The first WPIAL Championships are here! Due to the structure of the overall statewide bracket, the WPIAL Champions in 6A and 4A enter the PIAA playoffs in the quarterfinals. The other four classifications have their champions enter in the state semifinals, which means the 6A and 4A Championship Games happen a week before the other four. The 6A and 4A Championship Games will be held at Pine-Richland on Saturday. This will be the fifth WPIAL Championship meeting in six years between Central Catholic and North Allegheny. Central Catholic won the 2020 title and North Allegheny won back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. Central Catholic broke through and won the title again last season, the first Championship for head coach Ryan Lehmeier. Central has won three in a row against North Allegheny, including a 21-6 game earlier this season.
On this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show, we discussed the Championship matchup in depth as well as diving into the eight semifinal matchups in the other classifications. You can check out previews of those games in separate articles.
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1. Central Catholic (10-1) vs 2. North Allegheny (8-3)
How They Got Here
This is the fourth consecutive Championship Game showdown between Central Catholic and North Allegheny. After winning the WPIAL title last season and making a run to the State title game, Central Catholic scheduled a marquee opponent in Week 0 facing La Salle College Prep from the Philadelphia Catholic League. That game could be a precursor to the State title game as La Salle topped three-time defending state champions St. Joseph’s Prep in the PCL Championship Game. Central lost the season-opening showdown but has won 10 straight since with no team coming closer than 14 points.
North Allegheny had a tumultuous road to get back to the WPIAL Championship Game. After narrowly escaping in Week 0 against Woodland Hills, North Allegheny dominated their next three outings. In conference play, they won a number of close games – beating Norwin, Mt. Lebanon, and Canon Mac all by less than 10 points. The season ended on a sour note with a blowout loss to Pine-Richland then losing to northern rivals Seneca Valley. But the bye week paid huge dividends for the Tigers as they came back with a vengeance in the playoffs, running away from Norwin 35-17 to get back to the WPIAL finals.
Recent History
This will be the 10th playoff meeting between Central Catholic and North Allegheny. They have met in the last three WPIAL Championship Games and this will be the fifth time in six years these two have played in the title game. In 2022 the Tigers swept the regular season and Championship meetings. In 2023, Central Catholic stormed past North Allegheny in the regular season but lost in a shootout in the Championship. That spurred North Allegheny on a run to the State title game where they fell to the New Jersey/Maryland/Delaware All-Star Team of St. Joe’s Prep. Last year Central got their revenge by winning both the regular season meeting and the Championship rematch. Central went all the way to the State finals where they also lost to the Tri-State All-Star Team. Central Catholic won the first meeting this season 21-6, giving the Vikings three straight victories. In the all-time playoff series, Central Catholic leads 5-4.
Championship Pedigree
Central Catholic is appearing in their 17th WPIAL Championship game. This will be the 7th consecutive year and 12th time in the last 13 years the Vikings have reached the WPIAL finals. All-time, Central is 9-7 in title games and is the defending WPIAL Champions. Central has won four State Championships, the most recent coming in 2015. Last year was head coach Ryan Lehmeier’s first WPIAL title as head coach.
North Allegheny is the appearing in their 4th straight Championship game. The Tigers won the title in 2022 and 2023 before coming up short last year. This will be appearing in their 13th WPIAL title game all-time. The recent run of titles was North Allegheny’s first Championship since the Ross Morgan Rager culminated a 3-peat from 2010-2012. The Tigers won two State titles in that span and have won three overall. North Allegheny has won six WPIAL Championships, five of them coming during Art Walker’s tenure as head coach. As an interesting subplot to this game, Art Walker coached at Central Catholic prior to taking the North Allegheny job in 2005, winning two WPIAL titles and a State title for the Vikings.
Dramatis Personae
Central Catholic’s team is built on their line play on both sides of the ball. Western Michigan-commit Angelo Pugliano (15.5 TFLs, 9 sacks) has been a monster in the middle of the defensive line while Notre Dame-commit James Halter anchors the offensive line. Juniors Jimmy Kalis and Jon Sassic, along with seniors Matt Bowers and Cole Bayer also hold D1 offers. The line has given sophomore QB Owen Herrick (1960 yards, 16 TDs) time to operate, throwing to Navy-commit Maceo Watkins (582 yards, 6 TDs) and Aiden Nasiadka (483 yards, 6 TDs). On the ground, the tandem of Roman Thompson (694 yards, 24 TDs) and Jayden Alexander (625 yards, 7 TDs) have both averaged over 6.5 yards per carry behind the Vikings line. Thompson is also the Vikings leading tackler and one of the top wrestlers in the state. Central has two D1 commits at linebacker in North Carolina-commit Ashton Blatt (16.5 TFLs, 11.5 sacks) and Duke-commit Colsen Gatten who also plays tight end (363 yards, 4 TDs).
North Allegheny has a balanced offensive attack led by QB Brady Brinkley (1660 yards, 15 TDs). The Tigers have four receivers with over 280 yards, led by Cameron Kushner (405 yards, 5 TDs) who had 119 yards and 2 TDs against Norwin. Monmouth-commit Korry Pitts (327 yards, 5 TDs) is one of the top cornerbacks in the WPIAL. Ben Kern (338 yards, 2 TDs) and Mason Brown (281 yards, 1 TD) have also been factors in the passing game. Luke Rohan (1016 yards, 16 TDs) has been the workhorse back in North Allegheny’s backfield. Rohan ran for 181 yards and 3 TDs in the semifinals. In the trenches, Pitt-commit Lincoln Hoke (son of former Steeler Chris Hoke) has been a game-wrecker in the middle of the line. Hoke was arguably the player of the game last week against Norwin as he dominated the interior and made it hard for the Knights to get their offense rolling.
