The 2022 WPIAL football season is nearly upon us! Over the next few weeks we will be previewing all 17 conferences in preparation for kickoff on August 26. We are also thrilled to announce that the WPIAL Blitz Show will be back on the YouTube airwaves this season. Follow the Sports Stream Premium channel with new shows dropping each Tuesday during the season!
This year, our WPIAL coverage is proudly presented by Sports Solutions Marketing. The Sports Solutions network provides pay per view hosting and broadcasting for high school sporting events. More information is available via EasternPAFootball.com.
The 2022 season is a realignment year in Pennsylvania. New classification and conference alignments were announced back in the spring. Once again this cycle, the 6A Classification in the WPIAL will have just one conference. The biggest change is that the 6A classification lost three members – Baldwin, Hempfield, and Norwin – and now has just 5 teams. Mt. Lebanon is coming off a historic undefeated season where they won their first WPIAL title in 20 years and captured the State Championship.
Last season, the 6A playoff format featured five teams. The five remaining teams in 6A were the five that reached the postseason last year, which should make for a tight race this year. One playoff spot has been eliminated as the top four teams will qualify for the postseason. The WPIAL Champion will enter the PIAA playoffs at the quarterfinal stage. Be sure to keep tabs on our WPIAL Standings Page throughout the season and follow our WPIAL Twitter account @WPIAL_Blitz. Teams are listed in their predicted order of finish.
Central Catholic
WPIAL ELO Rank (6A): 2
WPIAL ELO Rank (Overall): 5
2021 Results: 9-3, lost to Mt. Lebanon in WPIAL Championship Game
The Vikings have reached the WPIAL finals in each of the last three seasons and eight of the last nine years. Central Catholic has to be considered the favorites to make it back to the title game this season with a number of key starters returning from last year. Junior QB Payton Wehner threw for 1460 yards and 17 TDs last season and returns his second-leading receiver Pete Gonzalez (322 yards, 2 TDs). Gonzalez has offers from a number of ACC, Big Ten, and MAC schools. Fellow junior Vernon Settles (who has an Akron offer) had over 300 yards of total offense between rushing and receiving and scored 3 times. The Vikings top returning rusher is sophomore Amari Shields who averaged nearly 6 yards per carry last season. Junior LB Anthony Speca is one of the top linebackers in the WPIAL and has offers from loads of major colleges including Pitt, Penn State, WVU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. Also keep an eye out for sophomore CB Xxavier Thomas who turned heads last year with an outstanding freshman season. All in all, Central has the returning talent to make a run at the WPIAL title and potentially a deep run into the state playoffs.
Seneca Valley
WPIAL ELO Rank (6A): 4
WPIAL ELO Rank (Overall): 12
2021 Results: 7-4, Lost to Central Catholic in WPIAL semifinals
The Raiders got off to a strong start last season that included a comeback victory over Pine-Richland. Mid-season injuries, including to QB Graham Hancox (1054 yards, 8 TDs), had to be overcome. Seneca Valley bounced back to top North Allegheny in the season finale before falling to Central Catholic in the semifinals. Hancox returns for his senior season along with Sean O’Shea who filled in at QB after Hancox’s injury and threw for 548 yards and 5 TDs and ran for 100 yards and 3 TDs. O’Shea is the team’s top returning rusher and leading receiver Luke Lawson (558 yards, 6 TDs) also returns with offers from Navy and a few FCS schools. Seneca Valley also has talent on defense with linebackers Aiden Lyczek (who has an Army offer) and Chris Dappolonia (who has offers from Patriot League schools) along with defensive lineman Lucas Lambert (who also has some FCS offers). This might be the deepest team Seneca Valley has had since their 2018 run to the WPIAL finals and they are a threat to make noise in the playoffs once again.
Mt. Lebanon
WPIAL ELO Rank (6A): 1
WPIAL ELO Rank (Overall): 1
2021 Results: 15-0, WPIAL 6A Champions (8th all-time), PIAA 6A Champions (4th all-time)
Last year was a historic season for the Blue Devils, rolling through the regular season and claiming their first WPIAL title since 2000, defeating Central Catholic. The Blue Devils rolled on into the state playoffs and topped the New York-New Jersey All-Star Team (St Joe’s Prep) to claim their first State Title in the playoff era. Mt. Lebanon had previous state championships in 1958, 1970, and 1981 prior to the PIAA playoff system. Coach Bob Palko turned around the Blue Devils program in just three seasons at the helm and claimed his 9th WPIAL title as head coach and was named both the Steelers High School Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year. But this season will present a new challenge after 27 seniors graduated from their title-winning team. Senior WR Mike Beiersdorf was the second-leading receiver (260 yards, 4 TDs) and TE Grayson Dee (110 yards, 1 TD), who has a St Francis offer, also returns to aid whoever takes the helm at quarterback. The Blue Devils lost their top four rushers to graduation so the load will likely fall to Beckham Dee and Idris Wilson. Mt. Lebanon will be strong in the trenches again, led by Richmond-commit Kade Capristo. In order to repeat as WPIAL Champs, Mt. Lebanon will need young players who don’t have much experience to step up in a big way to become contributors.
North Allegheny
WPIAL ELO Rank (6A): 3
WPIAL ELO Rank (Overall): 10
2021 Results: 7-5, lost to Mt. Lebanon in WPIAL semifinals
Last year was a “down” year by North Allegheny standards – they lost back-to-back games to Central Catholic and Mt. Lebanon mid-season then fell to Seneca Valley in the season finale which cost them a first round bye in the playoffs. The Tigers fell to eventual state champions Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals, their fifth loss in the semis in the last six years. A strong class of rising juniors looks to lead the Tigers back into title contention. Dual-threat QB Logan Kushner threw for 1481 yards and 12 TDs and running for 220 yards and 4 TDs. Leading receiver Khiryn Boyd (501 yards, 6 TDs) and inside linebacker Tyree Alualu are also part of the strong junior class. Alualu, son of Steelers defensive lineman Tyson, will also see time at running back with fellw junior Aiden Buggey who averaged 5.2 yards per carry in limited work last year.
Canon-McMillan
WPIAL ELO Rank (6A): 5
WPIAL ELO Rank (Overall): 22
2021 Results: 4-7, lost to North Allegheny in WPIAL Quarterfinals
The Big Macs have made the playoffs in three of the last four years but have not won a playoff game since 2004. Canon-Mac got off to a strong 4-2 start last year but injuries derailed their season and they dropped their last 5 games, including a playoff game to North Allegheny. Rising junior Michael Evans (1596 yards, 13 TDs) led 6A in passing last year while senior Ben Urso (145 yards, 4 TDs) also saw some work under center in spot duty . In the backfield, the top two rushers have graduated leaving Jake Kasper as the top returning rusher. Keep an eye out for sophomore Alijah Brown who averaged over 8 yards per carry in limited work last season. Austyn Winkleblech was one of the top punters in 6A last year and stepped in at receiver, putting up 417 yards and 4 TDs. Lineman Andrew Kocan has attracted some interest from FCS schools.
