WPIAL football Week 6 quick reactions: Valley QB Knuckles shows improvement, Chartiers valley and Trinity take over Big Six conference, Penn-trafford rallies for wild win

Valley quarterback Brendon Knuckles threw for 94 yards and ran for 71 during a 41-21 loss to Burrell Friday night. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges

LOWER BURRELL - Brendon Knuckles is starting to find his stride. The Valley senior quarterback may have liked to find his way earlier in the season, Vikings coach Mark Adams is happy to see him come along.

Knuckles passed for 94 yards and two touchdowns during a 41-21 loss to Burrell Friday night on the road. Knuckles threw two touchdown passes to Sean Wilkerson, including a 35-yard touchdown strike that tied the game at 14 in the second quarter.

It was a positive sign for Valley (0-7, 0-3).

​"He's grown tremendously, leaps and bounds," Adams said. "We knew that with time, we would need to mesh them together. It's snap after snap, it's conversation after conversation. I've seen the lights go on in his eyes and the game is slowing down for him."

Chartiers Valley, Trinity crash the party in the Big Six
Thomas Jefferson has earned its status as the boogeyman in the Big Six Conference. But the defending WPIAL Class 4A champion Jaguars will need help if they want to reach the top of the conference standings again. Trinity (3-4, 2-0) picked up its second win over Thomas Jefferson in the past three years Friday night, collecting a 33-22 victory.

The Hills having a losing record is misleading. Trinity's non-conference schedule is loaded up with 5A opponents, including Bethel Park, Peters Township and Moon. The Hillers were trailing Thomas Jefferson 22-7 at the halftime before rallying for a win.

The Colts (6-1, 2-0) went for two points in the waning seconds to knock off Belle Vernon 36-35. Chartiers Valley has two wins by one point this season. The Colts also beat West Allegheny in overtime in Week 1. The Colts will find out a lot about themselves in the next two weeks when they play Trinity and TJ.

Warriors grab hold of the bell
Penn-Trafford evened its all-time series with Gateway at 13 wins apiece. The Warriors won the battle from the bell after rallying from a 16-point deficit.

Ben Grabowski scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Grabowski finished with 151 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Can Butler get to a sixth win?
The Golden Tornado went independent in football a few years back to build the program back into one that could possibly rejoin the WPIAL. Butler picked up a win over University (W.Va.) to improve to 5-2 on the season. The Golden Tornado are a win away from their first winning season since 1997.

Butler's next opponent, City League opponent Allderdice, the Golden Tornado beat 7-0 last season. Allderdice has a better team this year. The Golden Tornado close the season with Wheeling Park (W.Va.) and PIAA Class 2A runner up Central Clarion. If the Golden Tornado can't beat the Dragons, things may get dicey to reach that sixth win.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.