2019 WPIAL 6A Preview: Quad-County Conference

Last year was the first season for the WPIAL having just one conference in the top classification. North Allegheny won the WPIAL 6A regular season title with a clean sweep of the conference, but for the second time in three years was upset by Seneca Valley in the semifinals. Defending champions Pine-Richland, who had graduated nearly all of their starters from their 2017 State Championship squad, claimed their second straight WPIAL title. Last year was also an atypical season in the middle of the 6A pack. Canon-McMillan made the playoffs for the first time in a decade and Central Catholic lost 3 regular season games for the first time since 1999. This season will be the Year of the Quarterback in 6A as 8 of the 9 teams have a returning starter at quarterback.

The playoff format in 6A will be the same this season as it was last year. The top 6 teams will make the playoffs and the top 2 teams will get byes to the semifinals. The team finishing third will host the 6th place team and the 4th place team hosts the fifth place team in the first round. The two teams with byes get home games in the semifinals. The only neutral site game in the 6A playoffs is the Championship, which will be held at Heinz Field on Saturday, November 16. Be sure to check out our new WPIAL Football ELO Rankings. Teams are listed in their predicted order of finish.

Pine-Richland

ELO Rating: 2594
6A Rank: 1
WPIAL Rank: 1

Twitter: @PRRamsFootball, @PRSchools

The two-time defending WPIAL 6A Champions look primed for another run at the title. After graduating nearly all of their starters from the undefeated 2017 WPIAL and PIAA Championship team, the underclassmen took over last season and averaged 35 points per game, the second best mark in 6A. Nearly the entire group returns this season, led by dual-threat junior QB Cole Spencer who led the read-option offense last year, throwing for 1459 yards and 15 TDs and running for 880 yards and 14 scores. RB Luke Meckler returns for his senior season after running for nearly 1500 yards and 21 TDs last year. On the outside, Spencer’s main targets are also rising juniors in Eli Jochem and Luke Miller, who both had over 300 yards and averaged over 9 yards per catch. Meckler and junior WR Daedae Johnson (who averaged over 20 yards per catch last year) have attracted some attention from FCS schools.

Central Catholic

ELO Rating: 2352
6A Rank: 2
WPIAL Rank: 5

Twitter: @PCC_Football, @centralvikings, @studsect, @CCHSVikings1927

The Vikings always boast a stout defense, and last season was no exception, but it was their offense that struggled to put points on the board. In their final two games, Central lost to Mt. Lebanon 17-7 and Seneca Valley 15-14. This year’s team should return the Vikings to their vaunted shut-down defense. Central Catholic might have the best defensive line in 6A with North Carolina-commit AJ Beatty at one defensive end spot and Amaar Allen (who has offers from nearly every MAC school) at the other. Junior lineman Elliot Donald, the nephew of Aaron Donald, has offers from numerous power conference schools including Pitt, Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan, and LSU. Family tradition runs deep on this Central Catholic team as Gus Sunseri figures to be the starting quarterback after taking over in Week 7 last year. Fellow rising seniors Dominic Pieto and Dontre Jones also spent time under center last season. Leading rusher Eddy Tillman (826 yards, 9 TDs) will be just a junior. If Central Catholic can get back to their ground-and-pound offensive identity and consistently put points on the board, they have the defense to get them back to Heinz Field for the 6th time in 7 seasons.

Seneca Valley

ELO Rating: 2306
6A Rank: 4
WPIAL Rank: 8

Twitter: @SVRaiderFB, @SV_Sports, @SvStudntSection

Last season the Raiders boasted the best defense in 6A and rode that unit to Heinz Field. Despite ultimately falling to Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley has now reached the WPIAL Championship Game twice in the last 3 seasons after not reaching the final since 1989. The strength of this year’s team will be in the trenches, led by Purdue-commit Josh Kaltenberger and Kevin Meeder who has a number of offers from MAC schools. Dual-threat QB Gabe Lawson returns for his senior year after throwing for 1331 yards and 12 TDs and adding 341 yards and 8 TDs on the ground. Leading rusher Matt Stanger also returns for his senior season after running for 568 yards and 5 TDs while splitting carries last season. After their surprsing run to Heinz Field last year, the Raiders have the talent to carry that forward and make another run at their first WPIAL title this season.

North Allegheny

ELO Rating: 2308
6A Rank: 3
WPIAL Rank: 7

Twitter: @nafootball_tfl, @NATigerAthletic, @NorthAllegheny

North Allegheny will have to reload after graduating a loaded class of seniors, particularly in their defensive secondary where they had one of the top units in the WPIAL. There will be some stability at quarterback as Ben Petschke started as a sophomore last year and threw for 664 yards and 7 TDs. However, because of NA’s strong ground game, Petschke only averaged 8 pass attempts per game. Second-leading rusher Percise Colon returns for his senior year after running for 388 yards and 10 TDs last year. Jack-of-all-trades Luke Colella was the team’s leading receiver with 255 yards and also added 222 yards on the ground, scoring 3 times. Colella has committed to Princeton. The anchor of this year’s team will be the offensive line and tackle Jake Lugg who has committed to Harvard after receiving numerous D1 offers. Lugg was the 2018 Rivals Junior Offensive Lineman of the Year in Pennsylvania and should pave the way for North Allegheny’s ground attack. The Tigers should have no problem making their 16th straight postseason appearance.

Mt. Lebanon

ELO Rating: 2220
6A Rank: 5
WPIAL Rank: 14

Twitter: @mtlebofootball, @MtLebanonSports, @Lebo_SS20

The biggest change for Mt. Lebanon this season may not be on the field, but on the sideline. Former coach Mike Melnyk was let go after last season’s promising run to the semifinals. The Blue Devils brought in recently retired (and quickly un-retired) West Allegheny coach Bob Palko who holds the coaching record for WPIAL titles with eight. Mt. Lebanon has a talented crop of players who saw significant time last year as underclassmen. The biggest question mark is how to replace QB Seth Morgan who was 6A’s leading passer and also led the team in rushing. Interestingly, Mt. Lebanon is the only school in 6A without a returning starter at quarterback. In the backfield, the top 3 RBs all return for their senior years in Drew Vaughn (393 yards, 6 TDs), Evan Jones (162 yards, 3 TDs), and Everett Lefever (113 yards, 2 TDs). Whoever takes over under center will also have a number of talented receivers returning including Sam Lasota (384 yards, 3 TDs) and Mason Ventrone (339 yards, 3 TDs). Mt. Lebanon had the third-best offense in 6A last year, but had issues on the defensive side of the ball where they allowed 27 points per game. Palko is known as a defensive coach and should be able to make strides to keep the Blue Devils competitive in the middle of the pack.

Hempfield

ELO Rating: 2055
6A Rank: 8
WPIAL Rank: 23

Twitter: @HempfieldAreaFB, @HASDathletics, @HempStudSec19

Hempfield bookended their 2018 season with victories, winning in Week 0 over Greensburg Salem then finishing with wins over Butler and Plum. The Spartans will look to carry that momentum towards competing for the playoffs.They had close losses to both Norwin (8 points) and Canon-McMillan (6 points) last season. The two key pieces of their offense return in QB Blake Remaley (1252 yards, 7 TDs) and RB Nathan Roby. Roby led the team in both rushing (691 yards) and receiving (22 catches, 237 yards) and scored 9 times. Leading receivers Roman Pellis (257 yards, 4 TDs) and Zach Cieslo (250 yards, 2 TDs) also return. Rising junior Mario Perkins accounted for 736 yards of total offense and scored 7 times. In the trenches the Spartans will be anchored by Finton Brose who committed to Delaware and had offers from a number of MAC schools. All in all, Hempfield returns nearly all their skill position players from a team that was 14 points away from a playoff berth last season.

Canon-McMillan

ELO Rating: 2117
6A Rank: 6
WPIAL Rank: 18

Twitter: @BigMacsFootball, @CanonMacSports, @CANON_CRAZIES

After an 0-3 start last season, the Big Macs won 4 of their last 6 games, including a 34-12 victory over Norwin in Week 7 that gave them the edge for the final playoff spot. Canon-Mac had a strong offensive line and boasted 6A’s only 1000-yard rusher. Senior QB Jon Quinque returns after throwing for 1353 yards and 11 TDs last year. Unfortunately the Big Macs will need to break in an entirely new group of skill position players this year as their top 4 rushers and 4 of their top 5 receivers all graduated. Only senior Blake Joseph (147 yards, 2 TDs) returns to the receiving corps.

Norwin

ELO Rating: 2113
6A Rank: 7
WPIAL Rank: 21

Twitter: @NKnightsFball, @norwinathletics, @NorwinFBallNtwk, @NHS_CastleCrew

Many expected Norwin to be a strong contender last season, but they were limited by early-season injuries and ultimately missed the playoffs. This year the Knights return Western Michigan-commit Jack Salopek at quarterback who threw for 1790 yards and 15 TDs last season. Junior TE Tanner Krevokuch (342 yards, 2 TDs) and senior WR Sean Pavlic (296 yards, 3 TDs) both return for the Knights. Salopek is the team’s top returning rusher but ran for just 122 yards and 3 TDs last year. Senior Tanner Queen got just 16 carries last year and averaged 4.5 yards per tote but figures to take over the lead back role. If Norwin is going to compete for a playoff spot this year, they will need to improve on the defensive side of the ball where they allowed over 30 points per game last year.

Butler

ELO Rating: 2012
6A Rank: 9
WPIAL Rank: 31

Twitter: @BGTfootball, @GTathletics1, @Butler_Area_SD, @Bull_mooseParti

The Golden Tornadoes are looking to put a winless 2018 behind them where they allowed 46 points per game and were shut out 3 times. Junior QB Kyler Calihan accounted for most of Butler’s offense last year, throwing for 425 yards and 3 TDs and running for 683 yards and 2 scores. Fellow junior RB Byron Manchester ran for 157 yards and a team-leading 3 TDs last year. All-conference lineman Nate Cornibe has attracted some D1 attention with offers from Toledo and Air Force.