The 2025 WPIAL playoffs began last week with first round games in 1A through 5A. 1A is the only classification where 16 teams qualify for the playoffs and there is a full playoff bracket. The champion will be crowned at Acrisure Stadium on November 22 and enter the State brackets the following week in the semifinals. Fort Cherry is the two-time defending WPIAL Champions and once again tops the bracket after an unbeaten season. Interestingly, while the top 4 seeds all won their first round games, the teams seeded 5th through 8th all lost. That included Chartiers-Houston winning a playoff game for the first time since 2000 and Frazier winning a playoff game for the first time since 2015.
Check out this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show where we broke down all of the playoff matchups!
1. Fort Cherry (11-0) vs 9. Neshannock (7-4)
at Beaver
Fort Cherry is the two-time defending WPIAL Champions and have won 38 straight games against WPIAL opponents. Fort Cherry is led by senior QB Matt Sieg, who earlier in his career was the first freshman member of the 1000/1000 club then just the second player to reach the threshold twice. This season he played through an injury so Fort Cherry did not ask him to throw as much as he did in past years. Sieg still finished the season with 403 passing yards and 8 TDs along with 1481 rushing yards and 26 TDs, breaking the WPIAL career total yardage record. Last week he broke Mike Vernillo’s school rushing record to elevate Sieg to second on the WPIAL’s all-time rushing list. With Sieg playing through injury, Fort Cherry almost exclusively ran the ball over the second half of the season. In addition to Sieg, there were plenty of opportunities for juniors Eli Salvini (700 yards, 17 TDs) and Ryan Huey (599 yards, 12 TDs). Salvini scored 3 touchdowns in the Rangers opening round win over Avella. Neshannock’s offense ran through dual-threat QB Jino Mozzocio who threw for 1077 yards and 11 TDs and ran for 465 yards and 12 TDs. Mozzocio was joined in the Lancers backfield by the tandem of Anthony Eakin (833 yards, 14 TDs) and Justin Edworthy (364 yards, 6 total TDs). In their first round win over Leechburg, Mozzoccio ran for two scores and threw for another.
4. Laurel (10-1) vs 12. Chartiers-Houston (8-3)
at West Allegheny
The winner of this game will secure a historic result for their team. Chartiers-Houston has already made history, winning their first playoff game since 2000 with a first round upset of South Side Beaver. They have not been to the semifinals since 1981. Laurel, on the other hand, last appeared in the semifinals in 2009. Laurel started the season with three wins over 2A playoff teams from the Midwestern Conference. The Spartans only loss came against Bishop Canevin and they rolled through Big Seven Conference play. Laurel has traditionally been a run-heavy team but opened up the offense with QB Luca Santini (1118 yards, 20 TDs) who broke the school’s career passing record this season. The Spartans will do everything they can to get the ball in the hands of Swiss Army Knife Kolton Carlson who leads the team in receiving (542 yards), rushing (560 yards), and scoring (17 total TDs). The Spartans lead back is Nathan Hill (527 yards, 15 total TDs) who will get his share of work in the ground game. Chartiers-Houston is a great turnaround story. The Bucs went winless in 2023 and won just 1 conference game last year. Chartiers-Houston’s bounce-back season has come thanks to the talents of dual-threat QB Aaron Walsh (964 passing yards, 13 TDs; 959 rushing yards, 14 TDs). Walsh had 119 rushing yards and threw for a touchdown in the Bucs win over South Side. Walsh is joined by Dom Andreolli (573 yards, 7 TDs), who scored twice against South Side, in the backfield. His favorite target on the outside is Brody McCrerey (313 yards, 7 TDs)
2. Clairton (10-1) vs 10. Jeannette (8-3)
at Franklin Regional
Clairton and Jeannette are two of the top five teams on the WPIAL’s all-time wins list and face off for the fifth time in the postseason. Clairton has dominated the regular season meetings between these teams since Jeannette moved down to Single-A in 2014 but in the postseason they have split 2-2. Clairton won the first two playoff meetings in the 2015 and 2016 WPIAL Championship but Jeannette has won the last tow (in the 2017 semifinals and 2020 Championship). Clairton did beat Jeannette 57-0 earlier this season. Clairton has put together one of the greatest defensive seasons in WPIAL history. They allowed 19 points in Week 0 against Imani Christian then did not give up a point the rest of the year. In fact, their defense scored 5 touchdowns meaning their defense put more points on the board (30) than they allowed (19). Clairton is also the highest-scoring team in the entire WPIAL at 53 points per game. This year’s Clairton team has revolved around the passing attack led by senior QB Jeff Thompson III (2048 yards, 33 TDs). Sophomore star Brandon Murphy leads the receiving corps with 534 yards and 7 TDs (plus 3 rushing scores) and has D1 offers as a defensive end where he has 14 TFLs, 4 sacks, and 2 interceptions (including a pick-six). The Bears have a plethora of options in the receiving game with Taris Wooding (509 yards, 8 TDs) and all-around talents Donte Wright (485 receiving yards, 182 rushing yards, 17 total TDs) and Michael Ruffin (406 receiving yards, 172 rushing yards, 9 total TDs). Deon Lovelace-Pompey is a standout linebacker who also leads the Bears in rushing with 631 yards and 11 TDs. After making a run to the semifinals last year, Jeannette once again pulled a first round upset, beating Bentworth 38-24. Jeannette’s dual-threat QB Kymon’e Brown who has thrown for 1632 yards and 16 TDs and run for 1001 yards and 16 more scores. Brown’s two second-half touchdowns last week helped Jeannette stay ahead of Bentworth. The Jayhawks have a dynamic playmaker on the outside in 1A’s leading receiver Jayce Powell (843 yards, 13 TDs) who is a threat to score any time he touches the ball and found the end zone twice last week.
3. Bishop Canevin (8-3) vs 11. Frazier (7-4)
at Canon-McMillan
Bishop Canevin has flown under the radar a bit this season after losing their first two games to Clarkson North (Canada) and Seton LaSalle. But the Crusaders have wins over Steel Valley and Laurel on their resume and dominated all of their conference opponents not named Fort Cherry. Canevin has been forced to make some adjustments in the playoffs as starting QB Brady Wagner (868 yards, 13 TDs) was ruled ineligible for the postseason by the WPIAL after his offseason transfer from Mt. Lebanon. Star WR Damar Olds (402 yards, 6 TDs) stepped in at quarterback in the opening round and showed off his athletic abilities, throwing for 165 yards and 2 TDs and running for 66 yards and 3 scores. The Crusaders have a back with game-breaking ability in Myontae Mott (876 yards, 16 TDs) who averages over 12 yards per carry and ran for 181 yards and a touchdown against GCC last week. Olds’ transition to quarterback has been eased by having a talented receiver on the outside in Justin Melvin (553 yards, 7 TDs) who was on the receiving end of both TD passes against GCC. Frazier had won just 4 games over the prior 4 seasons before finishing in the middle of the Eastern Conference pack then knocking off Tri-County South Champions California in the opening round. Knowing Cal was a run-heavy squad, Frazier came out throwing the ball. Brady Secrest (1265 passing yards, 16 TDs; 7 rush TDs) connected for three touchdowns to 1A’s leading receiver Chase Fulmer (714 yards, 8 TDs). Those three first half touchdowns built Frazier a 21-6 halftime lead. From there, the Commodores star RB Derek Diamond (1767 yards, 17 TDs) took the game over on the ground, rushing for 98 yards and a score. This was Frazier’s first playoff victory since their 2015 run to the semifinals.
