The WPIAL captured a record FOUR state titles this season in Hershey. Central Valley repeated as 3A Champions by beating Wyomissing for the second straight year, Aliquippa overcame all the odds and beat Bishop McDevitt in 4A, Penn-Trafford topped Imhotep Charter in 5A and Mt. Lebanon beat the New York/New Jersey/Maryland All-Star Team St. Joe’s Prep in 6A. On this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show, we recapped the seasons and awarded our Players of the Year, Units of the Year, and Games of the Year. Thanks to everyone who has watched and shared links to the show this year, we hope you had as much fun watching it as we had making it!
Timestamps:
1A Summary: 6:44 mark
2A Summary: 12:10 mark
3A Summary: 21:12 mark
4A Summary: 32:10 mark
5A Summary: 44:07 mark
6A Summary: 55:42 mark
Team of the Year & Player of the Year: 1:02:40 mark
Looking Ahead to 2022: 1:05:19 mark
Thanks!
For starters, we want to thank everyone who watched the show, shared the link, interacted with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or elsewhere. We do the show because we love high school football and our goal is always to be fair and informative and we certainly appreciate all the support and feedback we received throughout the year. Secondly, we want to thank all of the Coaches who were so gracious with their time this season to make appearances on the show. It is highly encouraging to see so many great leaders across Western Pennsylvania that are teaching our youth. There were so many great stories we were able to highlight this year, here are links to our interviews, if you want to go back and watch them.
Northgate Head Coach Michael Fulmore whose team ended a 32-game losing streak (the longest in the WPIAL) with a Week 0 win over Carlynton.
Seneca Valley Offensive Coordinator Ryan Lehmeir whose team beat Pine-Richland on a last-second touchdown pass.
Laurel Highlands Head Coach Rich Kolesar whose team got off to the first 5-0 start in school history and ended the season by winning their first playoff game in school history.
Lawrence County Sports Hall of Famer and Union Head Coach Stacy Robinson whose team started conference play with an upset of Rochester.
Belle Vernon Head Coach Matt Humbert whose team beat rival Thomas Jefferson twice this season and eventually reached the WPIAL Championship Game for the second time in three seasons.
Moon Head Coach Ryan Linn whose team earned the top seed in the 5A playoffs and was the only 5A team to go undefeated in the regular season. The Tigers eventually reached the WPIAL finals for just the second time in school history.
Hampton Head Coach Jacque DeMatteo who won their first conference title since 2014 and finished the regular season undefeated.
North Hills Head Coach Pat Carey whose team beat Pine-Richland and forced a three-way tie atop the 5A Northeast Conference.
McKeesport Head Coach Matt Miller whose team beat Thomas Jefferson for the second straight season to set up a showdown with Belle Vernon in the final week of the regular season for the conference title.
Mt. Lebanon Head Coach Bob Palko whose team won their first WPIAL title since 2000 and would go on to win their first State Championship in school history.
We had the awesome opportunity to interview BOTH head coaches in the WPIAL 1A Championship Game – Bishop Canevin’s Rich Johnson and OLSH’s Dan Bradley.
The following week, we were able to interview Serra Catholic Defensive Coordinator Akeeme Robinson and Farrell head coach Anthony Pegues before their teams faced off in the PIAA Semifinals. Serra’s defense was absolutely incredible this season, forcing 56 turnovers and scoring 12 TDs – including 9 turnovers in the WPIAL Championship Game. Farrell has built a great program in District 10 and Coach Pegues played for Farrell in the mid-90s when they were part of the WPIAL.
Finally, we interviewed Penn-Trafford Head Coach John Ruane who led his team to their first WPIAL Championship in school history and an overtime victory over the vaunted Imhotep Charter to claim the State Title for the Warriors.
We want to especially thank the SSP Network, Brute Athletic Apparel, Get Recruited, and Eastern PA Football for their support of the show this year. Thanks also go out to Chris from Eastern PA Football for his incredible graphics he made for us all year. Our historical insights wouldn’t be complete without the help of PA Football History, one of our favorite websites and favorite follows on Twitter.
Where to Find Us
Thanks for watching! Follow us on Twitter @WPIAL_Blitz and @BadgleyBruce. Check out past episodes of the WPIAL Blitz Show on the Sports Stream Premium Network Channel. And like our new Facebook Page!
