2024 WPIAL Preview: 2A Allegheny Conference

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The 2024 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 23. 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 and watch our live broadcasts on Monday nights or on replay any time.

This is a realignment season but some statewide changes have caused some shakeups in the WPIAL. Beginning with this two-year cycle, the PIAA changed the way students who attend charter or homeschools are counted. This enabled a lot of private schools to slide down in classifications while increasing the enrollment numbers for nearly every public school. This enabled Seton LaSalle and Shady Side Academy to move down from 3A to 2A while moving Carlynton up from 1A to 2A. OLSH is playing up due to co-op agreements with Eden Christian and Propel Montour. Union voluntarily opted to play up in 2A this cycle. In the WPIAL, 13 teams will make the 2A playoffs. The top three from each conference are guaranteed a playoff spot and the final four spots will be given to wild cards selected by the WPIAL Committee.

Steel Valley has dominated the Allegheny Conference for the better part of the six classification era. The Ironmen are once again the presumptive favorites, but the league did undergo some significant changes. Derry, Burrell, and Yough all moved up to 3A while South Park, South Allegheny, and Shady Side Academy moved down from 3A. OLSH, who is voluntarily playing up, was also added to the conference to give it a wide geographic footprint stretching from Moon to Ligonier. 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.

Steel Valley

2023 Result: 10-2, Allegheny Conference Champions, Lost to Beaver Falls in the 2A Championship Game
All-Time: 327-217-12 (80th in wins, 26th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 6 WPIAL Championships (1982, 1988, 1989, 2016, 2018, 2022), 2016 State Champions

The Ironmen have been one of the best 2A squads during the six classification era. They have won three WPIAL titles and been to five Championship Games, including the last two. Steel Valley has faced Beaver Falls in the playoffs in three straight seasons. The Tigers topped the Ironmen in the Championship Game last year and in the 2021 semis. Steel Valley won the middle matchup to claim the 2022 WPIAL title. The Barksdale Brothers return for the Ironmen as they look to make a run for the WPIAL crown. Senior Donald Barksdale should be in the mix for the WPIAL rushing title after putting up 2061 yards and 37 TDs last year. Donald has offers from Bowling Green, Duquesne, RMU, and some other FCS squads. His brother Da’ron Barksdale battled through injuries and only played a few games, rushing for 190 yards and 3 TDs. Da’Ron has college offers from Pitt, WVU, Syracuse, and a few MAC schools. Jaden Cabbagestalk started last season at quarterback, but junior Tyson Barron (744 yards, 10 TDs) took over midseason and added another element to Steel Valley’s offense. Leading receiver Del Shields (369 receiving yards, 228 rushing yards, 5 total TDs) and junior Tyrell Breland (189 yards, 2 TDs) both return for the Ironmen. Steel Valley returns nearly their entire team that went to the WPIAL finals and was top 5 in 2A in both scoring (33 points per game) and defense (11.7 points against per game). The Ironmen are strong contenders for the WPIAL title.

South Park

2023 Result: 7-5, lost to East Allegheny in 3A quarterfinals
All-Time: 418-376-27 (46th in wins, 51st in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 2 WPIAL Championships (1997, 2005), 2 State Championships (1997, 2005)

The Eagles move down from 3A to 2A after making the playoffs in 4 of the last 5 years. Last year, South Park upset 5th-seeded Knoch and nearly toppled Allegheny Six conference champion East Allegheny in the quarterfinals. Leading rusher Eric Doerue returns after running for 1517 yards and 18 TDs as a junior. Doerue has offers from Bowling Green and RMU. South Park is a run-heavy team but only Doerue returns of their fop four backs. At quarterback, Griffin Burnett got a handful of snaps as a backup last year and figures to step into the starting role. He will have the comfort of leading receiver Kenyan Brown (270 yards, 5 TDs) returning on the outside. The strength of the Eagles team is in the trenches with James Madison-commit Parker Cunningham and Troy Cunningham who has offers from Duquesne, RMU, and a number of Ivy League schools.

OLSH

2023 Result: 4-6, missed playoffs in 1A
All-Time: 74-69-0 (118th in wins, 52nd in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 2018 WPIAL Champions

OLSH’s co-op agreements with Eden Christian and Propel Montour moved them up to 2A this season after narrowly missing the playoffs in 1A last year. The Chargers were struck by the injury bug last season and had 11 seniors graduate. Vann Kavals, an Akron-commit as a defensive end, got off to a lightning-fast start to the season, throwing for 640 yards and 5 TDs in the first few weeks. But unfortunately an injury truncated his season and OLSH had to rotate through a number of other players at quarterback. Leading receiver Ethan Gardner (616 yards,7 TDs) returns on the outside and should make for a formidable connection with Kavals. Iseia Schulz (191 rushing yards, 145 receiving yards) is the top returning rusher.

Shady Side Academy

2023 Result: 5-6, lost to Beaver in 3A first round
All-Time: 553-452-46 (17th in wins, 41st in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 1998 WPIAL Champions

The Bulldogs return to 2A this cycle after spending hte last two years in 3A. Shady Side reached the semifinals in 2022 but fell in the first round last year. Leading rusher Darrin Haynes and leading receiver Carter Bonner return for Shady Side. The Bulldogs had an explosive offense last year, averaging 33 points per game. They did lose some players to graduation and transfers, but have enough returning talent from their 3A playoff team to contend for a 2A playoff spot this season.

South Allegheny

2023 Result: 1-9, missed playoffs in 3A
All-Time: 190-372-5 (113th in wins, 119th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 1977 WPIAL Champions

The Gladiators struggled mightily in 3A the last two seasons after making the playoffs in 2021. Coming off consecutive 1-9 seasons, the hope is that the move down to 2A will help reinvigorate their program. The star of this year’s squad is multi-talented Cameron Epps who led South A in rushing (1269 yards), receiving (214 yards), and scoring (15 total TDs) last year as a junior. The Gladiators used two different quarterbacks who were both underclassmen. Senior Ryan Cortes (359 yards, 4 TDs) and sophomore Malakai Myers (204 yards, 1 TD) both saw playing time last year. On the outside, Austin Schane (126 yards, 3 TDs) returns, along with WR/DB Hunter Molanick has an offer from Robert Morris. With all of the young players who got significant playing time last season, South Allegheny could be in the mix for a playoff spot this year.

Apollo-Ridge

2023 Result: 3-7, missed playoffs in 2A
All-Time: 236-295-9 (104th in wins, 88th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: Never won a WPIAL title

The Vikings missed the playoffs by one game last year, despite beating AK Valley rival Burrell in the season finale. Apollo-Ridge did end the season on a high note, winning 2 of their last 3 games and their senior QB Karter Schrock joined the 1000/1000 club. With Schrock graduated, sophomore Chris Dailey may be in line to be the starter after seeing some spot duty as a freshman backup.  Rising seniors Corey Mackintosh (163 yards) and Hayden Johns (128 yards, 1 TD) are the top returning rushers. Leading receiver Jaden McCray (410 yards, 2 TDs) and sophomore Logan Schrock (101 yards) give the Vikings an experienced receiving corps. Apollo-Ridge will need to improve a defense that gave up 36 points per game, the most in the conference and 5th most in 2A, if they want to contend for a playoff spot this year.

Ligonier Valley

2023 Result: 2-8, missed playoffs in 2A
All-Time: 474-503-40 (29th in wins, 66th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: Never won a WPIAL title (played in District 6 from until 2020, won D6 titles in 2016 & 2017)

After a 2-2 start to 2023, the Rams stumbled to the finish, losing their last 6 games. Ligonier Valley struggled offensively during their losing streak, being shut out 4 times and scoring just 28 total points in that span. LV had a young roster last year and brings back a lot of experience. The Rams are a run-heavy team that relied on the tandem of John Jablunovsky (892 rushing yards, 98 receiving yards, 10 total TDs) and Mark Jablunovsky (194 rushing yards, 2 TDs). Junior QB Boden Schreyer (207 yards, 1 TD) started last season but the Rams were so run-heavy he only attempted about 4 passes per game. Rising junior RB Aaron Dennison (132 yards, 1 TD) averaged 8 yards per carry as a change-of-pace back and could see a bigger role this season.

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