The 2023 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 25. We are also thrilled to announce that the WPIAL Blitz Show will be back on the YouTube airwaves this season. Subscribe to the Sports Stream Premium channel with new shows dropping each Tuesday during the season!
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The playoff format in 4A is relatively straightforward. Four teams from the Big Eight and Greater Allegheny Conferences make the playoffs and five from the Parkway Conference qualify. Last year the Big Eight had all four of their playoff qualifiers make the quarterfinals. Three teams finished in a tie atop the standings last year with Thomas Jefferson, McKeesport, and Laurel Highlands splitting their head-to-head games. It was a historic finish for Laurel Highlands, the first time in school history they claimed a conference title.
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.
Thomas Jefferson
By the lofty standards of Thomas Jefferson’s program, last year was a “down year.” They lost 3 regular season games for the first time since 2011. Granted, one of those was a Week 0 game against a Millwall (NJ) team and another to Belle Vernon who won the 3A State Championship. Despite losing to Laurel Highlands for the first time ever, TJ bounced back and claimed the regular season conference title with a win over McKeesport in the final week of the season. They reached the semifinals for the 11th straight year (and 24th in the last 25 years) but fell to Central Valley. The good news for the Jaguars is that most of their key offensive contributors were juniors last season. The loaded senior class is led by QB Brody Evans (1986 yards, 19 TDs). Evans returns his top receiver and the team’s leading scorer Sean Sullivan (922 yards, 11 TDs). In the backfield, leading rushers Elias Lippincott (909 yards, 10 TDs) and Aidan Whalen (561 yards, 9 TDs) both return. With their top skill position players all coming back and a decorated coach like Bill Cherpak at the help, TJ is poised to contend for the WPIAL title once again.
McKeesport
After an epic double overtime loss to Aliquippa in the 2021 semifinals, the two schools looked to be on a collision course again last season. McKeesport hit a bump in the road in Week 9 with a loss to Thomas Jefferson that cost them the outright conference title and put them into a 3-way tie atop the Big Seven. The much-anticipated rematch with the Quips did not go their way. McKeesport had a large senior class graduate but the cupboard is never bare for the Tigers. With their triple-option offense they have plenty of talent waiting in the wings to take the helm. Junior RB Anthony Boyd (249 yards, 2 TDs) is the top returning rusher and averaged 9 yards per carry last season. Garrett Tarker saw a few snaps as the backup quarterback last season and figures to step in under center. McKeesport doesn’t throw the ball much so Tarker’s main role will be to execute the triple-option. The Tigers had the top defense in 4A last season, led by defensive end Courtney Dunn Jr who has some FCS offers, they allowed just 7 points per game.
Laurel Highlands
Last year was a storybook season for the Mustangs. They beat Thomas Jefferson for the first time in school history and earned their first conference title in school history thanks to a three-way tie with TJ and McKeesport. From there, they hosted a playoff game in Mustang Stadium for just the second time ever. Laurel Highlands won playoff games in two straight seasons after being 0-10 previously. While Rodney Gallagher’s decorated career ended and he is off to West Virginia, the talent pool is not dry. Antwan Black was the Mustangs second-leading receiver last season with 363 yards and third-leading rusher with 170 yards and scored 6 total TDs. Black’s explosive play-making has already earned the rising junior offers from Penn State, Pitt, and West Virginia. Both John Duke and Parker Hoff saw a few snaps as backup quarterbacks last season with Duke throwing 4 touchdown passes. Senior RB Jaiden Tucker was the second-leading rusher last season.
Latrobe
The Wildcats had an up-and-down regular season with an impressive win over 5A Franklin Regional but a narrow loss to Laurel Highlands. They overcame a 3-game losing streak to dominate the bottom tier of the conference. Latrobe’s wins over Trinity, Ringgold, and Connellsville secured them a playoff spot where they defeated Highlands in overtime to earn their first playoff victory since 1968. Junior QB John Wetzel emerged as a dual-threat player last year and could be a contender for the 1000/1000 club this season. Wetzel threw for 871 yards and 10 TDs and ran for 480 yards and 8 TDs. While Latrobe’s top two receivers graduated, Alex Tatsch turned some heads last year with 2 TDs as a freshman (which earned him a D1 offer from Marshall) and rising senior JaTawn Williams should take on a larger role. In the backfield, Brady Prohovic (184 yards, 2 TDs) and Gaige Kettren (120 yards, 2 TDs) both will see their roles increase after playing as backups last season. Kettren, a rising junior, averaged 8 yards per carry in limited work last season and could become a big play threat for Latrobe.
Trinity
The Hillers are seemingly right on the cusp of the playoffs every season and should be right in the thick of the hunt once again. Two-way lineman Braeden Helmkamp has attracted attention from a number of FCS Schools. The Hillers return their leading rusher Andrew During who scored 7 TDs. Jonah Williamson started at quarterback as a freshman last year. He showed dual-threat ability, running for 5 TDs. The arrow is pointing up for the Hillers coming off a 3-6 campaign with underclassmen starters returning. Trinity was good in their wins and bad in their losses last season. In their 3 victories they scored 34+ each time but just one of their losses was by less than 20 (a 14-point defeat to Laurel Highlands).
Connellsville
While the Falcons won just two games last season, both of them were very meaningful. The first was in Week 0 against Fayette County rivals Albert Gallatin. That victory snapped a 17-game losing streak that dated back to 2019 (also against Albert Gallatin). A few weeks later, Connellsville topped Ringgold to snap a 17-game conference losing streak that dated back to 2018. Connellsville has not made the playoffs since 2014, but the hope is that those two wins from last season can be the building blocks towards success. The Falcons do return some players from last year’s squad. Senior QB Anthony Piasecki returns along with leading receiver Jayden McBride and leading rusher Bruce Giles. Both Giles and McBride scored 3 times last season. Connellsville averaged just 8 points per game and allowed 39 per contest, giving up 40+ in 7 of their 8 losses (and 35 in the other loss). They topped two scores in a game just once, in a 20-6 win over Ringgold.
Ringgold
The Rams have fallen on some hard times lately. After an 0-10 season they enter 2023 with the second-longest losing streak in the WPIAL (15 games). Ringgold also has the longest active losing streak in conference games at 36, dating all the way back to a 2017 win over Uniontown. Ringgold struggled on both sides of the ball last season. The only team they held under 30 points was Connellsville and they scored just 41 total points in the whole season. At just 4 points per game, Ringgold was the lowest-scoring team in 4A. If it is any small bright spot, more than half of their points (21) came in the final two weeks of the season when they scored 14 against Laurel Highlands and 7 against Trinity.
