Hauling in the hardware
One is a walking Wikipedia on the subject.
One had no idea it even existed.
And one would love to recapture it for his school, but he wants a big victory even more.
The three prime contenders for the 2010 Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy — Grove City junior Wes Phipps, Knoch junior Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin and Mars senior Austin Miele — have vastly different views of the hardware.
They do have one thing in common, though: scoring touchdowns.
Heading into the final week in determining who wins the award, Phipps has scored 108 points, Rumburg-Goodlin 104 and Miele 90.
"The trophy is a big deal," said Phipps, who then rattles off some of the most notable past winners. "Being on there with those guys, that would be a big honor."
No Grove City player has won the award, which began in 1990.
Part of the reason is because Eagles coach Jeff Bell, who is in his 14th season, employs an offense that spreads the ball around.
Phipps isn't even the leading rusher on his team.
"He's the kind of kid you can depend on," Bell said. "He just has a knack of finding the end zone. Cripe, against Slippery Rock, he took a little swing pass and turned it into a touchdown right before the half. That was a turning point in that game."
As good as Phipps has been on offense, he might be even better on defense as a linebacker, preventing more points than he has scored.
There isn't a Butler Eagle No Scoring Trophy, however.
"Yeah, I get more attention because of offense," said Phipps, who is averaging 15 tackles per game. "I enjoy defense more."
There seems to be no defense lately for Rumburg-Goodlin, who has been a major source of Knoch's dominating running game.
Rumburg-Goodlin, though, was surprised to hear there was a scoring trophy."I didn't even know there was one," he said. "That's cool. Winning it? That would be awesome."Like Phipps, Rumburg-Goodlin plays in an offense with a ton of weapons.That has opened up opportunities for Rumburg-Goodlin to find the end zone.And like Grove City, no Knoch player has won the scoring trophy.Rumburg-Goodlin, at 5-feet-9 and 165 pounds, is the smallest of the contenders.He doesn't run small, though.He's been just as adept at running over people and grinding out yardage as he has been at running away from defenders."That's something you have to be able to do as a running back," Rumburg-Goodlin said. "You're not going to get the big run every time. You have to be able to get the tough yards. I've done it my whole life. I work in the weight room, doing all those squats, so I can have the leg strength to run through tackles."
Rumburg-Goodlin and Miele will meet on the same field Saturday.That game is for the Greater Allegheny Conference Championship.Mars has had two players win the scoring trophy: Paul Ferrese in 2005 and Bill Bair in 2006 and 2007.Miele, though, is more determined to beat the Knights than to win a scoring trophy."If it comes, it comes," Miele said. "It would be nice to bring it back to Mars. Bill and (Paul) were great backs."The top three play on teams with a combined record of 26-1.There is a fourth darkhorse candidate to win the scoring trophy.Should the top three get shut out and should Moniteau junior quarterback Kyle Armagost score at least 37 points Saturday afternoon against Kennedy Catholic, he would win the trophy.Sound crazy? Maybe not. Armagost has accounted for 2,042 of the Warriors' 2,870 yards and 11 of the team's 18 rushing TDs.Stay tuned.
