The first WPIAL Championships are here! Due to the structure of the overall statewide bracket, the WPIAL Champions in 6A and 5A enter the PIAA playoffs in the quarterfinals. The other four classifications have their champions enter in the semifinals, which means the 6A and 5A Championship Games happen a week before the other four. The 6A and 5A Championship Games will be held at Norwin Stadium on Saturday. In 6A, Central Catholic and North Allegheny meet in the finals for the third time in four years. Central Catholic claimed the 2020 title with North Allegheny winning last year. These two have been the dominant forces in 6A this season and meet for a second time (after Central won 50-22 earlier this year). In 5A, we also have a rematch of the 2020 Championship as Peters Twp takes on Pine-Richland. Peters is the only unbeaten team in 5A and has been stifling on defense this season. While Peters is in search of their first WPIAL title in school history, Pine-Richland is the defending WPIAL and State Champions. Much like last season, the Rams made a mid-season change to a wildcat style offense and have gone undefeated since the adjustment.
On this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show, we discussed these two matchups in depth as well as diving into the eight semifinal matchups in 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A. You can check out a preview of those games in a separate article.
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6A Championship Game
1. Central Catholic (10-1) vs 2. North Allegheny (10-1)
Saturday, November 18, 6:00pm
WPIAL Blitz Show 6A Breakdown
How they Got Here
After losing to North Allegheny in the WPIAL Championship Game last season, Central Catholic head coach Terry Totten announced his retirement. The Vikings hired Ryan Lehmeier, former offensive coordinator at Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley, as Totten’s successor. Under Coach Lehmeier, the Vikings offense has exploded. He has opened up the passing game and Central has put up 45 points per game this season, one of the highest marks in the WPIAL. Central defeated North Allegheny in Week 4 by a 50-22 margin to secure the top seed in the 6A playoffs. Their only setback came in a non-conference game against Pine-Richland where the Rams used a wildcat offensive attack to bludgeon Central’s defense. In the semifinals, the Vikings ran away from Mt. Lebanon by a 42-7 margin.
North Allegheny is the defending WPIAL Champions but fell to State College in the PIAA Quarterfinals last season. They brought back much of the title-winning squad and enter the Championship game as the highest-scoring team in 6A after a 49-7 thrashing of Canon-McMillan last week. North Allegheny’s only loss of the season came against Central Catholic, and since then have been focused on earning a rematch.
Recent History
This will be the 8th playoff meeting between Central Catholic and North Allegheny. Last year they met for the WPIAL title with North Allegheny coming out on top 35-21. In that game, Logan Kushner was the star for North Allegheny. Kushner threw for 130 yards an 2 TDs (both to Khiryn Boyd) and ran for 184 yards and another score. The teams also met in the 2020 WPIAL finals, with Central Catholic claiming the title. Overall, Central holds the slight 4-3 edge in playoff meetings, though they have also faced each other annually in conference play over the last decade.
Championship Pedigree
Central Catholic is appearing in their 15th WPIAL Championship game. This will be the 5th consecutive year and 10th time in the last 11 years the Vikings have reached the WPIAL finals. All-time, Central is 8-6 in title games with victories as recent as 2019 and 2020. The Vikings have their sights set beyond the WPIAL and are also looking to make a run at their 5th State Championship in school history. However, this will be the first Championship Game for Ryan Lehmeier as head coach.
North Allegheny is the defending WPIAL Champions and will be appearing in their 11th WPIAL title game. Last year’s campaign was North Allegheny’s first Championship since the Ross Morgan Rager culminated a 3-year run of titles from 2010-2012. The Tigers won two State titles in that span and have won three overall. North Allegheny has won five WPIAL Championships, four of them coming during Art Walker’s tenure as head coach. As an interesting subplot to this game, Art Walker coached at Central Catholic prior to taking the North Allegheny job in 2005, winning two WPIAL titles and a State title for the Vikings.
Dramatis Personae
Central Catholic’s new and improved offense now runs through quarterback Payton Wehner who has thrown for 2456 yards and 32 TDs and added 276 yards and 5 TDs on the ground. In the Vikings semifinal victory over Mt. Lebanon, Wehner threw for 222 yards and a touchdown. Central’s passing attack has flourished thanks to a talented trio of receivers, led by Penn State-commit Peter Gonzalez (891 yards, 12 TDs) with Vernon Settles (611 yards, 8 TDs) and Jacob Sassic (513 yards, 7 TDs) playing key roles. When defenses have tried to back up to take away the passing game, there has been plenty of room for Elijah Faulkner (1152 yards, 17 TDs) to do damage on the ground. Last week, Faulkner was the star of the show, running for 194 yards and 5 TDs. Central is loaded on the defensive side of the ball with the best linebacking corps in the entire WPIAL. They have three D1 recruits led by Michigan-commit Cole Sullivan (who has also been used on offense in the passing game with 250 yards and 5 TDs), Penn State-commit Anthony Speca, and Pitt-commit Ty Yuhas. Junior WR/LB Bradley Gompers and sophomore LB Colsen Gatten have also received D1 attention. The Vikings defensive backfield is also brimming with talent. Junior DB Xxavier Thomas is an electric playmaker that is dangerous on kick returns and has multiple pick-sixes throughout his career.
Central’s freshman class also includes heralded defensive backs Sa’Nir Brooks and Larry Moon who both have already picked up D1 offers.
North Allegheny returned most of their Championship-winning roster this season. The catalyst of the Tigers offensive attack is dual-threat QB Logan Kushner who has thrown for 1308 yards and 18 TDs and run for 880 yards and 14 TDs. In the semifinals against Canon-McMillan, Kushner’s dual-threat abilities were on full display as he threw for 104 yards and a touchdown and ran for 125 yards and 2 scores. Star linebacker Tyree Alualu leads the North A rushing attack with 880 yards and 13 TDs plus over 100 yards and 2 TDs as a receiver. Last year’s WPIAL Blitz 6A Player of the Year was Tigers WR Khiryn Boyd who leads the team with 532 receiving yards and 11 total TDs. Boyd is a dangerous playmaker on offense, defense, and special teams. North Allegheny has talent in the trenches, led by two-way lineman Cameron Chmura, a Marshall-commit. North Allegheny uses Richmond-commit Daniel Sellers all over the field at tight end, defensive end, and out of the backfield. Sellers scored a rushing and receiving touchdown last week.
An additional interesting factor in this game is the number of players with NFL connections. Central Catholic’s Peter Gonzalez is the son of former Pitt and Steelers quarterback Pete Gonzalez. His fellow receiver Vernon Settles is the nephew of Charlie Batch. North Allegheny’s Tyree Alualu’s father Tyson played defensive line for the Steelers while Khiryn Boyd is the nephew of Joey Porter. Chris Hoke’s son Lincoln plays on the offensive line for the Tigers. Oh, and North Allegheny also has a sophomore named James Harrison III, whose bloodlines are obvious.
5A Championship Game
1. Peters Twp (12-0) vs 3. Pine-Richland (9-3)
Saturday, November 18, Noon
WPIAL Blitz Show 5A Breakdown
How They Got Here
Peters Twp missed the playoffs last year by a narrow margin, finishing 3rd in the Allegheny Six Confernece but losing out on a spot based on the WPIAL tiebreaking formula. This year, the Indians came out on a mission and rolled through their schedule. Peters is averaging 40 points per game while holding opponents under 7 per contest. The Indians defense has pitched 5 shutouts this season (including in the quarterfinals against Franklin Regional) and has scored nearly as many points on return touchdowns as they have allowed. The closest game Peters has played this year was a 23-10 victory over Canon-McMillan, which was also the only time they were held under 30 points in a game. It will be interesting to see if Peters Twp’s preparations for Moon’s wildcat offense last week aid them in defending Pine-Richland’s wildcat approach this week.
Pine-Richland is the defending WPIAL and State Champions, and much like last year made a mid-season offensive change that has sparked a run. Coming off a 45-10 drubbing by North Allegheny and sitting with a 3-3 record, Pine-Richland changed to a wildcat offensive attack. The following week they pounded Central Catholic into submission on the legs of Ethan Pillar who ran the ball 56 times! From there, the Rams dominant line play took over and they shut out Woodland Hills and North Hills to close out the regular season. Last week, the Rams trailed conference rivals Penn Hills in the Jon LeDonne Bowl (Part II) 9-3 late in the fourth quarter. Forced to abandon the wildcat, they inserted freshman QB Aaron “Obi” Strader who led the Rams down the field and ran it in for a 1-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left on the clock. The extra point (and ensuing fumble return on the kickoff) gave Pine-Richland the victory and sent the Rams back to the WPIAL title game for the second straight season.
Recent History
In 2019, Peters Twp reached the WPIAL Championship game for the first time in school history. The Indians lost to Gateway by a 21-20 margin but turned around and defeated the Gators by the same score the following year in the semifinals. The following week Peters fell to eventual WPIAL Champions Pine-Richland 35-0. This will be the third trip to the WPIAL finals for Peters Twp in five years but they have yet to claim a WPIAL crown.
For Pine-Richland, this has become familiar territory in recent years. This will be the fifth WPIAL Championship Game for Pine-Richland in the last six seasons. The recent run of success has included four WPIAL titles across multiple classifications. Pine-Richland won the 6A WPIAL Championship in 2017 and 2018 and won the 5A WPIAL titles in 2020 and 2022. The Rams also won three State titles in that span, in 2017, 2020 and 2022.
Championship Pedigree
Both teams have had a historic run of success recently. For Peters Twp, their run is reaching a crescendo. In 2018 the Indians made the semifinals for the first time since 1976. They followed that up by making the Championship Game for the first time in school history. While Peters has yet to win a WPIAL title, that should not be seen as a deterrent in this game. Two years ago Penn-Trafford claimed their first WPIAL title en route to winning the State Championship. Peters Twp is writing their history in the present day.
Pine-Richland is the defending 5A WPIAL and State Champions. That was their sixth WPIAL title as “Pine-Richland” and they claim two more from the pre-merger days of Richland High School in 1969 and 1970. As Pine-Richland, their first WPIAL title came in 2003 in AAA with Neil Walker at running back. The Rams won WPIAL titles again in 2014 (the game the student section brought a live Ram to the North Shore tailgate), 2017, 2018, and 2020. Both Coach Kasperowicz and Coach LeDonne have brought State Championships back to Pine-Richland, winning the 6A title in 2017 then the 5A crown in 2020 and 2022.
Dramatis Personae
Peters Twp has a balanced offensive attack led by one of the top quarterbacks in the WPIAL. Sophomore Nolan DiLucia has put up 2337 yards and 25 TDs through the air this season. DiLucia has also added 440 yards and 7 TDs on the ground. Carter Shanafelt does a bit of everything for the Indians, leading the team in receiving (502 yards, 7 TDs), serving as the team’s kicker and punter (where he has made 4 field goals), and as a kick returner. Between offense, defense, and special teams, Shanafelt has found the end zone 10 times this season. Joining him on the outside are a slew of talented receivers including Ethan Wertman (490 yards, 3 TDs), Nick McCullough (440 yards, 6 TDs), Nate Miller (313 yards, 1 TD), and Thomas Aspinall (283 yards, 3 TDs) who had over 100 yards and 2 scores last week. Peters has the talent to spread defenses out and have any of their plethora of receivers beat a defensive back to make a play. Joining DiLucia in the backfield is the tandem of Vinny Sarcone (727 yards, 20 TDs) who also scored twice last week and Preston Blair (4777 yards, 7 TDs). The only member of Peters Twp’s stifling defense to receive a D1 offer so far is sophomore linebacker Reston Lehman who has been offered by a few MAC schools.
Pine-Richland’s offensive attack has become singularly focused on Ethan Pillar running the wildcat. After his 56-carry performance to lead the Rams past Central Catholic, Pillar has put together a season with 1467 yards and 19 TDs. Pillar has had the benefit of running behind the Rams stout offensive line which is anchored by Wisconsin-commit Ryan Cory. Last week, when trailing by 6 with under a minute to play, the Rams were forced to abandon the wildcat. Dual-threat freshman Aaron “Obi” Strader came in at quarterback and led Pine-Richland to victory. On the season, Strader has thrown for 291 yards and 2 TDs and run for 553 yards and 5 scores. Talan Hill-Ressler (353 yards, 4 TDs) and Maclane Miller (318 yards, 3 TDs) have also been factors in the Rams ground game. In the rare cases when Pine-Richland does take to the air, Bryce O’Brien (389 yards, 2 TDs) and Vasilios Balouris (258 yards, 1 TD) have been the top targets. The X-factor in this game is Pine-Richland kicker Grant Argiro who has made 7 field goals on the season, including a 42-yarder last week along with the game-winning extra point.
