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Cameron Bright and his teammates at Montgomery (Ala.) Park Crossing had a well-deserved week off in between the regular season and the playoffs. The undefeated Thunderbirds will open up the postseason with a game against Saraland (Ala.) on Friday night.

Despite playing on the road with a playoff spot already clinched, the Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage Patriots and Pitt wide receiver commit Dontavius Butler showed no mercy and didn't let their feet off the pedal. The Patriots rolled the Hallandale (Fla.) Chargers 40-6 on Friday night to end the season with an undefeated record. Butler recorded one reception for 13 yards, although the Patriots only completed eight passes in the blowout. Butler and company have earned a week off before playoffs begin on November 11th.

Grant Carrigan's leg injury has continued to keep him out of action for Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine Richland, although the Rams badly need him back. Without Carrigan, the Rams fell 47-10 to their rivals from Wexford (Pa.) North Allegheny. Pine Richland has a first-round playoff match-up with Bethel Park on Friday after finishing the season 6-4.

Kirk Christodoulou is still not participating in the American high school football season, as he resides in Australia.

It was a heart-breaking loss for Pitt offensive center commit and New Jersey standout Owen Drexel on Saturday. Drexel and his Montclair (N.J.) Mounties fell by a touchdown to the Seton Hall Prep Pirates of West Orange (N.J.), losing 31-24 after Seton Hall pulled ahead in the third quarter. Stats were not available for Drexel.

It is difficult to continue to find new platitudes every week for Paris Ford and his teammates on the Steel Valley (Pa.) Ironmen. Their rampage through the WPIAL's 2A classification continued on Friday with a 56-0 undressing of Brentwood on the road. Ford scored four times in four different ways during the contest. The Rivals100 safety returned a punt from midfield for a score, caught a deep route on the sideline that he trotted into the end-zone, took a quarterback keeper to the house from 25 yards, and recovered a fumble that he scored on. The fumble recovery came on Ford's second sack of the night after he darted through the offensive line, knocked the ball free, recovered it himself, and sprinted into the end zone to score.

Ford is a key part of Steel Valley's suffocating defense: no team has scored a touchdown on the Ironmen defense this season while their starters remained in the contest. Steel Valley will open their playoffs as the one-seed in the WPIAL's 2A classification with a game against Beth-Center.

You can view Ford's highlights from the game against Brentwood at this link.

Gabe Houy and his teammates on the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Upper St. Clair Panthers suffered another close loss on Friday night, this one coming in the Wolvarena to Woodland Hills. The Panthers fell to the Wolverines by a tally of 28-21 with 21 unanswered points from the Panthers in the second half coming up just short. Houy's stats as an offensive tackle are difficult to track, but as a defensive lineman he contributed four tackles and a tackle for a loss. Houy and his teammates will look for redemption in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs on Friday night as they have a rematch with McKeesport (Pa.), who defeated them 28-20 earlier in the season.

You can view a brief clip of Houy's performance on Friday at this link.

A huge victory on Friday night on the road was exactly what Kyle Nunn, a Pitt linebacker commit, and his teammates on the Findlay (Ohio) Trojans needed to stay alive. Nunn and his guys went on the road to league foe Fremont (Ohio) Ross and laid down a 34-14 victory to just squeak in as a seven-seed in Ohio's Division I Region 2 state playoff bracket. Nunn came up huge for the Trojans in the victory, potentially putting the game to bed with a 45-yard pick six to give Findlay a 28-7 lead it would not relinquish. Nunn also contributed a sack, an additional tackle for a loss, a pass break-up, three rushes for 13 yards, and a reception for 13 yards in the win. Nunn stuffed the stat-sheet for Findlay when they needed it most and his coach's praise was effusive:

"The interception by Kyle for that score at the end of the half separated things a little," Findlay coach Mark Ritzler said. "For his size, to be such an athlete — he's 6-foot-3 and almost 200 pounds — to be able to run like that. A guy that big in the middle who can take it back. He has the size and speed and athletic ability."

Findlay will travel to the Columbus area to take on Dublin (Ohio) Jerome in the first round of the Ohio state football playoffs on Friday.

Paris Ford wasn't the only Pitt commit to score four times as New Jersey native and Pitt quarterback commit Kenny Pickett added four scores of his own for Ocean Township (N.J.). Pickett and the Spartans righted the ship on Friday with a dominant 41-7 win over then-undefeated Point Pleasant Boro (N.J.). Pickett scored twice on the ground and twice in the air, rushing for 96 yards and completing 7 of 15 passes for 143 yards. Two angles of Pickett's 36-yard rushing touchdown are embedded below, but further highlights of the game are available at this link.

The latest addition to this list, Charles Reeves is making an early impact and a name for himself just in time for the playoffs. Although Reeves will be a tight end in college, he's a big-bodied outside wide receiver for the Steubenville (Ohio) Big Red in high school and came up even bigger on Friday in a 39-27 win over Canada Prep Football Academy, a Toronto-based school. Reeves had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown (a reception from 20 yards out) in the victory. Reeves also forced a safety on defense. The Big Red will roll onto the playoffs as a two-seed with a home game against Indian Creek in the first round.

The New Castle (Pa.) Neshannock Lancers cruised again on Friday to secure a 9-1 record on the season. Neshannock defeated Mohawk 42-7 in a comfortable victory that allowed Pitt tight end commit Tyler Sear and many other starters to get some rest heading into the playoffs. Neshannock had a one-play touchdown drive to open the game and Sear rested up after that. The playoff schedule will begin with a first-round home match-up for Neshannock against Serra Catholic. The Lancers are the 2A classification's three-seed.

Todd Sibley and his Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban Knights are looking to repeat as state champions in Ohio's Division III and they keep taking care of business to that end. On Friday, Hoban took down rival Benedictine at home by a score of 28-0 to capture the conference championship and close the year 9-1. Sibley contributed over 100 yards rushing, including a 67-yard dagger of a touchdown run. Warren (Ohio) Howland will come to Hoban on Saturday for the first round of Ohio's state playoffs.

You can view Sibley's highlights from the Benedictine game at this link.

It was a brutal night for the Bethlehem (Pa.) Liberty passing game as the Hurricanes suffered their third consecutive loss, this one at the hands of rival Bethlehem (Pa.) Freedom by a score of 34-0. Although Street was back from injury, the passing game that Liberty worked to employ simply couldn't find him the football. Street recorded three catches for 17 yards, but the Liberty quarterback tossed five interceptions (two of them turning into defensive touchdowns) and finished 10-of-23 for 49 yards. Liberty will seek revenge on the road in the first round of the playoffs against Emmaus, a team that defeated them 31-20 earlier in the year.

Street's highlights from the game can be viewed by clicking this link.

It was another easy night for Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the country's most dominant high school football teams. The Aquinas Raiders rolled over Pompano Beach (Fla.) Blanche Ely with a 49-0 shutout. Tucker contributed heavily on the defensive side of the football in the victory with five tackles. Aquinas will play a road game at Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Flanagan on Friday night.

The season ended in tough fashion on Friday night for Pitt commit Carson Van Lynn of Worthington (Ohio) Kilbourne. The defensive end/offensive tackle, who will play on the defensive side of the ball in college, and his Wolfpack teammates fell to 5-5 on the year with their fourth straight loss to close the season. Kilbourne's final loss came on the road at Dublin (Ohio) Jerome by a 25-10 margin. Kilbourne unfortunately failed to qualify for the Ohio state football playoffs in an extremely competitive year.

It has been a strong year for Pitt offensive tackle commit Carter Warren and the Wayne (N.J.) Passaic County Technical Institute Bulldogs, but Friday night wasn't as smooth as the rest of the season. A close loss to Ridgewood (N.J.) by a 14-7 score dropped the Bulldogs to 6-2 on the season. Warren was active as an offensive tackle as always and also contributed seven tackles on defense, but it wasn't enough for the victory.

You can view Warren's highlights from the game at this link.