The WPIAL 3A semifinals will be played on Friday night at neutral sites (North Allegheny and Montour). The 3A 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 either the District 10 Champion or the winner of Brockway-Penn Cambria. The Western Hills Conference (and its predecessors by name) have been the dominant conference in 3A. Since the move to six classifications in 2016, the conference has accounted for 13 of the 18 WPIAL finalists. Three teams from the Western Hills Conference reached the semifinals this year. The WPIAL has dominated the 3A class at the state level as well, winning 7 of the 9 state titles and coming close to winning the other two (Central Valley lost by 7 to Wyoming Area and Avonworth lost in overtime to Northwestern Lehigh last year).
Check out this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show where we interviewed North Catholic head coach Chris Rizzo and broke down all of the playoff matchups!
1. Avonworth (11-0) vs 5. North Catholic (9-3)
at North Allegheny
Avonworth is the defending WPIAL Champions and has reached the finals in three straight seasons. This is a matchup of two of the four highest-scoring teams in 3A with North Catholic averaging 45.9 points per game and Avonworth just behind at 41.2 per game. This is a rematch of the Week 8 conference showdown which Avonworth won 42-10 thanks to a dominant defensive performance. The Antelopes have rolled through the regular season, outscoring opponents by an average of 33 points per game. Their balanced offense has been keyed by the play of QB Carson Bellinger (1768 yards, 25 TDs) and RB Dimitri Velisaris (1324 yards, 21 TDs). In their quarterfinal blowout of Freeport, Velisaris ran for 111 yards and 4 TDs. Dynamic slot back Luca Neal is the team’s leading receiver (760 yards), second-leading rusher (320 yards), and second-leading scorer (16 total TDs). Sophomore WR Jaden Jones (539 yards, 7 TDs) has had a number of D1 visits lately including Ohio State and Florida State. North Catholic QB Joey Felitsky (3128 yards, 44 TDs) won the WPIAL passing title for the second straight season. In the playoffs, Felitsky has just three incompletions in two games. His playoff stat line through two weeks is 36 for 39 for 696 yards and 11 TDs. Felitsky has spread the ball around to 4 different receivers who all had over 300 yards. Leading receiver Preston Simko (973 yards, 18 TDs) had over 150 yards and a touchdown in the opening round. Will Waskiewicz (744 yards, 12 TDs), Ryker Kennedy (687 yards, 7 TDs), and Tom Arth (391 yards, 9 TDs) also found the postseason. Kennedy was the key to the Trojans revenge victory over Elizabeth Foward, racking up 101 yards and 3 TDs. North Catholic does have the ability to be multiple with Logan Schade (1014 yards, 20 TDs) averaging over 10 yards per carry to give the Trojans an explosive threat out of the backfield.
2. Imani Christian (11-0) vs 3. Central Valley (7-4)
at Montour
Imani Christian was undefeated in the regular season for the second straight year. The Saints fell to eventual champions Avonworth in the semifinals last year. Statistically Imani has the highest-scoring offense (48.6 points per game) and stingiest defense (7.9 points against per game) in 3A. On the other side, Central Valley is appearing in the semifinals for the 6th time in the last 7 years in both 3A and 4A as they bounced between classifications. For Imani, two former Penn State-commits who have re-opened their recruitment lead the way offensively. Junior QB Gabe Jenkins joined the 1000/1000 club this year with 1603 passing yards and 27 TDs plus 1211 rushing yards and 13 TDs. Jenkins’ backfield counterpart Derrick Davis has 511 receiving yards, 416 rushing yards, and 15 total TDs. Imani has a strong rushing attack between Jenkins, Davis, and the duo of freshman Tyvon Sewell (478 yards, 7 TDs) and Anthony Portis (482 yards, 6 TDs). The Saints defense is loaded with D1 recruits including their dynamic duo of pass rushers – Youngstown State-commit Will Gorman (8.5 sacks, 11.5 TFLs) and junior Da’Juan Craighead (3 sacks, 6 TFLs, 2 INTs). Junior LB Maurice Williams led the team in tackles (100 tackles, 25 TFLs) and the aforementioned Davis led the Saints in INTs (4) and Passes Defended (6). Central Valley’s balanced offense starts with junior QB Braddock Ambrose (1461 yards, 13 TDs). Senior RB Ethan Shearer has been the feature back (1117 yards, 18 TDs) with freshman Ethan Bosco (343 yards, 5 TDs) playing a contributing role. Leading receiver Aaron Lawson (558 yards) has also contributed 242 rushing yards and scored 4 total TDs. Central Valley will need a big game from senior two-way lineman Brendan Alexander who has over 25 D1 offers.
