Many people are talking about how unusual it is that the Upper St. Clair football team has lost three consecutive games. The Panthers are riding a skid with losses against Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan and Central Catholic.

And while there is no doubt coach Jim Render's team has been right in all of those games -- they've lost the three games by a combined six points, including one on a 48-yard field goal -- consider the following: Upper St. Clair's losing streak could very easily be at four games.

If it wasn't for a miraculous last-minute drive against North Allegheny in Week 3, and quarterback Alex Park hitting soaring receiver Austin Everett with a touchdown on the very last play of the game, the Panthers wouldn't have beat the Tigers, 30-28, and we'd be here today discussing Upper St. Clair's four-game streak.

OK, they aren't really in the PG South coverage area -- the school is way up North -- but they do play a WPIAL Class AAAA Foothills Conference which includes McKeesport.

So, all that said, I felt we should recognize a rare accomplishment by Erie McDowell that definitely needs mentioning.

Did you happen to see what the Trojans' running game did to Latrobe last week?

In a 55-20 win for McDowell, running back Alex Schmude rushed for 291 yards and quarterback A.J. Fenton picked up 283 on the ground.

That adds up to 574 yards by two guys, or for a sense of perspective, 187 more than North Allegheny had, as an entire team, in its commanding 34-6 win last week against Shaler Area.

It looks more and more like the WPIAL schedule makers knew exactly what they were doing when they matched McKeesport at Gateway up for the ninth and final week of the season.

Both teams have been steamrolling along, with Gateway at 6-0, 4-0 in the Class AAAA Foothills Conference and McKeesport at 5-1 overall, 4-0 in conference play.

When McKeesport travels to Gateway on Oct. 23 -- in one of FSN's Thursday night televised games -- it very well could be for the conference crown.

First, though, Gateway makes the rough trip up to Erie McDowell tomorrow, a game that, if the Gators are not careful, could turn into one of those dreaded trap games.

Then, next week, before the McKeesport showdown, Gateway will play at Connellsville, in a game that appears very winnable.

Before they play Gateway, McKeesport is at Norwin tomorrow night and then plays host to Hempfield in the Tigers home finale this season.

Taking a look at the box scores from last week's games and something interesting popped up from the Serra-Bentworth game, in which the Eagles prevailed, 40-14.

The score, in theory, could have read:

HEATHERINGTONS 24

BENTWORTH 14

How so, you ask?

Well, it is very simple.

Brothers T.J. Heatherington and Rob Heatherington are the two main cogs in Serra's offense, with T.J. at quarterback and Rob lining up primarily at wideout for the defending WPIAL Class A champions.

In the Bentworth win, T.J. had a 5-yard rushing touchdown and a 65-yard touchdown run, accounting for 12 points of his own.

Rob pulled in touchdown passes of 41 and 36 yards -- both from T.J. -- to match his older brother and also account for 12 points.

So, there you have it, the Heatherington brothers, by themselves, doubled-up Bentworth.

Clairton's defense.

Sure, everyone looks at points scored, and the Bears -- 6-0 overall, 4-0 in the Class A Black Hills Conference -- can score some points.

Over the course of the season, in succession, they have scored 41, 44, 48, 51, 55 and 42 points -- not too shabby, considering every one of the six Clairton wins have come with the mercy rule clock rolling at some point in the game.

Clairton's offensive potency has been led by standout athletes such as receiver Kevin Weatherspoon quarterback Andrew Currington and running back Troy Webb.

The big-time offensive numbers have overshadowed one thing, though: Clairton might just have the best defense in Class A.

The Bears have yet to give up more than seven points in any game this year and have pitched four shutouts.

Clairton is yielding 2.2 points per game, the lowest in the entire WPIAL.

Tomorrow night, Burgettstown (2-4, 2-2) gets its shot at the Clairton defense.