2019 WPIAL 5A Preview: Allegheny Eight Conference

The Allegheny Eight Conference had one of the closest finishes last season with Peters Twp and West Allegheny tying for the regular season title and Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park finishing just a game behind. Both West Allegheny and Peters Twp reached the WPIAL semifinals. West A nearly gave Bob Palko a storybook send-off into (temporary) retirement, but fell in the WPIAL Championship Game to Penn Hills. This will be a very different season in the Allegheny Eight Conference as long-time coaches at West Allegheny (Palko), Upper St. Clair (Jim Render) and Bethel Park (Jeff Metheny) are all gone. The Allegheny Eight will be one of the toughest conferences top-to-bottom in the entire WPIAL as every school has a number of returning starters this season.

The playoff format in 5A is mostly the same as last year. The playoffs will consist of 16 teams with the Championship Game played on Friday, November 22 at Norwin High School. The top 5 teams from each of the three conferences will make the playoffs. Additionally, one 6th place team will make the playoffs based on the Wild Card system. First and second place finishers will get a home game in the first round of the playoffs. The Wild Card system will also be used to determine which two third place teams get first round home games. All quarterfinal and semifinal games will be played at neutral sites. Be sure to check out our new WPIAL Football ELO Rankings. Teams are listed in their predicted order of finish.

Peters Twp

ELO Rating: 2271
5A Rank: 5
WPIAL Rank: 9

Twitter: @PetersTwpFB, @PetersTwpSports, @PTHS_RowdyRed

The Indians won their first conference title since the 1970s and won their first playoff game since 2003 en route to their semifinals appearance. Junior QB Logan Pfeuffer threw for 2045 yards and 24 TDs last year as a sophomore and returns his leading receiver Josh Casilli (877 yards, 14 TDs). Casilli has attracted some offers from FCS schools. Peters Twp also returns leading rushers Ryan Magiske (1085 yards, 21 TDs) and Adrian Williams (404 yards, 2 TDs) for their senior seasons. All in all, the Indians made the semifinals last year and return nearly all of their key contributers. They should once again be a factor not only in the conference race but as a threat to make a run at Heinz Field.

Bethel Park

ELO Rating: 2239
5A Rank: 7
WPIAL Rank: 13

Twitter: @BP_BlackHawks, @THEBPSTUDENTSEC, @hawkeyebphs

The Black Hawks have made 18 straight playoff appearances and boast a strong class of rising seniors. QB Anthony Chiccitt threw for 951 yards and 5 TDs last season. Bethel Park rotated 3 running backs last year who all scored 11 times and two return in Sean McGowan and Jehvonn Lewis. McGowan ran for 749 yards and was also the team’s leading receiver with 247 yards. Lewis was the change-of-pace back, leading all Black Hawk RBs with 8.2 yards per carry and piling up 605 yards on the season. Jake Wodarek is the team’s top returning receiver. Even with a new head coach replacing Jeff Metheny, expect Bethel Park to challenge at the top of the conference thanks to their experienced group of seniors leading the way.

West Allegheny

ELO Rating: 2374
5A Rank: 3
WPIAL Rank: 4

Twitter: @WestAFootball, @WestASports, @WASportsNetwork, @westa_ss

The biggest change for West Allegheny this season will be on the sideline as Bob Palko’s 21-year run as head coach came to an end last season with a loss in the WPIAL Championship. Palko won 8 WPIAL titles at West A, the most of any head coach in Western Pennsylvania history. The Indians will be led by 3-year starter senior QB Kam Kruze, who threw for 1386 yards and 16 TDs last season and ran for another 352 yards and 7 TDs. Junior RB Nico Flati (509 yards, 6 TDs) split carries with his older brother Dante the last two seasons. Now that Dante has graduated, Nico and Kam figure to shoulder the load in the backfield. West A figures to lean heavily on their rushing attack this season after their top 4 receivers all graduated.

Woodland Hills

ELO Rating: 2195
5A Rank: 10
WPIAL Rank: 17

Twitter: @WoodyHigh, @whfootball, @WHFootballNet

Woodland Hills got off to a disastrous 0-4 start to last season but bounced back to win 4 of their last 6, which was enough to secure their 23rd consecutive playoff appearance. Once in the postseason, their defense took over and shut out Mars’ talented offense and nearly beat West Allegheny, falling by at 14-13 score (identical to their regular season result). Senior Rodney Stubbs figures to take over the quarterback role after seeing some spot duty last season. The Wolverines graduated 17 seniors from last year’s team but return second-leading rusher William Clark (845 yards, 8 TDs) and tight end Josh Rawlings, a Virginia commit. Keep an eye on rising junior defensive backs Davion Rochelle and Taelen Brooks who both already have D1 offers.

Upper St. Clair

ELO Rating: 2205
5A Rank: 8
WPIAL Rank: 15

Twitter: @USCstats, @USC_High_School

Last year Jim Render surpassed the 400-win plateau, becoming just the 25th coach in the nation to reach the mark. Render retired after the season and a new era is beginning for the Panthers. Upper St. Clair will need to break in new starters after graduating their quarterback, leading rusher, and leading receiver. Junior WR David Pantellis is the sole returning skill position starter after posting 548 yards and 6 TDs last year. The Allegheny Eight figures to be a gauntlet of a conference and the Panthers will need to assimilate their new starters quickly if they’re going to make a 20th straight playoff appearance.

Baldwin

ELO Rating: 2026
5A Rank: 17
WPIAL Rank: 28

Twitter: @bw_highlander, @BHS1Athletics1, @bwhuddle

The Highlanders got off to a strong start winning 3 of their first 4 games last year but came up just short of making the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Senior QB Mason Stahl threw for 1481 yards and 16 TDs last year and added 376 yards and 3 scores on the ground. He also gets back two of his top 3 receivers in Jarren Kelly (683 yards, 9 TDs) and Naseer Penn (227 yards, 3 TDs). Leading rusher Angelo Priore (625 yards, 4 TDs) also returns for his senior season. Baldwin was solid on the defensive side of the ball last season, only allowing Peters Twp to score more than 30 points against them. The Highlanders have two D1 recruits in the aforementioned Naseer Penn and junior defensive end Dorien Ford who already has offers from a number of Big Ten and ACC schools including Pitt, Penn State, Syracuse, and Maryland. Baldwin has the returning talent to compete for a playoff spot, but it will be an uphill battle in an extremely competitive conference.

Moon

ELO Rating: 2054
5A Rank: 16
WPIAL Rank: 25

Twitter: @Moon_Football, @MoonTigersAD, @MoonAreaSD, @MAHS_Students

Moon has not been to the playoffs since 2014 and will need to improve on an offense that averaged just 19 points per game last year, the second-lowest total in the conference. Senior QB Dante Clay threw for 844 yards and 5 TDs last year. Clay also ran for 241 yards and 3 TDs last year. Second-leading rusher Jamal Littlejohn (294 yards, 4 TDs) also returns and should form a solid tandem with Clay this season. Moon’s top receivers graduated so they will need to find some new targets for Clay in the passing game. Look for junior WR Dawson Snyder to take on a bigger role after averaging 9.1 yard per catch last year.

Chartiers Valley

ELO Rating: 2018
5A Rank: 19
WPIAL Rank: 30

Twitter: @CVColtsFootball, @CVSDColts, @KNUCKFEST

The Colts won 3 games last season, including over 6A Norwin, but unfortunately all were non-conference which left them at the bottom of the league. Senior QB Griffin Beattie threw for 635 yards and 7 TDs last season and was also the team’s second-leading rusher with 480 yards and 5 scores. He figures to take on an even larger role this season. Antonio Zambrano (205 yards, 1 TD) should step in to the lead back role but keep an eye on junior Sam Pocci who averaged 9.6 yards per carry last year as a sophomore. In the passing game, tight end Sean Banas (368 yards, 4 TDs) was the leading receiver last year and should be the primary target again.