The WPIAL 5A semifinals will be played on Friday night at neutral sites (Chartiers Valley and Canon-McMillan). The 5A champion will be crowned at Acrisure Stadium on November 22 and enter the State brackets the following week in the semifinals. The WPIAL Champion will face the Champion from District 3 (likely defending state champions Bishop McDevitt). The Allegheny Six Conference, which has put a team in the WPIAL finals for seven straight years, is guaranteed to do so again with three teams in the semifinals. Defending Champions Pine-Richland has faced Peters Twp in the last two title games and a rubber match is possible again this year.
Check out this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show where we broke down all of the playoff matchups!
1. Pine-Richland (10-1) vs 5. Moon (9-3)
at Chartiers Valley
Pine-Richland is the defending 5A Champions and has appeared in three straight WPIAL finals. This is the 12th straight season the Rams have reached the semifinals, inclusive of their time in AAA and 6A before the current run in 5A. Moon is appearing in the semifinals for the third time in five years (interestingly in all the odd-numbered years). The Tigers fell in the WPIAL Championship in 2021 to Penn-Trafford. Pine-Richland is highest-scoring offense in 5A (48.9 points per game) while Moon rode their defense (16.7 points against per game, 4th best in 5A) to this point.
The Rams are led by dual-threat quarterback Aaron “Oobi” Strader who has thrown for 2109 yards and 32 TDs and run for 505 yards and 9 scores. He has a trio of talented receivers on the outside featuring Ohio State-commit Jay Timmons (595 yards, 11 TDs), four-star junior Khalil Taylor (506 yards, 22 total TDs) and slot receiver Jalen Neals (501 yards, 5 TDs). Last week against Shaler, Taylor scored touchdowns in four different ways – a kickoff return, a receiving TD, a punt return, and a pick-six. Maclane Miller has been the workhorse out of the backfield, running for 1178 yards and 13 TDs. Moon has a balanced offensive attack with dual-threat quarterback Andrew Cross at the helm. Cross threw for 1097 yards and 14 TDs and ran for 491 yards and 6 TDs). Cross has two passing TDs in each of the Tigers first two playoff games, including the game-winner to leading receiver Sevi Vandetti (404 yards, 6 TDs). The Tigers have one of the best pass rushers in the WPIAL in Daiveon Taylor who is on pace to break the state sack record. In the regular season Moon used They will also use Taylor as a short-yardage back and their fourth quarter finisher to close out games. Taylor has featured more in the ground game in the playoffs. Also on the defensive side of the ball, watch out for DB Jayden Revis (son of Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis) who will be in must-see matchups against Taylor or Timmons.
2. Peters Twp (11-0) vs 6. Upper St Clair (10-2)
at Canon-McMillan
The winner of this game will be the 8th consecutive team from the Allegheny Six conference to make the WPIAL Championship Game. Peters Twp has been to the WPIAL finals the last two years, winning their first title in school history in 2023 then falling to Pine-Richland last year. This game will be the fourth meeting between South Hills neighbors in the last two years. Upper St Clair beat Peters Twp in the regular season last year but Peters got revenge in the semifinals. This season, Peters won a close 24-20 game in the regular season which gave the Indians the conference title. This is a matchup of strength on strength as Peters has the top defense in 5A (allowing just 7 points against per game) while USC has the second-highest scoring offense (40.7 points per game).
Offensively, Peters Twp has been solid and efficient with Villanova-commit Nolan DiLucia throwing for 2274 yards and 21 TDs, primarily targeting PJ Luke (548 yards, 3 TDs). Their balanced offensive attack has relied on Cole Neupaver (1169 yards, 21 TDs) to keep them on schedule in the ground game. In the quarterfinals against Bethel Park, Neupaver scored 5 total TDs to lead Peters back from a 14-7 deficit to roll to a 42-14 victory. Peters has two D1 commits at defensive end who also contribute in the passing game – Stanford-Commit Lucas Shanafelt (451 yards, 6 TDs) and Pitt-Commit Reston Lehman (273 yards, 5 TDs). Upper St Clair also had a comeback win last week. After giving up a return touchdown on the opening kickoff followed by another score, the Panthers rattled off 33 straight points. The Panthers have one of the most explosive offenses in 5A, averaging over 40 points per game, led by the big arm of Ethan Hellmann (2480 yards, 32 TDs). Hellmann has a pair of talented receivers in Nico D’Orazio (671 yards, 11 TDs) and Bryce Jones (604 yards, 4 TDs) who have created matchup problems for opposing secondaries all season. In the postseason, the Panthers RB tandem of Dante Coury (791 yards, 13 TDs) and John Banbury (396 yards, 9 TDs) scored twice have carried the team to victory. The two backs have combined for 369 yards and 8 TDs through two playoff games.
