The 2026 WPIAL football season is nearly upon us! Over the next few weeks we will be previewing all 18 conferences in preparation for kickoff on August 28. 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 cycle will see a huge shakeup in 4A. Perennial powerhouse Thomas Jefferson moved up to 5A while defending Champions Aliquippa moved back to 3A. South Fayette, who had a great run in 4A from 2016-2020, moves back down from 5A and the Fayette County schools also rejoined the WPIAL from playing an independent schedule. The WPIAL has not yet announced the playoff structure for 4A but since the WPIAL Champion enters the state bracket in the quarterfinals, it is likely that only 8 teams will once again make the playoffs.
The Parkway, like the other two 4A conferences, also saw a big shakeup. Defending WPIAL Champions Aliquippa along with Ambridge moved down to 3A. West Allegheny moved up to 5A. This left defending conference champions New Castle, Montour, and Blackhawk in the league. They are joined by Mars who was a playoff team last year out of the Greater Allegheny Conference and Central Valley who moves back up from 3A. The Parkway once again figures to be one of the deepest conferences in the WPIAL as all five teams return starters and key contributors. 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.
New Castle
2025 Result: 8-2, Parkway Conference champions, lost to Aliquippa in semifinals
All-Time: 769-445-69 (3rd in wins, 15th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 11 WPIAL Championships (1924, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1942, 1948, 1949, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1998)
New Castle has bounced back in a big way from consecutive 1-9 campaigns in 2022 and 2023. The Red Hurricanes went 5-4 in 2024 then won the conference title last season. New Castle’s season was defined by their defense, shutting out 4 of their first 5 opponents and coming up big in wins over Aliquippa and Montour. They fell short against West Allegheny, throwing the top of the Parkway Conference into a quagmire heading into the final two weeks. But resounding victories over Ambridge and Blackhawk secured the conference title for New Castle. In a playoff rematch with Montour, New Castle’s defense was once again the story, coming up with a game-winning stop on a 2-point conversion at the end of regulation to secure a 14-13 victory. True freshman QB Marino Graham threw for 1714 yards and 21 TDs and led the team with 901 rushing yards and 13 TDs. In addition to Graham, New Castle returns three other underclassmen to their backfield – juniors Jermaine Walker (308 yards, 1 TD) and Roderick Proctor (304 yards, 6 TDs) along with sophomore Maurice Moore (212 yards, 3 TDs). On the outside, junior WR Kai Cox (575 yards, 6 TDs) has offers from _. New Castle returns an offensive core loaded with talent. The question for the Canes this year will be if they can replicate their defensive stoutness that held opponents to just 11 points per game, the lowest mark in 4A.
Montour
2025 Result: 7-3, Parkway Conference co-champions, lost to New Castle in the quarterfinals
All-Time: 480-360-20 (30th in wins, 34th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 5 WPIAL Championships (1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 2011)
Montour’s only conference losses last season came against New Castle, who beat them 34-14 in the regular season and 14-13 in the playoffs. After their setback against the Red Hurricanes in the regular season, Montour closed strong with dominant offensive performances to beat Aliquippa and West Allegheny. Interestingly, their non-conference slate last year included games against both Central Valley (who they beat 27-20) and Mars (who they lost to 29-21), giving the Spartans recent experience against all of this cycle’s conference foes. Montour is loaded with young talent that make them not only a contender this season but also in years to come. Junior dual-threat QB Brandon Bennett threw for 1453 yards and 15 TDs and ran for 414 yards and 6 TDs last season. Offensive swiss army knife Archie Collins burst onto the scene as a freshman, running for 252 yards and 3 TDs and adding 265 receiving yards and 3 more scores. Montour’s other top two receivers are both rising seniors in Zander Stern (776 yards, 8 TDs) and Dom Baron (142 yards, 2 TDs). Given the plethora of returning talent, Montour is absolutely a playoff contender this season and could make a run at the 4A title.
Central Valley
2025 Result: 6-4, lost to Imani Christian in 3A semifinals
All-Time: 158-46-0 (117th in wins, 1st in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 5 WPIAL Championships (2010, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021), predecessor school Monaca won 3 WPIAL titles (1975, 1982, 1985), 2 State Championships (2020, 2021)
The Warriors won three straight WPIAL titles and two State crowns from 2019-2021 but were forced up into 4A in 2022 and 2023. They returned to 3A last cycle and were handed an absolutely brutal non-conference slate by the WPIAL schedule-makers. The Warriors had two deep playoff runs, losing in the Championship Game to Avonworth in 2024 and the semifinals to Imani Christian last year. Now they move back up to 4A and the Parkway Conference. Last season started with losses to 4A opponents Montour, Thomas Jefferson, and Belle Vernon but once they got around to facing 3A competition, the Warriors bounced back. Their only setback the rest of the season came against Avonworth, including a 35-31 win over 5A North Hills. Central Valley returns a number of contributors from last year’s team, starting with senior QB Braddock Ambrose (1517 yards, 13 TDs). Two of the Warriors top four rushers graduated, but both sophomore Ethan Bosco (347 yards, 5 TDs) and junior Ethan Ondrusek (277 yards, 4 TDs) return and should see larger workloads this season. The top two receivers also graduated but hopes are high for Mekhi Ahmed (208 yards, 1 TD) who was a big play-maker last year averaging nearly 30 yards per catch, and Antonio Perri (197 yards). An X-factor for Central Valley is kicker Domenic Pratt who is one of the top kickers in the state and booted 7 field goals as a sophomore and 13 last year as a junior (including a long of 51 yards!).
Mars
2025 Result: 8-2, lost to Thomas Jefferson in quarterfinals
All-Time: 456-544-31 (40th in wins, 82nd in win%)
Championship Pedigree: Never won a WPIAL Championship
Mars started the 2025 season with impressive victories over Bethel Park and North Hills, who both wound up as playoff teams in 5A. A tough loss to Aliquippa was followed by another one-score victory over Montour. The Planets cruised through conference play with the exception of a shootout loss to McKeesport. Unfortunately, they drew Thomas Jefferson in the opening round of the playoffs and couldn’t slow down TJ’s offense, falling 31-14. With Eric Kasperowicz moving back to his alma mater at North Hills, Mars is under new leadership this season in _. The future is bright for Mars’ offense as junior Colin Yurisinec started all 11 games and thew for 1607 yards and 14 TDs last year. Fellow junior Nathan Walker saw a few snaps as a backup last year but did throw for over 1000 yards in 2024 after injuries forced him into duty as a freshman. Mars lost their leading rusher and leading receiver to graduation, but return junior Hunter Schroder (316 yards, 4 TDs) to the backfield who averaged over 7 yards per carry last year. On the outside, senior Smyth Dunaway (239 yards) is the top returning receiver.
Blackhawk
2025 Result: 3-7, missed playoffs
All-Time: 336-224-8 (81st in wins, 25th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 4 WPIAL Championships (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996)
Since back-to-back trips to the semifinals in 2018 and 2019, Blackhawk has made the playoffs just once in the last 6 years. The Cougars biggest struggle last season was on defense where they allowed 32 points per game, the 5th most in 4A. Blackhawk gave up at least 34 points 5 times last season. The good news for the Cougars is they bring back some returning starters this year, led by senior RB Brayden McCarthy (1353 yards, 15 TDs) who averaged almost 9 yards per carry. Blackhawk is a run-heavy team and in addition to McCarthy, junior Mayden Magill (494 yards, 5 TDs) and senior Ryan Prisuta (241 yards, 3 TDs) both return to the backfield. Junior QB Jack Chevalier threw for 561 yards and 2 TDs last year, but saw his top two receivers graduate. Overall, Blackhawk has some talent on their roster, but will have some tough sledding against the experienced rosters in the Parkway Conference.
