”

Phillips has been successful in his previous coaching stints.

In 1984, his third season at the helm, he led Rochester to the WPIAL Class A championship game, losing to Duquesne. In his second season at Center (1988), his team lost in the WPIAL Class AA championship game to Steel Valley.

“I hope this is the start of Ellwood City re-establishing itself as a football program,” Phillips said. “When our kids get the confidence going, it only lends itself to more positive things. Underclassmen are a big part of that, too.”

Last year, South Fayette played two MAC opponents in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs. The Lions topped Beaver in the first round (35-15) before falling to Aliquippa (47-34).

“We know those teams will come at you and play hard-nosed football,” Rossi said. “We will expect that from Ellwood City, too.”

*****

WPIAL Football

playoffs

CLASS AAAA

FRIDAY, NOV. 5

Central Catholic vs. Pine-Richland, 7:30 p.m. at Fox Chapel

McDowell at Gateway, 7:30 p.m.

Bethel Park at McKeesport, 7:30 p.m.

Peters Township at North Allegheny, 7:30 p.m.

Plum at Mount Lebanon, 7:30 p.m.

Norwin at Woodland Hills, 7:30 p.m.

Penn Trafford at North Hills, 7:30 p.m.

Penn Hills at Upper St. Clair, 7:30 p.m.

CLASS AAA

FRIDAY, NOV. 5

West Mifflin at Montour, 7:30 p.m.

Indiana at Belle Vernon, 7:30 p.m.

Hollidaysburg at Mars, 7:30 p.m.

Trinity at West Allegheny, 7:30 p.m.

Highlands at Thomas Jefferson, 7:30 p.m.

Hopewell at Franklin Regional, 7:30 p.m.

Central Valley at Ringgold, 7:30 p.m.

Greensburg Salem at Knoch, 7:30 p.m.

CLASS AA

FRIDAY, NOV. 5

Shady Side Academy at Aliquippa, 7:30 p.m.

Beaver at Deer Lakes, 7:30 p.m.

East Allegheny at Ford City, 7:30 p.m.

Mount Pleasant vs. Seton-La Salle, 7:30 p.m. at Chartiers Valley

Keystone Oaks at Greensburg Central Catholic, 7:30 p.m.

Steel Valley at Beaver Falls, 7:30 p.m. at Geneva College’s Reeves Stadium

ELLWOOD CITY at South Fayette, 7:30 p.m.

Freeport at Jeannette, 7:30 p.m.

CLASS A

FRIDAY, NOV. 5

Carmichaels at Clairton, 7:30 p.m.

Bishop Canevin at Fort Cherry, 7:30 p.m.

Chartiers-Houston at Monessen, 7:30 p.m.

Western Beaver at Springdale, 7:30 p.m.

California at Rochester, 7:30 p.m.

Cornell at Beth-Center, 7:30 p.m.

Brentwood at Avonworth, 7:30 p.m.

North Catholic at Sto-Rox, 7:30 p.m.